The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-06-13

IN each other and In God.
A strong, sweet, beautiful society
men and women robust in righteous
ness, tender in loving kindness and
charity-let that be our ideal, and
the ideal that we shall preach to the
world. Looking unto Jesus-not as
the promulgator of cast iron creed,
but as the ever living fountain head
of the inspirations by which we con-
quer in the battle against evil. Let us
emphasize those inspirations with all
our might and main, till men shall
feel them as their own, and feeling
them, shall rejoice in them with joy
unspeakable and full of glory!
To convince men of their inherent
divinity, as children of God; and to
help them to realize that divinity in
their daily lives, in their laws, and
institutions and general social con-
dition-in love one toward another
in the justice which metes out equal
rights to all, in the charity which
pities the unfortunate, in the beauti-
full Difference and considerateness
which insures gentleness and civility,
to do this is our mission, our God
given duty and privilege.
We must be what we have always
/
been-leaders. Having led the way
for SO long, we must not now drop to
the rear and become the rear-end of
the procession. 1t would be unworthy
of us; it would be base and coward
ly surrender of our birthright Our
place is at the front. Being Univer-
salists it is our privilege, and should
be our joy, to welcome all truth-the
newest found as well as the oldest
to welcome it, and to find some work
for it to do. Holding on, with both
hands as it were, to our reverence,
we should not refuse to listen to the
revelations of the quickened reason
of our age-the new born humanity
that is stirring within US. For of all
the things that might overtake us,
nothing could be more fatal than
stationariness, the assumption that
the age of inspiration is past, that
the Bible is closed. 1t is the office of
the true teacher to show that God is,
not was-that he speaketh, not spoke"
and that the soul of man, was, is aud
shall be-the field wherein God man
ifests his being and attributes.
Gods name is net 81 was" or Il
will be" but, | am. | ann When
some one told Pascal that Sunday
was day of rest, it occurred to him
to ascertain whether nature re lily
rested on that day; and being a
mathematician, he went out in the
evening of Saturday, and measured
certain blades of grass in field, and
on monday morning he measured
them again, when he found that
the grass had grown during the time;
and then nature had been Sabbath
breaking. The great l am is never
idle. Said Jesus, "My Father worked
hitherto, and | work"
We must work-and we must work
along the broad lines that God does,
or we shall be relegated to the rear.
Sir Walter Scott tells us of an old
lady who always had Sir Charles
Grandson read to her when she felt
drowsy; because, should she fail
asleep and wake up again, she would
lose nothing of the story, but would
find the characters just where she had
left theme onversing in the cedar
parlor.
Certainly, the church in the cedar
parlor can have but little influence
upon this great age, with its thrilling
issues and great, wide reaching prob
lens. The church that shall lead
and inspire this time must be larg-
er church-that is, a church of larger
sympathies and wide reaching prin-
ciples. 1t must, with one hand, grasp
the truth of the past, and holding in
its lap all present truth, must with
the other hand, be ready to take hold
of whatever of truth the future may
bring.
Now, of all the churches that |
know anything about, our own best
fulills this description. We are both
reverential and reasonable; having
said that the Bible contains revela-
ton of God, we have never, to my
knowledge, denied that God reveals
himself in nature and in man; we
preach that God has spoken; we do
not deny that he is speaking still; We
have admitted the marvellous achieve
ments of science and criticism; we
have not, | believe, so much as
dreamed that those achievements in
any way interfered with the human
spirit, or with its immortal aspirations.
Without any of the letters of the