The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-12
THE QUEST OF PERFECTION.
At the Peace Cross on Mount st. Al
bnns Chaplain Pierce Speaks.

! "A congregation OF several b,V-
! ple attended evensong at o'clock last
J evening at the Peace Cross on the site OF
| the Cathedral of IS Peter and Paul.
| Mount st Adams. The first part of the
service was conducted by the rector, the
| Rev. G. C. Bratenahl. The sermon was
delivered by Chaplain Pierce. Of the
| Eleventh United States Cavalry. sta
| toned at Fort Myer Va. who took his
| text from Second Peter Hills: But grow
| in grace and in knowledge of our Lord
| and viour.
Chaplain Pierce spoke of ones exper-
fences in meeting people who seemed to
believe in their own perfection, and who
would speak as an authority on any sub
| ject which might be under discussion. So
far as his own Investigations had gone,
however, he had found that people, now
ever sweet and lovable, generous and
kind they might be, had the faults and
failings which one is accustomed to find
in human beings, and that 1t were idle to
suppose otherwise. saying that the vary
ing degrees of approach toward perfec-
ton were tributes to the strength of hui
man endeavor exerted by individuals
through Christian faith and fortitude.
Chaplain Pierce continued:
This is such an age of marvels, when
men can manufacture almost anything.
when by chemical action they are even
talking seriously of making diamonds,
that the Church is looked upon by many
of it's critics as an institution for the man
ufacture of perfection, as if by some
mysterious alchemy the soul that is
earth-stained shall at once be trans
! formed into a beatific and sanity con-
dition But many of US have long since
ie, Nata ont &C
from which saintship can result, any
more than there is communicable secret
whereby an infant may at once bound into
mans estate.
Il am just weak enough to be glad that
the world is not overstocked with perfect
people, and for no other reason than the
plebeian one that misery loves company
l believe that too many samples of per-
lection would be oppressive. We would be
lodging them on the street corners-not
because their virtues would not be agree
able and attractive but because their dis
play of characters ideal actually realized.
the difficult attainment actually achieved,
would diShearten us in our beginnings of
godliness, just the last contestants in
race Will so often give up and drop out
when they see the man who has dis
tanced them already at the goal.
And then. if perfection were IN earthly
attainment the Bible would have to be
rewritten to make it fit the new condition
of actualized ideals There would be no
place in II for Abraham, who. though
mentioned as the friend of God was very
human after all, and did some things that
were officially improper. Nor should we
have Jacob, with his shrewdness; nor
Noah. with his occasional dubious out
breaks. nor Simon Peter nor John, with
their peculiar characteristics. But with
so many imperfect characters portrayed,
the good old book Is given such an air of
reality and sincerity, l know ii to be writ
ten for men like me.
1t does not come to us who are less
than the least of all saintk calling us to
an impossible goodness, and taunting us
with view of men ideal in every sense,
and, therefore. out of touch with US and
vaiueless as teachers. 1t is no fairy tale
for magic men. but a real book for
real men. 1t shows US how men of like
passions with ourselves have fought the
battle OF life and have won. And as in
the historic and biographical portions, so
in the didactic. II sets forth remedies for
our daily Ills and offers counsel and help
to men whose hearts are constantly the
battle-ground for forces of good and evil.
1T shows how we, too, In common with its
tempted and some times yielding charac-
tiers. may be fitted for a holier realm.
And as in the text the method to be pIr-
sued is one of development and growth.
st Peter, who wrote the words, was
not the man to expect maturity in the
disciples at a single bound. His own ex-
perience forbade so Utopian a dream In
this chapter he holds his readers to the
thought of spotlessness as an ultimate
end of their striving, but he is careful to
present well the gradual stages by
which they are to reach so desirable a
condition The Christian religion has a
large place for progression and develop
ment. And IL seems that in this the
Divine Being has but presented laws that
are in harmony with his orderly way OF
working.
was not perfect in the sense in which
we hope to attain perfection. Before his
fall II is true that he had a negative
goodness; that is, he had no vices, he
was in a state of equilibrium between
good and evil. capable of moving down
ward toward deprayity or upward to the
mastery and requirement of positive
virtues. The Creator had fitted up the
earth as a vast laboratory for his investi-
cation and then adjured him to attempt
some positive requirements.
He was nut here, in the words of
Genesis, to 'replenish the earth and TO
subdue it, He was not created a master,
but with the ability to become master
The idea that a man could jeopardize his
was unknown in the Garden of Eden.
Adams God and natures God We're one
and the same. and he put the man he had
formed into such relations to nature that
he should delve into its secrets and solve
its problems and experiment with its re
sources until he should know it. and
know more of him.
knowledge of truth of any sort should
not only broaden mans horizon but add
to his knowledge of God. And not only
are we advanced by knowledge of nature
that is beneath us. but that part of