The Indianapolis journal., 1898-12-11
INTIMATIONS OF THE UNSEEN.
Many of Them Come by Other Roads
than the Five Senses.
The Outlook.

The Outlook.
How little of that which makes up life is
visible or tangible. We habitually speak
and act as if there were certain realities
with which we are in such immediate con-
tact that we constantly see and touch them;.
they exist beyond all question because their
existence is evident to the senses. The man
who is willing to accept nothing of the being
and nature of which he has not ocular or
tangible proof accepts these things as reali-
ties; all the rest he disnaisses as dreams or
rejects as incapable of demonstration. And
he does this, in many cases, because he be-
lieves that this is the only course open to
one who means to preserve absolute lnteg-
rity of intellect and to be entirely honest
with himself and with life. man of this
temper is ready to believe only that which
he thinks he knows by absolute contact;
there is much else he would like to believe.
but he will not permit himself consolation
or comfort based on hope which the I'M
agination, or the heart, or the mind, work
ing without due regard for the laws of evil
derce, has turned into a reality. Many
honest men 60 through life and will not
see God because they have bolted all the
doors through which God enter and
reveal himself.
d
pictured to a friend with whom he was talk
ing the making of man. And after man was
made in His own image God said: He is
complete" and then He added: mo, there
is no way in which / can approach him. l
will open the great door of the imagination
in his soul, so that / may have access to
him." And this great door, which opens out
ward upon the whole sweep and splendor of
holt oYod h1Y. II
were an unlawful and Illicit entrance to the
souli They sit in the sublime theater IN
which the drama of human life is being en-
acted, and insist that there is no stage De.
cause, for the moment, the curtain is down!
If there were a blank, impenetrable wall
about us we might bring ourselves TO be-
Iieve that there was nothing beyond It's solld
structure; but that which closes us IN 10 a
certain range of clear knowledge and sense
perception is not an impenetrable Darrler;
it is the, thinnest of curtains LiInipenetrae
fiber that the breath of mortality seems to
draw it back for a moment-of such thin
as If lights were bing kindled or extin-
guished behind it. The Intelligent man VINO
looks at sunrise or sunset knows that there
are other worlds than ours, ana that the
splendor of dawn and the tender glory OF
twilight are as real in the physical sense
as the solid earth under his feet. In like
manner and with equal conviction, he who
lets himself see all that life reveals knows
that the light which kindles and fades along
the horizon lines of the souls life, day after
day, shines from other suns tnan those
which flood the vast abysses of space with
Spendor. All the deeper realities OF lie are
conveyed to US by intimatlon rather than
by demonstration. They come to us by
other roads than those of the senses The
person to whom are bound In the sweet
est relationships or by the noDlest compul-
sion are never really seen by us we see
and touch their garments; We never see or
touch them. They may live with US IN the
closest intimacy, and yet no sense OF ours
10 of 1nnrOach DptWpPn
us When they vanish out Of life they leave
behind them all that we ever saw or
touched but how pathetically unaYaillng is
the appeal of the heart to the garment laid
aside in the haste or pain OF the maj night!
All we ever saw is there, and yet II IS moth
ingi That which we loved: ana Which made
the world dear and familiar through the
diffusion of its own purity ana sweetness,
we never saw or touched. 1t was never
within the reach of our senses; IT was ac-
cessible only to our spirits 20 sacred cree. was II
that the final mystery was never dlsSlpated:
so divine was it that the final veil was never
lifted One came our way and dwelt with us
in a tabernacle of flesh. even as Christ did,
and then departed. leaving behind all that
we ever saw or touched. and yet taking
with her all that was real. companionable
comprehensive! And yet. with this con-
slant and familiar illustration OF the pres
ence of a reality which we never touch or
see under our roof and by our side. we re-
lect the intimatioHS that come to US from
every quarter and bring us the truths by
which we live!
For we live in the things which are unseen
and intangible. which we have never looked
upon with our eyes nor grasped with our
hands we live by means Of houses, food.
raiment warmth exercise: we travel talk
ainuse ourselves: we employ A vast number
of instruments for our pleasure and host
Of agencies for our comfort All these things
we use and profit by but We live in and
through none of them. We live in and
through qualities possessions, passions. con-
vsetions and activities which are intangible
and invisible. We live IN and through love.
faith hope duty devotion. sacrifice. these
~, 10 x4shf frh 6ppDPEt
life and make that life valuable and sig
nifcant to us The great struggles Of the
race have been for ideas and PRINCIPLES and
sentiments: the real berueSts Of the mast
are certain moral or intellectual qualities
which instantly move over the horizon Qf
the mind when the words jew Greek. Rn-