Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-06-25
LOVES SEEING POWER.
BY Dean Richmond Babbftf, D. %,

Inc most beautiful things ever done
have been those done by women Men
have done heroic acts. so have women.
But il the heroism of women there has
often been a sweet and enhancing beau
| ty that has covered the hard, rigorous,
severe lines of naked heroism. Tender
| ness and love have been the setting of
| their heroic deeds, and the rugged, heroic
act which would in man stand forth in
| cold isolation is entwined by woman with
| a sweet attractiveness that warns while
it inspires. Their love wraps round some
stern act of self-denial or self-sacrihee
as the softness of the velvety moss COW
crs the gnarled and rugged oak. The
words | have quoted in the text refer to
such an act of woman, one doubtless of
large self-deniai, but so peryaded by self
forgetful love, so lost in a passion Of
| self-abandonment, that one in gazing on
the moving picture is swayed by the
beauty, love and gracious kindliness of
the act, rather than impressed by its
heroism.
But, Furthermore, the heroic act to
which l refer reads US another lesson
| than that of beauty. 1t teaches pro-
foundly the seeing power of love. Look
! ct the picture as st. Mark, the gospel
Inner, paints it, and see this lesson.
| The Savior is dining with Simon IN
Bethany. A proud company is doubtless
| present. He is receiving at meat after
the manner of the Orientals, and a sim
! ple-hearted, loving being. not learned in
controversies about duty, or wise in the
| oretic ethics, or exercised in subtle ques-
] nf snt1 bn
with box of precious ointment of spike
nard. She is only a woman who was
devoted to Christ. She loved the great
| Spiritual Being before her, and she want
ed to express her love in some way that
might be somewhat adequate. All love
wants to express itself. it is OF the very
nature of love to express itself. And
| this adoring woman, full of this deep,
pure, spiritual love of the Savior, must
tell it out in some way that would meas
ure to some degree her feelings, though
whatever means she used she knew she
could not tell Il al
There she sands with her simple, low
| ing heart, about ~, do a heroic act which
will make her, nameless as she is in the
| Gospel story, yet famous for all time;
and so she bends over the Lord, and with
one swift gesture of love breaks the ala
baster box and pours the precious ONT
nent on his head, raining down tears on
his feet in the swelling torrent of her
| love, and then using her long hair as
towel, wipes his feet, kisses them, and
anoints them with the ointment. The zap
ture, the humility, the beauty, the innate
| heroism of that act will ever lie safely
| preserved in the amber of mans memory,
1 a. Al. 1. !. Ia - ii
And then cold, calculating prudence be-
gins its work in the minds Of the unhe-
roic company about. 1T was foolish
act" say the wise economists among
| Simon's guests. But the woman was no
| political economist; she only loved. why
was not this ointment sold for so much
and given to the poor? Is not our dear
Lord always considering the poor! Why
| is this ointment thrown away, just for
| nothing"
Beauty Many do not understand the
word. Heroism? Many don't know 1t
when they see it. Many do not estimate
at its value the divineness of loves pas
sion and loves beauty, because they
| have it not They cannot see these val
ues because love does not give them the
seeing power. Thrift, economy, saving,
yes, all that is good but not good when
| at the expense of things better.
All! the Master valued the beautiful,
generous act of the SHINING yet loving
woman at its true worth, for Christ him
| self had. beyond all human measurement,
| the preventing insight of love. He COM
mended her act, lifted it up for universal
admiration, for an eternal fame. Her
spirit. with all its past sin, was kindred
4. -. l., he
| ter in the eyes of Christ than the oracle
| in their prudent heads. Ana she, too,
with the same piercing gaze Of love, had
ever grown prophetic in her beautiful
act, and had seen dc ply into her Lords
future as killed by his enemies. 1t secs
fore and aft, and is alive to the present.
The power of love is always that of the
seer And Christ recognized that great
gift in the loving woman, that gift OF
| wond' rful insight through love, defend
ed her, and said: "She hath done what
she could; she hath anointed me to my
burning"
But now wing your thought wider and
speed from this heroic act Of beauty and
of grace, to Gods nature and character
of love. Did you ever ask why God
/ loves man? God loves man because it is
| love is but Gods ght into mans value.
Do not tell me that man is worthless in
the sight of God. How could God be
| love- as we know he is, and yet not have
| the piercing gaze that sees his own im-
age. even if obscured, in man? We do
not love men. because the weedy growth
of our sclishness chokes off our love-
But not so with God, for he loves all
men That truth is radian, in the Ola
and New Testaments, and fla shes out and
CLEANS in glowing colors all through
Gods revelation of himself. No one is
excepted from Gods love.
We look out on the world and see men
in the densest ignorance, swayed by dis
tinctive passions, drowned by the can
Ger of selfishness, utterly unloyable. But
having no love, we do not see deep
enough. Loves insight wanting. we have
no measure of moral or spiritual values
We miss the divine in man. which Gods
love discovers. and which his grace grad
ually brings even to blunt human gaze.
When we look into our own hearts. and
analyze our own consciences, If we are
truly humble. we are inclined TO wonder
how any body can love US. Yet Gods
swift and perceiying gaze Of love Sues
50 to say. a reflection Of Christ now in
US, some spark Of the divine, some CLINT
Of goodness. something 50 valuable. so
worthy in his eyes that be sent his gHa
son TO redeem US and bring out the beau-
~ and glory of Gods nature in US. and
awake 70 vision the love in our own
hearts so that we may see somewhat as
he sees when he looks on men