Orange County observer., 1903-07-16


part of the witness of Gods spirit is to b
found just here, in the quickening of those
fine feelings Of friendship and love which
seem to come SO naturally as we relate
ourselves to one another. Is the feeling
for brothers and sisters becoming more
kindly? Is the attitude towards fathers
and mothers and children more Affection
ate? Is the circle of loving interest WIDEN
ing! This is the mark of the presence Of
God-this and that other feeling like unto
in the cry of abba, Father Remove
emotionalism of this kind and you take
the substances out of life as we'll as out
of. religion. Life is a matter Of feeling.
All values are realized In feeling, and the
strosity. Any. system Of religious thought
or practice that makes men feelingIess
is to be condemned. Pharisaism was feel
lngess; it's lostness was set On high be-
fore the gaze OF all the world by its failure
to feel the greatness of Jesus. It was as
dead eyeballs. A feeling,ess life! These
words seem contradictory A feelingless
religion! These words are contradictory
and absurd as absurd as unseeing seeing
or unhearing hearing.
Still further, the stay-at-home reveals
his lost condition in his tendency to put
life of his brother. ''Thy son, which hath
deyoured thy. living with harlots." The
elder son had no way of knowing this to
be true. He judged that this must be the
truth because it was about the worst thing
his brother could do.
In this world of ours we are compelled
to make assumptions, to choose between
views either of which may be correct.
| so tar as the great mass Of things is con-
cerned. there is no way of getting absolute
proof beforehand. We must assume and
| see.- Now, concerning men and things,
good assumptions and bad assumptions are
possible; but matter of general atti-
tude of mind and heart toward things only
one way is safe. That is, to put the very
| best. possible construction on the lives of
men and the working of things. This, in
word, is Christian faith. Christian
faith does not start by proving things
bad it looks hopefully toward the better
manhood which is, in almost every case,
a possibility. Jesus called Judas "friend,"
| and accepted his kiss even on the night
of his betrayal. Christian faith looks out
upon the working of the entire universe
| and assumes that they are righteous. In
| that trust is found peace.
Suppose one were to assume in dealing
with men that all men are liars It can
not be proved beforehand that all men are
4 not liars or even that any man is
absolutely truthful; but how hopelessly
the one who should start with the assump-
ton that all men are liars! The safe
path in the long run is the assumption
that there is good in all men and that the
good can be reached and made better.
In particular cases this may fail, but it is
who, like the elder brother, holds to the
idea that the returning prodigal is hope
lessly and irretrievably lost, is himself
wandering in the wilderness far from
safety
Lastly, the lostness of the stay-at-home
appears Rp3 from his thought, of reward
''Thou never gavest me kid" The elder
brother seems to have been serving with
the thought of material pay. He was
doing the work for what he could get out
of it. His thought OF reward moves along
a low plane. Jesus condemned Pharisasm
because Of its low view of reward The
tas1master was to pay at the close of the
day. Similarly some of us seem at times
to think of heaven as place of material
and rather earthly prizes. And again. the
elder brother was lost in placing emphasis
upon an extraordinary forg giveness and
welcome as of more than the favor of the
fathers continued and ever present affec-
tlon. 1t is sometimes suggested that one
of the important lessons of this parable
is it's rebuke of the Christian who COM
plains because the contrition of the return
| ing penitent sometimes is rewarded by
more of ecstatic blessing than is his own
long continued service of God. However
this may be as matter OF strict exegesis, it
is perfectly clear that the thought which
rates the exceptional manifestation of in
terest as Of more value than the continued
favor Of the fathers presence, wanders far
astray. "iSon, thou are ever with me, and
all that is mine is thine" This is the great
reward, the favor Of companionship and
partnership with the Father--a spiritual
benefit and blessing, beside which all ma
terial things fall into nothincess. The prin-
cipal reward is spiritual We are not to
think of pay but of cor1panionship with
; the blessed God! Any thought of reward
lower than this is lost. There is sense
, in which the stay-at-home was as prodigal
as his brother. With his niggardly thought
; of lower reward, he recklessly overlooked
and wasted the companionsbip and love
) which were poured out around him. There
were two prodigais in the family. It would
! be rather a difficult task to decide which
was the worse.