The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-11-10

for happiness man finds no comfort IL
life, man cannot be happy. Not i'll
bread alone doth man live. but i'll ev
cry word that proccedeth from the
mouth of Cod Thus did l see before
me pictured plainly upon every stone.
pictured upon every product of mans
ingenuity in the great exposition the
demonstration OF absolute need of re
ligion for man. of religion which unitcs
man With God. brings man up to God,
brings Gods favors down to man.
/, Man needs God. He needs him that
he may have an ideal higher than him
self; higher than earth; that he may
have an ideal towards which he may
lift himself up in obedience to his in
nate aspirations for greatness; he
needs God so that in communion with
Him he may drink into his soul the SUI
perior life and return to earth Il SUI
perior being. 1t is in the human effort
to rise up to God that we find the
spring of every progress, the source of
every grandeur. The history of hui
manity tells us that whatever the i'll
spiration that came to mankind to-
ward greater and better things, it al
| ways came III the name of the Deity.
And when in history man turned away
from the Deity and cOnsecrated him self
only to earth he was lowered even unto
the earth. To-day you can travel from
one nation to another, from one tribe
to another, and as you notice the pres
ence of religion or the absence of rcig-
ion, so you see men rising upward or
men going downward. You can enter
| into the black forest of Africa, and
you will find there tribes Of human
beings so low and degraded that an eff
fort is needed to recognize in them
fellow beings; religion has been re-
ton. And this moral power which we
need so much, which comes not from
the earth, whence will it come? Only
from the Deity, from the living power
above us, who has created us subject
to duties and responsibilities; who is
the supreme arbiter Of justice who de
mands that we fulfill our duties and
follow out our responsibilities. 1t is
i'll the light of Il supreme legislator
commanding righteousness forbidding
| iniquity. that will bring home to man,
however solitary he may be, or how
ever powerful be the temptation, the
sense of righteousness. the feeling that
he must do what is right if the heav-
ems were to fail; for far more import
ant to him than the heavens above or
the earth beneath, or his fellows around
him, is his approval by the supreme
arbiter of Righteousness. And the help
that we need to do what is right comes
from God. God having created us for
righteousness does not leave us in the
imposSibility of attaining it, He pours
his favorS upon souls willing to re-
ceive them, us he pours rain and dew
upon the fields needing such gifts that
they may bring forth blossoms and
fruit. But to receive the sacred gift
we must turn towards the skies. look
up toward the Father of men and say
to him "Our Father who art in heaven,
lead us not into the temptation. but
deliver us from evil" In religion. in
the worship of the Deity in prayer to-
the Deity. man finds the power to he
Il moral being. And the hope which
earth cannot give God gives. God has
times; Me has spoken through his
prophets, and in latter days through
His only begotten Son, telling man to
care but little for earth. as 1t is only Il
pilgrimage place for Il day. and
mans true home is elsewhere in Gods
own paradise: telling that death is but
body; telling him that through the
sumbcr darkness of the tomb Christian
hope spreads rays of Divine light and
enables us to eXclnim. death where
is thy victory. grave where is thy
sting?"
1t is well ut times we see earth mt its
best, that we realize its powcrcssncss
to give us what we need. to give us
what we need most And because
religion is SO vitality necessary fol
mans happiness, for mans righteous
ness, for the civilization of the race
We cannot but feel deep alarm when we
notice the neglect into which among
so many the practice of religion is fall
ing. Men speak of inventions and dis
covcrics. they spend their energies
upon earth to bring forth rich products
from it; how many in their service OF
earth do not find time to kneel down III
prayer before the Almighty; how many
refuse to give themselves the trouble
to so once q week for an hour or sc
into the temple of religion, to put them
selves for little while in contact will
the Deity. and learn that they are
made for something better that eatrth
This is the evil of evils. While VIC re.
joice Mt the material wonders of the
age. we must dcplore the spiritual Ill
| ~