Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-03-01


How do we get this view? How do
we see all the parts of the world
unite to make one StupendOuS whole?
How do we see all the conflicting
ideas of right harmonic and form
beautiful ideal? What makes us feel
IL is our supreme duty to strive to
realize it? MY answer is that we gain
this inspiring view of the word by
faith, and in this way, faith is the act
| of the whole man, we never believe
with a part of our nature, one part
cannot act without the other, every
faculty must have share, the reason,
the feelings and imagination must
work together in the development of
faith. You find how true this is when
you consider the real difficulty of I'M
| belief, it arises from the fact that
men use only part Of their nature:
If man uses his eyes only he cannot
see laws or principles and he does not
believe in them; if a man does not use
| imagination the ideal has no existence
for him. No one faculty or sense can
make us conscious Of truth for it is
not what we can see by the outer eye
or by reason alone. Truth is thought
and feeling and beauty. We may
reaSOn.and it is good for US to do so. it
will help us toward the truth and yet
| the reason does not solve all the
| problems of life, there is a feeling
which goes deeper than reason and
gives an assurance Of truth when
reason fails to satisfy us; then there is
| imagination which carries US beyond
| either reason or feeling, there is a fine
and pure imagination which sees sub
lime truths beyond the power of
reason or feeling to grasp.
| The dOubter does not use his whole
| nature and so he cannot see the truth:
| the world has no meaning for him as
| he does not see the unity of all its
| parts; it is all in pieces, diSjointed, full
OF antagOniSmS and conflict. no
eternal principle, no grand purpose.
no perfect wisdom or infinite love
overruling it's evil; he sees nothing to
awaken interest, inspire admiration
or quicken activity, this is how doubt
begetS Indifference and paralyZes life.
But when we use every faculty they
| all combine to give us true view of
| the world. In this way the Scientist
! gets his view, he does not simply look
| at few facts, he is more than a
| superficial observer, he enquiries into
the causes Of things, he brings his
reason into exercise and more of the
world is revealed to him, he discovers
the law of things; he. may go on to
multiply his discoveries and widen his
outlook, seeing more Of the truth as
he brings his full powers into active.
earnest search; he can study the law
| discovered 10y reason and learn its
purpose; he can watch the changes it
works in life and society; he can follow
c lNI-t l,n 81
nation until he sees that it is meant
TO work out universal good; and this
is faith, he believes as reason, feeling
and imagination are all active, then
he sees the truth and becomes con-
WINGED that spiritual laws and forces
and purposes are the greatest real-
ties. When he uses his whole nature
he touches them and is conscious of
them.
Faith, then, is the creative power
because by it the whole man comes
into contact with divine purpose
and power.
We all have to admit that every
great work has been done by faith.
The men of faith saw the possibility
and certainty of the results at which
they aimed. They were sure of sue
| cess in their enterprises. When they
began to build ships and railroads, to
construct the telegraph and telephone
they were sustained in the long
process of experiment and difficult
task by confidence in an ultimate
triumph over every hindrance, they
saw the end from the beginning, and
they were able to do chat by faith.
They could not have done it if they
had been mere eXperimenterS, simply
finding out what things were. If
they had not discovered the law of
things they could never have been sure
they would hold together or known
what could be done with them: it was
this discovery of law and changeless-
ness in nature which gave confidence
In the certain success Of their efforts
they found that by cooperation with
law they could put things together
they could build ships and railroads,
and put motive power on Them But
there was more than experiment in
this: we do not know the reality of
law by experiment. Observation and
experiment give us basis for it. but
we do not see it with our eyes and vet
we believe in it-that it governs our
life this moment and will do so to-
morrow, that law will govern the
future is not actual experience and
still we believe in the universally and
eternity of law. | am saying this to
show that faith is at the root of Ill
our activitieS--that we should have
no confidence that anything we do
would succeed unless we had faith
that the laws of the universe were on
our side cOnSpiring with us.
i is the same with the higher
achievements. Take liberty for
example, why did men make such
great sacrifices for liberty? Looking
at the conditions of life around them
how impossible it seemed. Men every
where were slaves. Tyrants were
supreme, holding both body and soul
in the tight grip. No visible sign of
deliverance. And yet in those days of
darkness there were men who gave
their lives in the battle for freedom.
How did they get that power which
made them so heroic and invincible?
1t came through faith in the justice
of their cause, that the uni fcrSe was
on their side, they looked through an
eye made clear and penetrating be-
cause they put their whole life into it:
reason, feeling and imagination gave
that marvellous power of vision by
which man can see what is destined
to come to pass: they saw the Almighty
purpose, that man was made for
freedom, that the divine power was at
work Overthrowing the oppreSSOr.
Faith. then, is the one greatest act
OF the whole man-using every faculty,
bringing his reason, his feeling and
imagination into contact with the
facts of the universe, his whole being
oil +, II, 10; l.;