Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-27

stand IN tnreefold capacity to US, anu
through Us. to the world beyond. It's APP
peal shall be to US not for sectarian doc
trine. but for the righteous life, and thus
IL shall be to US house Of prayer.
house instruction. a house of gathering.
"A house Of prayer. On, word Of holy
comfort! How the mention OF It stills the
noise Of strife and quiets the question
Ing soul. Hitler shall come every weary
heart. every burdened breast. every sor-
rowing soul, and pour out Its burden
unto God. Hitler shall come every bless
ed being. every happy life. every joyous
| spirit and send forth grateful praises.
"Oh you, father and mother, to whom
| the cry Of your children's unanswered
| wants does come In vain. who must see
| your dear ones gaze with tears at the
happier conditions OF their fellows, for
| your hand Is too short to help, or to
whom that cry shall never come again,
for the silence of the tomb has fallen be-
tween you; you will find here the
strength. the comfort. and the hope that
shall carry for you those burdens. II you
Will make this place a house OF prayer
and find here our God, who is near unto
| all who call upon Him.
And you, oh husband, wife, and chill
| dren, from whom g. dear one has been
| called away. or for whom a beloved may
| be quivering upon a couch OF pain, ana
| you all who are sorrow-laden and DUR
| dened, you to whom misery and want and
pain and poverty are constant COM
| panions, at whose board sorrow sits as
a guest, to you I say. oh, let this house
be known to you as house OF prayer.
and in it you will find the light OF COM
fort that shall illumine the darkness OF
your suffering. as surely as the perpetual
stars ilumine the night.
This house shall also be a house OF
instruction. There Is a wisdom that
is TO be sought here, that Is not the
wisdom OF books, but the wisdom or Ire
It is the wisdom that Job speaks of On
chapter 2S) that is not in the sea, nor
in the bosom of the deep, for which hne
gold cannot be given, nor silver be weigh
ed out as her price II is a wisdom that
God hath established when he said to
man: Behold the fear of the Lord is
wisdom, and to refrain from evil Is un-
derstanding.'
GREAT DIVIDING LINES.
"And lastly" DR.. Calisch concluded, "as
house of gathering shall this edifice
appeal to you. Out in the world there
are manifold divisions among men. In
the busy marts and market-places men
are separated and bounded off from one
another. There are the great dividing
lines OF employer and employee, Of pro-
Queer and consumer, OF capitalist ana
laborer. of brain-worker and of Drawn
worker. There are the almost irrefragi-
BILE social barriers, the distinctions OF
wealth and place, OF power and position
and. most OF all, the demarcations which
self-seeking and selfish interests raise up
between man and man 10 drive them
apart. But all these things should De
laid aside and forgotten when you pass
the threshold Of this house, for this snail
be house of gathering, where you, the
members OF the family OF Jacob, gather
around the board Of your One Father 10
partake OF spiritual food. where you MIN
gle your prayers and join voices In praise
unto God, where you bend your knees to-
gether and bow your heads In unison.
where you are all equal children of Him
who is equal Father TO US all. Nowhere
else do we feel so keenly the sense or
enuality: at no time does the conscious
ness of our solidarity, of our brotherhood
in faith so come home TO US as When we
are gathered in our home Oh prayer
where. safe from storms ana tempests'
safe from hate and violence. we are smell
tered under the shadow OF the MOST Hlgh.
such is the purpose OF this mousse ana
SO shall il ever be unto you. May Goa
grant that this edifice will appeal 10 you
in this threefold capacity as house OF
prayer. a house of instruction. and
house of gathering. that you Will come
here with reverence and humility, not
with vain-glory or boast that you will
come here TO learn, not to criticise; not
to be entertained or amused. but to be
touched in the deepest and hottest OF emo
tions. Come with love and with loyalty;
come with prayer and praise; come with
brotherhood and affection. and tnen In
truth will this house serve its purpose
not merely as place OF weekly devotlon'
but by guiding your lives service OF Coo
1t will be consecrated by your neart S de-
votion made sacrosanct by the glory Of
our immortal hope, by us made manifest
unto the eyes of the children OF men.
Amen"