The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-05-21
The Hiddenness Of God.

And answer when he calls.
-Maude Louise Ray, in Harper's Magazine.
The Hiddenness Of God.
Two girls, as they walked home one
night from work, were engaged IN earn
est talk. A stranger who stood on tho
sidewalk near them saw the play OF anz:
n moment beneath a street lamps dim
light. Suddenly one was heard to say to
the other, Yes, but why has no one ever
seen God ?-that was all, just n frag.
ment.word throbbing with pain and re-
gret, and they vanished again in the night.
How like humanity that was! Like chill.
dren, they pause now and then IN tho
darkness of life, lift their weary faces 70
the pale lights elarins along the way, and.
pserns into asf SseS sys' f wPSS PSn Saa
old question, you remember, "Show US the
Father" and all Of us are now and then
in Philips class, for it is large.
Must I move on to the end with mys-
terry ahead and uncertainty around. unable
to lift even little corner OF hfe's misty
veil, or ge. the one clear word that would
make al plain? Must I be forever doing
70 much and knowing 50 little, sure OF God
to-day and doubling Him tomorrow! ls
Miss Schreiner's legend OF The Hunter"
follow the vast white bird Of Truth
| through the valley OF Ncgation and Pain,
only at last. when withered and old, TO
catch one little feather from his wingsS
| Is it so? And many, as they ponder It,
grow sad and wan and hopeless.
Yet it 10 q needless sorrow, this reEreS
ut not finding the secret Of God. This
vagueness and uncertainty that men think
| peculiar to spiritual things is everywhere,
not local to religion, but universal in al
things. II it does not bother the merchant
st trade % why should it trouble the Chris
Exact knowledge Of anything Is impos'
sible. What draws the apple earthwards
what Is electricity, what is mind or con.
! science or viii. how are soul and body
| united? We cannot tell; we see these
things through = glass darkly. We know
some of their uses and operations, but Just
where they begin, and exactly what they
are, we cannot know. There IL enough
mystery" faid Linnaeus, fn handful OF
moss, to give one Gfetime's study:
All our complaining Is the Old human
cry for greater assurance, and its explana.
tion is as various as its cause. In part, it
il due to the fact that man 10 man and
God is God, that we are shareholders IN
, two worlds-the visible and earthly and
the spiritual and eternal. Destined for Q
vast future, and only able as yet to know
and possess q very small part, mystery 70
the result. For mystery, a. Dr.. Clark says,
"is the halfway house between ignorance
and knowledee-the twilight OF the intel.
lect." 1t is very good for Us on the whole,
nation, and incites to effort and progess.
Yet. GOOD az il is, il disturbs many weak
souls, and fills them with Shelleys regret
that
Life, like dome Of many-eolored glass
Stains the fair radiance Of eternity"
Even to the Christian sometimes God
seems hidden. In spite Of the promise
that the pure in heart shall see God, new
ertheless they often think they do not
see Him, and, as far as their own mental
peace Is concerned, the fancy might as we'll
be fact. But when God seems far OF to
the Christian, Is it not. in fact, because
He is 50 near? He is 50 blended with mans
nature, He SO penetrates and nils the
chambers OF thought, flows through the ne
channels Of feeling and rises through az
the springs of viii. is 80 thoroughly identi.
fed with all mans best and highest hfe,
that, while be seeks His marvellous appear
ance without, God, as silent presence, -
filing the chambers OF the soul.
God was very near to some people IN
the Bible, and they knew it not. May DO
not be equally near you. and you be igno-
rant Of that nearness:
The two who walked with the Risen Ono
toward Emmaus, though they looked INTO
recognize the Master until later, when he
stood in their midst. Perhaps your heart
also has burned within you as he has
talked with you by the way, and you have
mistaken God.giren emotions, heaven.sens
Thoughts. and eternal hopes and longIngs,
for influences purely natural.
To the wicked, God is hidden in . sense
different and more awful still. Jesus ee'
voted one whole parable to the ILLUSTRATION
of this fact. The prodigal was lost IN .
far country when he had taken all he
could Get. followed the wild voices Of pas
SION. and spent his all on self-gratifcation.
And selfshness always drives US so far
from God that God seems almost non,
existent. But when the prodigal awakened
10 the fact that the highest happiness hes
in the service, not Of self, but OF one who
loves US best, then his father drew near
him again, and let him feel his tender
embrace once more. ,,
In many cases God to-day seems hidden,
and spiritual realities vaguely unreal De
cause of life's attrition, its wear and tear
the rub OF duty and the clash OF lansiing
interests. We do not reject God nova.
days, we simply let Him alone; and 1t =. :.
nat long before a neglected God becomes
God far Of, unieatured and dim, and
life's fair visions and dreams OF purity fail
to nerve and sustain. .,
Let US not charge God with our IN IN
6rmity and ofense, nor think Him dls
tant and loyelcss when we are careless anc
cold, The dus; OF neglect dims the hnes'
mirror and the loitiest mountain fails ta
awe when we turn our backs upon It,
Sunday.School Times.
Avoid Temptation.
What we are taugh; to seek or shun y y
prayer We should equally pursue a,o,. or sx0,o
shou,d we avoid temptation, seeking To
wa,k cuarIedly in the path OF obedience
We ere not TO enter the thcket in search