The record-union., 1898-05-02
the field will recall christ's parallels of

III reply to this l answer. a half-trutn.
if taken for a whole truth, works harm.
We can and should worship God in SOL
itude and silence. Jesus sought the
quiet of the desert and the solitude Of
the mountain to be alone with God.
Cold mountains and the midnight air
witnessed the fervor of His prayer.
Knowing mans tendency to neglect prl-
vate worship, Jesus by specific COM
mand bids us enter our chamber, shut
the door and pray to our Father in Sc
cret
1t is wise for man to separate him
self from the crowd in order to be alone
with God and his conscience. This
world is too much with US. Getting
and spending we lay waste our powers"
We devote too little time to meditation.
We are more ready to work than to
worship. We would be stronger intel
lectually and stronger spiritually if we
knew how to use solitude and silence.
Yield all the days their due
! But when the evening light is lost or
dim
Commune with your own spirit and with
Him;
Restore your soul with stiffness as is meet
And when the sun bids forth, haste not to
Your strength, but kneel for blessing ere
you go
And meelly bind the sandals on your feet.
No exercise is more helpful to growth
in grace than regular systematic pri
vate devotions. More things are
wrought by prayer than this world
nent in holiness without much private
! prayer. 1t is good to be alone with
God
/ 1t is also well to go into the world Of
nature and contemplate the wisdom
and power Of God as they are revealed
in His works. Arise and go forth into
/ the plain and there 1 will talk with
thee" said God to the prophet Ezekial
| Then l arose and went forth into the
plain and behold the glory of the Lord
! stood there. We should study the
! works as we'll as the word of God.
/ Science has its unfolding of truth as
! have the Scriptures. The Book of Rev
elation and the Book of Nature had
one and the same author. God is
seen God in the star and the sea,
in the rock and in the clod. Speak to
the earth and it shall teach thee of
God its maker. The stars that gem
the armament unite with one voice,
forever singing as they shine, the hand
AS 1 stood in the observatory on the
lonely summit of Mount Hamilton, and
the great dome rolled back, revealing
the consultations of the heavens, my
soul was filled with a holy reverence
and solemn awe. 1t was to me as holy
! a place as a Cathedral and instinctively
II bowed my head and Worshiped.
! When l reflected that not only was the
! Il ,fI TIL l,
paths of bright gold" but was also
strewn with the wrecks of extinct
stars once brilliant as the sun, but now
cold and dead, 1 thought of that mag
nificent passage in the 1929 Psalm
"Of old Thou hast laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of thy hands. They shall perish
but Thou shalt endure yea all of them
shall wax old as a garment; as a yes
ture shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed, but Thou art the
same and Thy years shall have no
end" The Creator is greater than the
thing created. Shall we prize the
poem and ignore the genius that gave
it birth? Is it scientific to admire the
effect and not look back and up to the
cause? We are dull and blind with
look through nature up to natures
God. Nature rightly viewed leads the
soul to worship. In His hands are the
deep laces of the earth, the strength of
the hills is His also. The sea is His
and He made it. His hands formed
the dry land o, come, let US worship,
let US bow down, let us kneel before
our Maker. What divine poetry there
u &c.
like the great mountains" The ever
lasting hills are the symbol of God S
eternity.
Many have felt what Rus6in has said
Mountains seem to have been built
for the human race as at once their
schools and cathedrals. full of treasures
of Illuminated manuscripts for the
scholar. kindly in simple lessons for the
worker. quiet in pale clouds for the
thinker, glorious in holiness for the
Worshiper'
All this is true, grandly true. But
it is not all the truth. We must not
mistake hemisphere for a globe We
will dwarf our minds and starve our
souls if we do.
For the perfecting of his nature man
needs society as we'll as solitude. For
/
character he needs the temple as well
as the mountain. 1 know that God is
not confined to temples made with
hands. His way is in the sea and His
path in the great waters. I know that
the heavens declare His glory and the
mountains are types of His righteous
ness. I know that all space is holy,
for all space is filled by Him. And I
oil
clearer in some chosen place where His
own words of love are taught. Lord
1 have loved the habitation of Thy
house, and the place where thine honor
dWelleth. out of Zion the perfection
of beauty God hath shined In all
places where l record my name I will
come and I will bless Thee. Where
two or three are gathered together in
my name there am | in the midst of
them. l was glad when they said unto
me let US go into the house of the
Lord
The man who says he can worship
God alone, speaks a truth but not all
the truth concerning worship. A man
does not belong to himself alone. He
belongs to humanity. We are MEM
bers one of another A man has no
right to separate himself from his kind.
For others sake, if not for our own, we
should not forsake the assembling of
ourselves together. There is sympa-
thy and strength in fellowship. Your
prayer of faith confirms my wavering
trust My song of hope cheers you in
the tOilsOme path. I can struggle more
manfully against temptation by know
ing that others about me are battling.
You bear your grief more patiently by