The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-07-24
THE DEVOTIONAL MEETING
BY REV. C. G. CONNER,
La Crosse. Wis.
MAIDSTONE, Eng.

Our devotional meetings are Towering
seasons of the religious nature. They
are not so much times of cultivation. If
we gather not the seeds of truth, and
drop them not in thought, and give them
not our sympathy, our interest, our care,
our attention daily. they are not likely
to flourish and flower in the soil of self.
When the calendar says it is spring or
full summer, we may look in vain for
the unfolding or appearance of natures
possibilities. When the appointed &C.
casion comes for the revealment of
what the Holy Spirit, which is like sun
shine to natures needs, might have
wrought within US there may appear
nothing but leaves" We want flowers
for their own sake and for their prom
ises. They make the earth fair and the
air sweet. They prophesy the fruit; ma
ture that brings them forth is passing
forward to better things; she celebrates
what is to be and not what has been;
she has power to feed and bless, she has
power to live in untold generations, even
the power of endless life, and her bloom
is the worshipful expression of what is
in her consciousness, the incense that
| rises, the sweetness that wins company
to her shrine in joyfulness with her that
| she shall bear fruits and shall live again.
So we want prayer and speech, the
meditations Of the heart and the words
Of the lips. They shall beautify life;
they shall shed fragrance about. They
shall be witnesses of our faith. Others
may take knowledge of the spirit.
Friends may be won in fraternity. Lam
| guage. which Alcuin has defined as 1.-THE
herald of the SOUL" shall disclose the
kinship of hearts, reveal truths and
show the way to the divine. And all
exercises of the devotional nature have
certain relation to righteous character
and good deeds and useful living. Truth
throws its light upon life. upon pro-
blems of society, upon questions of duty.
upon ways of right. Communion with
her God both advises and quickens con-
science. Cherished in the presence of
our fellows. she bringeth us into good
understanding and leadeth into the
fields of favor and the paths of peace.
And. too, that power in US which pauses
to worship is the same that passes on to
work. renewed and strengthened, ener-
gized and inspirited for holy and daily
tasks. Our devotions are the promise
of the fruitage of faith and love. They
are instinct with Eternal Life.
An occasion whereto want of prepare
ton comes barren and wherein neglect is
manifest. may be pictured to the imag-
ination. 1t is not an improbability; it
may be unhappily resemblance of the
real in too many instances.
The members of union, on the whole,
think not of the subjects of the devo-
tional meetings until an hour or less be-
fore the times appointed. maybe. not
then. The leaders plan not for their
meetings, make not the themes central
to their thought and vital to the soul,
feed not the fires of the spirit with fuel
that shall flame in prayer and speech
with the announcement of their respec-
tive topics. They reach the altar of the
union two or three minutes or more late;
the songs are yet to select, and in the
haste, while others are waiting. num-
Der of these chosen bear a very remote
relation to the sentiment of the hour.
If the members had cultivated the re-
ligious character, had enriched their
minds with the best in our Christian
literature, had drilled the faculties of
thought and speech upon other than
trivial matters of conversation, the time
might not pass without interest and
even profit. But, alas! few cut flowers
may be displayed, beautiful bits of senti-
ment broken from their parent stalks;
some artificial, without scent. and bear
ing never any promise of fruits. These
are stuck into an otherwise almost bare
soil, and save the tufts of natures
green in spots about. there is nothing
living and growing, developing and
opening in the hour.
And general culture might not bring
forth the special things we wish for or
others expect on occasion. II we want
lilies we must plant and water the bulbs,
watch and tend the stake; if we want
sweet peas we must not SOW clover; il
we want apple bloom and fruit, we must
not put into the ground pear scions. So
if we want to see the development of a
certain theme we must think on that,
bring our reading and memory in rela-
tion to that as richness and light make
our meditation as the gardeners trowel.
All truth is kindred as all plants that
grow. One mind may be hospitable to
all as one soil may nurture different
plants. The culture that is friendly to
one truth or seed may favor all. But
our gardens are not proepered accord
ing to our pleasure unless We give atten-
ton to the kind of things which we
plant or SOW in them. We can't have a
real interest in flowers and neglect our
own grounds; we can't get beans or corn
or wheat from our fields il we are indif-
ferent to what we plant. We are indi.
*Read at Detroit Y. p. c. U. Devotional Con-
gress by Mrs. C. G. Conner In the absence Of