Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1903-10-17
THE Rod TO TRUTH.
r-ilure tn Act According TO Our Light
hesuits Ia In@h Iisy to Henson
Rightly

The end OF mai, says Carlyle, is an
action, not thought" That is not say
ing that thought is rot necessary part
Of ali high action. of course. But
thought that stops in itself is stopping
on the road to truth. Action and action
alone, says Philadelphia Young People,
takes it forward. Prof. James. the noted
psychologist, has well represented
thought as only place of transit, the
bottom of loop, both of whose ends
have their point of application in tie
outer world" All that cur eyes, our
ears, our daily connection with the world
and with others bring TO us, must pass
through our minds and souls, an6 return
to the outside world again transmitted
into action. in plain English. percep-
ton and thinking are only there for be-
haviors sake" says the professor, and
long before modern psychology came to
this conclusion the Bible summed up the
same truth. Faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone"
For this reason truth can never be
learned by mere argument. We do rot
really possess a truth until we have
acted on It. and It tales continual action
on II to make ii part of the fiber Of our
minds and souls. We can fail to make
progress toward truth by refusing to act
upon il. The young man who holds the
Gospel message in his mind. but de-
termines not 10 take any action on it at
present. is losing clear perception of 1t,
and power Of clear thought about il,
daily. He may not think so. he may
think instead that he is gaining an in
tellectual perception of its difficulties.
But the fact is, that he is losing power
to act by not sctiug-that is all He has
checked the advance of truth half way.
shutting 1t up in thought when il ought
TO be set free in act. eff any man will
Go His will he shall know of the doctrine
whether it be of Cod" Thought alone
is powerless to know God: feeling alone
is powerless to love God. We must keep
Gods commandments, putting our emo
lions end thoughts into acts of obedience
before we can abide in FIis love, and
'-row Him whom to know Alright is life
eternal.
II is a very simple road after ALL To
perceive, to think, TO act-surely anyone
can reach truth without trouble. But
that third step is where many young
people pause. II is easy to see the
beauty Of holiness, and easy TO think
about 1t. These two steps are unnoticed,
create no antGgonism. make no costly
demands. But TO act-that means a
great deal. Bctter wait for little more
knowledge, a little more consideration
Of the matter, whispers the enemy Of
souls, and many souls yield to the whis-
per. And then. having blocked the road
TO truth, they lose themselves in mazes
of doubt, ard never get anywhere. Per-
haps. lile PLATE. who knew the right
but refused TO act upon It. they end by
falling back upon the philosophical re-
mark: what is truth?' Alas, the rea-
son PLATE never reached any further
acquaintance with truth was that he
would not act on the knowledge Of
Christ he had already. The dying thief
had not had half Pilates opportunities.
but he was man Of action. and II saved
him. For many Of us to-day salvation
hangs upon action. Shall we act. then
or shall we pause in the barrenness of
thought and never reach saving truth?