The record-union., 1899-10-29
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
BY G. Grosvenor Dave.


many new name has been added to |
Catholic ranks and some men, from a |
religious standpoint, have become moth |
ing at all. Men seem to be running |
to and fro seeking solid ground for |
their spiritual feet and no denomina- |
ton has been free from this restless
ness. But is this all of evil? Certainly |
not If it brings into mems hearts a !
truer sense of the fact that denomina- |
tions are not different armies but mere |
ly different regiments in one army. The
churches have often resembled the rob-
Der barons of the Rhine, who were
afraid of each other and so shut out
their neighbors and shut up them
selves. The modern tendency has much
more of neighborliness and much less
of suspicion than formerly. 1t is a
hopeful evidence of mutual helpfulness
and mutual trust that may certainly be
taken as one of the signs of the times
Here and there, however, are men like
Dr. De Costa, who see in the liberality
Of thought that took Dr. Briggs into
the Episcopal Church a dread portent
Of danger to come wherein they fear
that the light of faith will cease, that
the ray of inspiration will become faint
and that mems lives will become gross
ly material instead of highly spiritual
as they had hoped. But these timor
Gus souls, it seems to me, are blind as
to what is really spiritual and forget
that spirituality can manifest itself in
many more ways than one.
There certainly have been changes |
and great ones since the unhappy Sab |
bath days that many of us spent, as
recently as twenty-five years ago. We |
feel vexed at the memory of the sane
timonious air that some people used to
assume; for the world is rapidly ad |
vancing beyond the point where loud |
and long prayers, or the bended knee, |
or the sharp corners. of a thin-lipped
mouth are regarded as proofs of either
special friendship with God or special
power among men. The world is too
spiritual any longer to accept the
brass of outer appearances in lieu Of
the real gold of inner character lived
out. This is a day of testing and of
trying The religious metal that relies
on appearance only is being cast out
and in its place there is growing into
strength a better understanding OH the
mand that the possession of religion
shall result in a life of godliness rather
than a look of godliness
Hence Jeremiah preachers who fore
tell evil to the world because the pews
before them are empty, might we'll
look within first for an explanation,
and ask whether even prodigal sons
do not loathe empty husks when the
hn nt thaY~ - y
plenty. Men who know the world and
its burdens, sin and it's sorrows, life
and its manifestations, will no longer
have patience with the thoughts that
show the preacher as one ignorant Of |
the depths, the nights and the aspira-
tions of the human hearts before him.
To this extent the world is more relig-
ious than it ever has been before-it
asks for bread and is not content with
a stone.
AS an example of the present relig-
lous energy of the world, it is only nee
essary to mention the young peo-
pies movement that has had so
much to do with imparting renewed
strength to half dead churches. This
movement is a most wonderful one.
PNAACNtiy VI iSdulZeu, wen managed ana
so ramified that the remotest corners
OF the country are reached and brought |
INTO knowledge of their unity one with |
another But the strength of these is
not found alone in the weekly gather
lngs for testimony. It's power lies in |
the fact that the energy of youth finds |
solace for itself in interpreting into !
action the thoughts of the spirit. The |
rel lic~in Of 20 i
than of dogma, and it is a hopeless |
effort and hopeful sign that men and |
women are not willing to be dragged |
back to conditions that have had much |
TO DO with making the worlds cup run
over with sorrow. Is this religious |
decay? Nay, it is a sign of religious |
life gained from the inspiration of the |
hrst century, when laboring Savior |
was revealed.
Take if you will all the attacks by |
sclentlsts that have been made upon |
feliglon or that are supposed to have |
peeh made Lovers Of truth should |
welcome all attacks instead Of dread |
ing the1n. Criticism makes us sure of |
our own ground and, if we are not sure. |
lhem criticism makes us valiant to do |
service under new banner of truth. |
Not all the attacks of all the greatest
thinkers can make one thoughtful man
peleve, as he stands out under the
stars at night, that he is as much a
Ihatler OF chance and has as little Gu
euie nope as the sheep at his feet
0eiehce oTlhgs US face to face with the
necessity OF abandoning some ideas in
ID aNoi VI othefs, or of remaining in the
grossest credulity. The very forminr
of such dilemma creates thougbtfn1
people, and increases the religion tbat
finds power, not in words hnt in
work