The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-08

Rev. A, L. Hudson spoke yesterday
morning upon "A Gospel of Gladness "
he said that the teachings of Jesus
were full Of religious optimism
abouhding in. the good cheer Of hope
and JOY and gladness; but that, owing
chiefly to the influence OF asceticism,
this gospel of gladness had become
perverted into one of gloom. Penance,
scorning and other forms of punish
ment have been regarded as necessary
religious exercises in the past, and
similar ideals only little less crude
are found to prevail in our own CEN
fury.
An atmosphere of gloom and sadness
is too often found in our churches as
if this were the natural and necessary
expression of religion. Sermons and
hymns a4e apt to refer to men and
women in a sort of mournful and hope
less way as worms. Sunday has been
made a day of repression and gloom.
Life has been made to seem an evil
and religion sort of barter in futures
in which we give up a certain amount
CT happiness in this world in order TO
secure large, quantity in the next.
A false notion of pain has come to
prevail. 1t is often true that suffering
is means of discipline. But the mis-
take is made of deifying the pain itself
as though it were an essential part
of all religious experience, and the
more pain the more religion, not re-
cogniZing that pain is simply evidence
of imperfect or diseased conditions,
while JOY is a sign of health. On this
account many religious people make a
pretense of gloomy and melancholy
feeling in speaking of life and religion,
thinking this a proof of piety. Others
come to gloat over a low state OF feel
ing as though this in itself would be a
sufficient passport to heaven.
OF course all such distorted and per-
verted views are an injury to the
cause Of religion. The true object of
religion is to dispel gloom and uproot
its cause, to make life more cheerful
and joyous now and here, not merely
to promise it herafter. JOY is an es-
sential element of the best sort of
achievement in any field. A low tone
of feeling is unfavorable to the COM
prehensiop of life's possibilities or the
exercise of our own energies. And this
is just as true in religion as in business.
The religion humanity needs is a re-
ligion which will stimulate our noblest
powers by imparting to them hope and
JOY and courage.
a caution is needed, however. against
contentment With the mere posses
sion of joyous feelings in religion. Re-
ligious feeling Of any kind is of little
value except as ii is translated into
acts There is such a thing as indulg-
ing IN the mere luxury of joy, having
as some say "a blessed season. with
out any practical connection with the
every day activities and relations OF
life. Mere emotional intensity, either
of joy or sorrow, of course is not re-
ligion. Feeling underlies all action
but it is incomplete until it expresses
itself in deeds.
Another caution is against the dan
ger of regarding excess of feeling as q
test of joyfulness. Turbulent joys are
the lowest form of religious feeling
Ecstacy is not so good as peacefulness
Ripptes show the shadows, but the
deeps are calm. AS human life grows
more at one with the divine life
through the uplifting power of religion
there comes to US more and more the
benediction of that peace that passetf
understanding" 1.-The spirit bearett
witness with our spirit, aud the fruit
of the spirit is love. joy, peace
The subject of Mr.. Hudson's sermon
next Sunday morning will be 1.-The
Holy Grail"