Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-27
THE COSMOS AND MAN
DIR. CALIsCHs ABLE SERMON on
THIS INTERESTING SUBJECT.
A TRADITION OF THE EAST.
On This the Eloquent Rabbi Bases
an Intellectual Discourse I'm Which
He Compares Finite Man With the
Infinite World.

Rev. DR.. +. ". Calisch preached most
intellectual and interesting sermon or the
subject, 1.-THE Cosmos and the Man." at
Beth Ahaba Synagogue Friday night.
He took his text from Genesis l., 10:
And the Lord God formed man out OF
the dust of the ground. and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became a living being"
DR.. Calisch spoke as follows:
There is a quaint tradition from the
East that when God was about to create
man lie required the four archangeis.
Gabriel. Michael, ISRAELI, and AZrlel, to
bring the clay from the four quarters o.
the earth, so that man, being fashioned
of all the earth, would find himself at
home in whatever corner Of the globe
fortune led him.
There is a deeper truth embodied in
this tradition than even the thought OF
human ubiquitousness. The legend OF
man being child of all the earth as
symbolic Of his destined material world
conquest, leads by easy steps to that
other tradition. which tells Of Adam
was so large that though his feet rested
upon the ground, his head lowered into
the Heavens. and which is token or his
ultimate spiritual triumph, not only over
the blind forces of nature and Of DUMP
brute. but over his own lower self; that
though pedestaled upon the earth, yet
he shall finally gain Heavenly heights OI
moral acquisition and spiritual spiendor.
The world about us unfolds its marvels
in stupendous array. TO primitive man
these maryeIs were Of terrifying nature.
70 the savage, in MS mountain cleft
the phenomena Of elemental violence
were the tokens Of Divine wrath. Every
dash of lightning, every tnuhder-p peal
every foam-hecked wave, every heaVllS
| billow. every crashing tree, every bound
| ing rock, were but the palpable evidences
of Celestial anger, that was venting It's
| fury upon helpless humanity. The storm,
the whirlwind. the tempest, were the
| messengers from whose turbulence was
! the message of wrath Numbered forth
| md I'm whose wake of desOation and oil
| ruin was the testimony that something
was wrong. and the Divine power had TO
| be pacifed and placated with hastily
| brought offerings
MANS VISION ENLARGED.
But as the cosmos and the man grew
| older. they became better acquainted with
| each other. and their deepening acquaint-
ance brought better understanding As
| mans knowledge brOadened with the
| process Of the suns he learned more and
more Of his terrestrial home. He climbed
| its mountain peaks. he traversed its
plains, penetrated its forests. went down
| into it's valleys. deved into its bowels
! bridged its rivers, and crossed its oceans
| He placed his adventurous foot upon
every continent and every island OF the
| sea, and his daring keel, entering every
| bay, and gulf, and inlet, grated upon the
| shores Of every cline, thus verifying the
| thought of the tradition that as he was
| formed OF the dust of all the earth sc
| should he find his home mall its cor
| nCTS.
But he did more than make his home
| upon the earth-he made the earth his
willing handmaiden. 1t wove for him, it
! spun for him, it toiled and bore for him, ii
| became his nursing mother And with
each succeeding generation of men, the
| knowledge of her grew. With patient
! cunning man studied her, ana with un-
! wearying devotion, a devotion that no
| danger could daunt. no disappointment
deter, no failure exhaust, he sought her
| inmost confidence till he wrested from
| her her most reluctant secrets He learn
! ed her moods and methods. penetrated
| into the arcana of her workshop, gained
| entrance into her laboratory analysed all
| her chemicals tested all her elements
| and beheld the hidden workings OF hef
| glorious achievements.
| Then turning from the earth unto her
sister planets. ne compelled them 10 Drlhg
| their offerings to lay upon the altar OF ms
| knowledge. Weaponing his limited sight
| With the eve Of the telescope, he ranged
| the ornamental realms till all the Whlfl-
| ing worlds came under the dominance OF
! his intellect He called and counted the
| stars. He laid out their pathways. he de-
| scribed their orbits he anticipated lheli
| comings. and foretold unto the minute
when I'm the unrun ages. world Woulu
| st.n from the depths Of the unknown
| ,.otg and cross the Ight-path of his
| yisiou He attuneS his ear unto their
music ne heard their chOrused anthems
| ~ rraise and as the swelling paeau rolls
| rom the spheres on high and Is reached
| fror the earth below, he realizes that
| tb. "heayens are telling the glory Oh
! cod the armament declaring his handi-
| work." that
"Tn reasons ear they all rejoice
1 Ana inter forth a glorious voice.
Forever singing as they shihe'
The hand that made US is divine
FINITE MAN
And nc man conquered the cosmos ne
- 10 APPRECIATE his own poslIon
tb6reir He perceived that all the N
li,-i.I,,.I movements Of the universe WERE
~, tndeDendent. but came from one
so,,rae. all the separate voices We're ne
| rotas ~ but one melody; all the ulyridu
ra,s of light were fed from one centre
an The colors blended into a single fa-
Jiarcc of transcendental beauty. BacB
81 the countless phenomena he realized
| H. noumenon; back all all numDeflcss
f,rms of life the fOuutain-head OF the
soIa and absolute life. And CT this aDS2-
,,te life this essential noumenOn, Is
no nor a part. and ne alone conscious
irteqer? Until his ear was formed TIE
harmony OF the spheres was unheard
| Until his eve beheld who could note ne
| beauty of the earth, the glory OF the
| sea the splendid radiance of the sun
| eet the majesty Of star-studded canopy
| who beside him could gauge the oeptns
| erd distrt ces, MEASURE the mountains
| or understand the method and the ordel
| that underlle it all? And by Just SC
| much as nan does this. by just so nueI
| does ne advance 10 his true destiny
Man has learned much from nature
| and he has much yet to learn. We are
| standing on the Threshold. The great
| chamber OF the cosmic economy lies re
| yond the door upon which we have 9u'