Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-05-20
Living in God.

In Him we I've. and move. and have our be-
ing.-Acts, xvii, ~.
There is an old apothegm which runs,
Never sit in the shadow if it is posi-
BILE to sit in the sunshine" II we can
apply this advice to our religion we
shall find happiness in many an unex.
pected place, and the corduroy roa9 VI
many an experience will be changed 70
a smoother highway. -.
It is easy to make life hard by SIMPLY
imagining that it is hard to make !.
easy. In doing SO, however. We Iun ~.
AGAINST the grain of eternal verify, Ior
the mission of all spiritual law Is 10
make us strong and cheerful.
Heaven is distressed by the iact tla'
earth turns it's back on God, then ue,
clares. that it cannot see Him, anu
thereupon seriously raises the question
whether He is there or not. One may
as we'll be blind as to look the wrong
way. h,.s+
proclaiming that God can always pe
found when you need Him enough W. "
take the trouble to look for hlm- we
NAV truly liken them to giant manu-
outstretched from the heavens 70 as
sist us over the rough places OF lie.
The religion that the heart Graves.
the religion which is to the soul wnat
o1voen Ia to the lungs, cannot be crys
tailized into q creed any more IMAM
disembodied spirit can be caught ana
Gagged. It disdains such narrow llmlta
tions, Mere phrases cannot express us
heautv. The child who can put ITS
love Tor ias mother into logical terms
does not love her as he should, but when
their arms are about each other ana
their silent lips meet, then they botn
understand what love means. In ike
manner. when God and you meet. ana
Won become conscious of the divine
presence. words are useless, II not I'M
possible. He alone knows what true
religion is who cannot tell you what II
is because language fails to reach lts
depths.
TO live and move and have our being
in Him-these are the esoteric elements
of Christianity. As the fish lives ana
moves and has its being in the water,
is nourished and upborne by it, is sur
rounded by it, is penetrated by 1t IN an
it's parts, and would gasp and die II iift
ed above the surface, so may man live
ii God and be conscious that God lives
IN him. The fatal ability to shut God
out from the soul, the exercise OF which
constitutes practical iufidelity-the
!, only kind Of infidelity that is worth a
mofment's attentions the source OF
All the ills from which we suffer. Ii
you board up your windows it is use
less to complain of the lack OF ventlla
ton. The difficulty is not with the
fresh air, which is abundant and health
giving, but with you.
If young man falls into evils ways
he need not wonder if he reaps disease
long before the autumn comes. The
law of the universe would be his friend
but he has made it his enemy. Indeed.
he has practically declared that he can
either repeal or defy that law, but all
the while the law is making him new
Illustration of the fact that it can
neither De repealed nor defied. He sue
cumbs on field wherein no man has
ever yet been victor. 1t is not safe to
shake the fist in challenge to omnipo
tence. The battle is unequal. Never
put yourself, like kernel of corn. be
tween the upper and lower miilstones.
for only one result ls possible. Vice
never has made, and never will make.
music for the soul, simply because God
has made the soul too large and noble
to be satisfied with anything short OF
virtue. When you live outside the line
of Gods purpose, the fish is on the land
instead of in its proper element. and it
suffers; put it back into the water ard
the memory of the past is lost in graft
trde for the present.
Literally you may live in God, and a
life of veritable miracle it will be.
These human hearts may be filed
with God as the sponge in the depths
of ocean Is filed with water. If you
can be passive in His hands, if you
can lift the curtains in your spiritual
house and let the sunshine of His pres
ence fill the rooms, if you can love and
trust, as the Christ did, what wonder
world this will become! And it is
possible. for did not the Master saw,
'''Greater things than these shall ye
do2'' We have not yet learned what
religion is, or what it can do for a man
We have looked at it from afar. our
eyes dimmed by strange prejudices
and misconceptions. but when our feet
actually press its sacred soil, and look
ing up we can see the ''cloud OF wit
nesses,' then life will be mountain
path that leads to the summit, and
thence to the eternal Beyond.
GEORGE H. HEPwORTH.
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