The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-12-07
rhe Sacrament OF Lore

~ fNUEFyTaX |
Lovingness is not so easy an requirement.
together by nature like breathing, or. as
the old adage says, like reading and writ.
ing. It is easier to acquire the habit of
hating than that of loving, as it is easier
to acquire a squint-eyed, perverted view
of life than a SAINT and healthy n Low
ing enters into the religious consciousness
of believers in varying degrees, but it is
safe to say that God prefers in His chil.
dren one ounce of love to q pound OF
dogma.
The soul is like a garden that cannon
frfely be left INTENDED; for weeds grows
III faster than wholesome plants, and
there is no beauty OF holiness that can be
expected to come up Of itself and keep 1T.
self free from contamination and evil cone
tact. The sacrament of love is that flower
on the holy life. It irradistes the soul.
with beauty, it fills it with fragrance and
sheds peace and rest upon the nature. 1t
is the secret of the highest, deyoutest ma.
lures. We look up to them with awe and
longing, feeling that their gifts cannot be
attained by US, but the power OF love q
open to us all. It is &c ecially the a IL
butte of the humble hear.
To be sure it requires, discipline, subiu.
CATION Of the grosser parts of the being be.
fore it yields mellowness and rlpeness, an
atmosphere more than act or word. The
nature becomes, as it were, solvent in TIE
religious element, SO pervaslye that moth
ing, however small, escapes its touch.
Ceasing to be an occasional thing of GUS.
tom and world, love so WHITES it, makes it
so beautiful and radiant, it is ike,a white
winged angel shaking fragrance and light
from its wings. 1t is love alone. that can
save a faith from fossilizing. Habit dur
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where often there is no Jesus to raise
this Lazarus. Love alone can do 1t. 1t
was the sentiment with which Dante con-
templated the divine in Beatrice, thus
knitting earth to heaven. The exaltatlon
of beauty passed insensibly into the mys-
teal passion of love, which perhaps ne
alone of all men was capable of feeling:
But his revelation of the highest office OF
this passion has been of great value, not
only in purifying the earthly sentiment,
but in connecting the religious nature ma
permanent union wits God.
The sacrament of love is a ~recognition- I.
heavenly gifts, the gratitude this recognll-
ton awakens, the peace it brings In the
contemplation of the universe, and those
broader views that show us the ~ailcontain-
ing power of the divine thought and the
reconciliation of seeming opposites. 1t -
the sentiment that. makes OF life worship.
Oftentimes life is cold, the sentiments are
moribund, prayer spring from the lips, the
sense of duty has no illumination. But to
partake' of the sacrament of love is to send
q glow through all parts of the nature, and
to change the habitually dull into the con-
secrated, to hallow all relations, and tohtt
them to a higher level.
It is tine inner meaning and power OF re-
ligion, and renders it easy, nay, natural,
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communion with Him like the breath we
draw. 1t is the ideal for which we should
aim, the rest of the'soul in the sunshine OF
His presence; for having partaken OF the
sacrament of love, everything IS easy. Not
always can we find that enchanted garden
of the heart where human love blends with
the divine and is part of the tender over
brooding of the spirit. If we wander
away, let us be careful that we do not Tor
get the path of return.
Having this inestimable treasure of love-
It matters not much what we are denied.
Soul rest and quietude will come of them.
selves. We cannot hide away from attic.
ton, but the strength to bear will come as
q holy visitation, as if God Himself should
stoop and o%vershadow our littleness. our
incompleteness, with the sense of the altS
sufferingness of His presence. For love u
like a dove that mas made its nest under
our roof, and soothes us with its tender
cooling. We may not see it, but we know
it is there. The great heart Of things beats
responsive to our own. We are never
alone, for God ia the constant, the un-
changing friend.
Such love breathed in the soul of Mary,
sister of Lazarus, as she sat at the feet OF
the Master. 1t was we'll that she put away
the trifes of life for a time. to be with
Him who could visit her only on a favored
day, and was soon to depart, leaving the
holy gift Of His spirit. Such a visitation
changes the current of life. What was once
all absorbing falls INTO secondary relations;
After partaking Of the holy bread and
wine of a loving spirit a great experience
revealing infinite things takes us whence
we may never return to our frivolities. To
partake of this sacrament We must be
made worthy. Galahad could only behold,
after many trials and long WANDERERS, the
Holy Grail. There is q Holy Grail for
each of lis if we are worthy to possess it, a
cup filled with divine love that God presses
to the lips of His children when they come
to commune in the right spirit. h
Christian Register.