The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-09-29

THE MAN CHOSEN.
Think you that Phillips Brooks chose
the ministry! No, he chose teaching and
failed. The ministry chose him and he
and the ministry through him both sue
ceeded. Think you that Cerot deliberate
! ly chose paintings? Then you have never
seen his master pieces
| Think you that Webster chose law and
| public speech as a profession? Then be
undeceived by reading his defense OF
Dartmouth and his reply to Hayne.
Think you that Shelley chose poetry as
| profession? IL l thought that mere
| choice followed by hard work and careful
patience could produce Adonais and the
Ode TO Grecian urn / should choose
| poetry now.
The value of his life 10 literary art may
best be witnessed 10 by the fact that Uni
| versity college at oxford virtually ex-
| PEELED him and then immortalized his
| posture In death and his work I'm life by
| building him a monument that has be-
| come a shrine. No ! think that Homer
| and Dante had TO write. II was no choice
| Of theirs. That Rosetti and Cerot, with
| Rafael and Da Vinci had TO put what
| they saw on canvas. That Patrick Henry
| and Webster had 10 speak their hearts.
That Luther and Wesley and Beecher
had 10 preach.
| ALL WE'RE CALLED CHOSEN.
| An these were called, chosen, selected
| elected. as II were, 10 their duties laid
hold upon by their ideals. as Matthew
| and Peter and James and the other dis
| ciples were called by Jesus.
Woe to the man who hears the call TO
these things and does not obey. yet
| greater woe 10 him, who through sheer
| self assertion lays hold upon these
| 'hings OF himself and attempts 10 realize
] them.
| Little does II matter that one man
| should put his hand 10 task and fail.
| but IL Is not only that the man fails but
art. literature. preaching. law, the task
| 10 which he applies himself fails and
| goes down into the dust.
| | take II that all ideals. all thoughts
| shaped by man are but fragments or side
| lights OF one thought the thought OF
| God. That II is not unmeaning then 10
| say, since God seeks 10 realize Himself I'm
man and the world. that these thoughts
| and ideals which are Gods likewise seek
| their realiza ton
IF THE MAN SUCCEEDS.
The man Is chosen then by this. as II
were, intelligent personal ideal of beauty
I'm nature TO paint and 10 write. BY the
ideal OF truth 10 help IL unveil itself and
become manifest. IL the man succeeds the
ideal has the more succeeded. Did Da
Vinci profit from painting the Last Sup
per? Did Millet profit from his creation
of the Cleaners? Perhaps. Yet this Is
sure that art infinitely gained and our
conceptions OF beauty are clearer and bet
ter defined than If these men had never
touched the canvas Did Beecher profit
from his speech? Perhaps But how much
vaster was the gain TO the kingdom OF
God that had chosen Beecher as its
mouthpiece. Nothing added more TO this
mans fame. than his speeches in Eng
land at the time OF the Civil War. l do
not know. perhaps. his expenses were
paid, but that tour OF his probably stayed
England from an alliance with the
Southern Confederacy and possibly saved
the Union.
TEST OF A MANS TRUE SUCCESS.
The one test of a mans true success is
not what he does for himself but what
he does for the particular task TO which
he places his hands. This test OF great
ness is just as true for Henry Ward
Beecher as IL is for j. Pierpont Morgan.
But this doctrine of the call and election
OF ideals stated In its extreme form is
the doctrine OF laissez faire. In other
words one is simply 10 wait after the
fashion of Uriah Heap for something 10
turn up" II stays our hands from ev-
cry effort TO realize the best within US
and without us. Practiced in the bold
form as the whole truth IL would mean
corruption in the state, stagnation In
business and death to the church. But
IL is not the whole truth. 1t is but one
side OF a greater truth which stands for
human action and human freedom as well
as ideal divine election.
GOD. THE IDEAL.
God, the ideal chooses us But since
the object of the ideal I'm making the
choice is 10 realize itself the fact which
determines the choice Is fitness. Why did
God choose the Jews 10 be in a unique
and unparalleled sense His people? II
was because they had by educate and
training prepared themselves and were M
to receive the divine message and make
IL practical 10 the world. Inspirat tion has
its manward as well its Godward as
pect. 1t is not a mechanical process. God
does not work I'm that way. He is a liv
ing God. The physical eye was developed
by an effort on the part OF the organism
to correspond to light waves. A man sees
not because there is light but BECAUSE
he has an organ OF sight. A man is In
spired not because God is revealing his
truth but because man Is a moral being
and has within him the faculty to CORE
spond TO and understand that truth.
WHY WE'RE THEY CHOSEN
Why were Matthew and James and
John and the other disciples chosen in
distinction from the mass that made up
the Jewish race? Perhaps they had not
heard OF Jesus. Certainly they had not
been following the ideal revealed TO
them directly through his life and teach
ing. But by humility and service, living
day by day by the dictates OF that word
which was night them, even In their
mouths and written on their hearts, they
had prepared themselves for the best
thing that God has sent TO humanity,
The life OF an ideal man.
This fitness on their part is the reason
for the remarkable fact that all who
heard the call of Jesus responded and
received the Master into their lives.
Without our highly developed concep-
tions of Jesus IL seems the most natural
thing that the disciples when chosen
should accept the leadership OF the Mas
ter. But when you recall the fact that
Jesus was Just then beginning His minis
try. without reputation or authority, IL
becomes nothing less than miraculous
that these men deserted their tasks, their |
families and their homes TO follow one |