The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-05-02

NJ. IA.
your mind, retain the power to
blush, respect the alarm and shrink
ing of the soul on the faintest sue- ).
picion of evil. Cynical people may
call you green; thank God that you
are that color, mind you keep it, it
is infinitely better than the scar and
yellow leaf of wasted life"
THE RECOGNITION OF GOD.
I would emphasize finally the
prominence that you give to the
recognition of God in your noble
"FeHowship." If the blessings of
brotherhood can only. exist. where
there is soundness of the moral
sense, with equal emphasis may it
be affirmed that moral sensibility
can only attain unto its finest ex-
preston as it unfolds in the glory
of reverent religious faith. "Give
unto the Lord the glory due unto
His name" sang the author of the
xxx Psalm, "worship the Lord in
the beauty of holiness" From your
own beautiful ritual quote the
following passage: "Without di>
vine recognition and direction all
our efforts and observances fail of
success" I quote again from the
opening prayer of the ritual to be
observed at the celebration of the
anniversary of your Order: "Al~
mighty and ever living God, our
universal Father and Common Ben
efactor, from whom cometh every
good and perfect gift, who art Law
ish in blessings upon us, and with
out whom nothing can prosper, we
beseech Thy presence with US and
Thy benediction upon us, as we are
here assembled"
We are told that the clause near
the end of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence which reads: with firm
reliance upon the protection of Di-
vine providence" was not in the
original draft drawn up by Jeffer-.
son, but was inserted afterwards as
an amendment by unanimous vote.
That appeal to Almighty God in
the interests of right meant more
to those heroic men than all the
fleets of England which whitened
all the harbors of the world. There
is indeed no fact of history more
pronounced than this: Neither men
nor institutions can long leave God
out of their reckoning and prosper.
I note how pronounced your be-
Aiefsissin the personslity and father.
|hoodS 8 - =
plain declaration of your ritual you
believe in God not as blind and un-
intelligent force but as person. in
finite in all perfection, glorious in
holiness and wonderful In all His
works. You believe in God as the
forgiven of sins, and as the guide
and defender of men. You cherish
moreover the belief that God is the
infinite and eternal Father, whose
compositions fail not, and whose.
mercy end1reth throughout all
generations, and you make this one
of the first requirements of your
Order that every man who desires
admission to your "Fellowship'
shall formally declare his belief in
Supreme Being. YoG dare not as
enlightened men trust yourselves
or your Order to the recognition of
atheistic principles. You have not
attempted any formal definition of
the God-head, and l am glad you
have not. For God in His essential
nature is infinitely beyond the linn
itations of any definition. He cam
not be crowded into any formal
creed.
Hundreds of years ago the church
met again and again in august
council and the question arose in
heated debate who is God? WHAT'S
God? And with much pomp of
learning the church elaborated her
great creeds, declaring that God IS
this or that, and with the creed
there too often came some awful
threat of anathema as the alter
native of non-acceptance.
But when I look into the Gospe1
story I find that when Jesus Christ
would teach the world what God is
He sat by the we'll side, and to a
simple Samaritan woman said>
God is spirit and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth for the Father seeketh
such to worship Him."
And 80 today the tendency of the
ls not to lay the strong en-
phasis upon certain fine shades of
definition as of old, but to pare
down and simplify her articles of
belief. To teach men that God is
Father and that all men are en-
braced within the circle of His love,
and invited to share in the privileges
of the Divine family and Household.
In conclusion, I Congratulate you
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