The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-06
Address Given Yesterday BY Mrs
Mia Upper Maynard
At. THE UNITARIAN CHURCH
BRINGS OUT THE IDEA OF THE
UNITARIANs.
Takes For Her Text, "Seek First the
Kingdom of God and His Right
eousness, and Ali These Things
Shall Be Added Unto You"-A
Large Congregation Listens

the Unitarian church yesterday, her
theme being, Seek ye first the king
dom of God, and his Righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto
you
From this she calculated the Unita-
rian idea, beginning with the quota
ton from Emerson:
who feeds men serveth few; he
serves all
Who dares be true"
What is the value of the church in
the life Of the individual, and what
does it mean to the community
asked the speaker; and, continuing,
she said n part:
The religion of a people has invari-
ably moulded its customs in family,
and in society formed its institutions
and very largely controlled its actlVl-
ties.
Society is an organism; the life of
communities and nations is as truly a.
living body to the social scientist as is
the head, trunk and limbs of the single
human frame. Society is living
thing-subject to growth, to change, 10
apparently diseased condition, and de-
pendent part upon part, just as IS any
other growing organism Now, in this
organic society, growing throughout
the century the growth has largely
come through the dynamic power OF
religion in one form or another. The
incentive and the controlling ideas
governing any period have been con-
nected with its religious life.
The great difference between the re-
ligion of the mass of human kind in the
past and that which is characteristic
of the really modern world today lies
in the fact that today we are conscious
of this universal mission of religion.
For the religion of today there is no
division into sacred and secular. Re
ligion is humanitys higher life, and
nothing of interest to humanity is for
eign to it, So that while it might
seem as if the modern world had al
lowed the progress of knowledge and
its .thousand-fold activities TO crowd
religion from the supreme place it had
held in the past it is only seeming.
Instead of that, religion has ceased to
think itself a fire insurance depart
ment in an Inflated world, and knows
itself to be, by divine right, the in
spring, all-compelling force which
must eventually control every channel
of life in society's living whole. The
school, the home. the town, the nation,
are all institutions Of religion. Each
is or might be, the sacred temple for
the indwelling spirit Of holy purpose.
The question then comes, what need
for the church if all the activities and
interests of every day have religious
significance? Why can they not take
the place of church life? Would not
the modern spirit logically require this2
Is there a place still for the distinctive
religious organization? AS well ask,
what need there is for a powerhouse
because the uses of electrical force have
become so many and diverse. As well
expect to have all the machinery of a
city under one motive power and then
try to dispense with any system for
supplying that motive force. Hundreds
Of lives have been wasted in the search
for the principle of perpetual motion
1t would be a great saving of effort and
Of expense if something could be found
which would keep machinery in motion
without requiring any expenditure of
muscle or fuel, or chemical compound;
but, alasi few persons not in an insane
asylum, or needing to be 81 provided
for. has any serious faith in such
means of doing the worlds work. The
growth of invention has been so mar
Vicious that ne are disposed to believe
that the time VIII come when if We
touch a button some mysterious con-
triVance will manage to do all the rest.
But even the genius Of the nineteenth
century has never succeeded in making
it unnecessary that some expenditure
of time and money and strength be
given wherever actual results are ac-
compliShed. There is always involved
stored up energy Of mind and muscle
and physical force whenever actual
work is accomplished. In the same way
will the church be always needed. Just
because there are SO many departments
of human life into every one of which
should enter the spirit of religious con-
n
that can be called common or unclean
in all the great realm of human en-
ergy, is it supremely important that the
church should continue to exist as the
dynamic centre out from which should
radiate living lines Of spiritual force.
If every action of our complicated
modern life is TO be lifted into the
realm Of unselfish purpose and
high-hearted helpfullnesS there must
be some centre in every commu-
nifty in which may be found the inspir-
alton Of true ideals and the moving
power of spiritual fellowship. While
activities are many, the principles that
actuate are few; the spirit which i'm
pels all is the one spirit of good will to
men, so out of the myriad employments
OF the daily life men and women must
come together in religious fellowship
If they would receive that influx of
thought and life which will make all
paths clearer and give strength to walk
therein worthily.
Let US notice the significance Of these
passages that 1 read 10 you this morn
ing in this connection: Seek We first
the kingdom Of God and his righteous
ness and all these things shall be added
unto you"
Whatever the occupation, the highest
Accomplishment in that work can be at
tanned by the one who seeks most earn
estly "the kingdom of God and his
righteousness. The conditions Of that
lingdom-the spirit of love, JOY, peace,
gensleness, meekness, faith-are the
conditions which glorify all the happen
ingS of daily life, whatever the Occupa-
ton; and without the spirit which IS
found in that kingdom all activities be-
come void.
Then this thought from Emerson:
''Who feeds men serveth few; ne serves
all who dares be true" The work for
material ends is a necessary service.
but the good accomplished in this way
is small compared with that which
comes from a life which is in itself the
embodiment Of character and high pur-
pose. One must needs be temporal. the
other is eternal. The perfect service is
that in which the daily practical labor
is always kept against a background
Of high aim and answering consecra-
ton to that aim.
Mrs Anthony tells q story which illus
trates how prone most persons are to
care more for the feeding of the fcw
than for truth TO a principle. She ut one
time went about in Philadelphia with a
friend to raise money for the anti-slaverv
cause. She found few ready to help. Some
months later. she went among the same
persons soliciting aid for a runaway
slave. Every one responded. The indi-
vidual case appealed to them. but the
abstract principle aroused no response
VI lharn coull be no cnmna rienn hatr-n.1,