The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-11-09

LoNlngnesS Is not so easy an requirement
as we sometimes suppose. 1t comes not al.
together by nature like breathing, or. as
the old adage says, like reading and writ
ing. 1t 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 sane and healthy one. Low.
ing enters into the religious consciousness
of believers in varying degrees, but 1t i
safe to say that God prefers in His chi.
dren one ounce OF love to pound OF
dogma.
The soul is like a garden that cannot
safely be left untended fox weeds grow
much faster than wholesome plants, ana
there is no beauty Of holiness that can be
expected to come up OF itself and keep it.
self free from contamination and evil con
tact. The sacrament OF love is that flower
on the holy life. 1t irradates the soul
with beauty, it fills it with fragrance and
sheds peace and rest upon the nature. Il
is the secret of the highest, devoutes- ma
lures. We look up to them with awe ard
longing, feeling that their gifts cannot be
attained by us, but the power oil love i
open to us all. 1t is especially the attu
butte of the humble heart.
To be sure it requires discipline, subiu.
CATION of the grosser parts of the being be-
fore it yields mel!owness and ripeness an
atmosphere more than act or word. The
nature becomes, as 1t were, solvent in the
ing, however small, escapes its touch
Ceasing to be an occasional thing OF Gus
tom and world. love so WHITES it, makes 1t
so beautiful and radiant. it is like a white
winged angel shaking fragrance and light
from its wings. 1t is love alone that can
save faith from fosslizing. Habit indur
ates our feelings, lays them out, corpseljke,
where often there is no Jesus to raise
this Lazarus. Love alone can do 1t. II
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'
tical passion of love, which perhaps he
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 in a
permanent union with God.
The sacrament OF love is a recognition OF
heavenly gifts, the gratitude this recogni'
tion awakens, the peace it brings in the
contemplation of the universe, and those
broader views that show us the all-contain.
ing power of the divine thought and the
reconciliation of seeming opposltes. 1t ia
the sentiment that makes OF life worship.
Oftentimes life is cold, the sentiments are
morbund, prayer spring from the lips, the
sense of duty has no illumination. But to
partake of the sacrament of love is to send
glow through all parts of the nature, and
TO change the habitually dull into the con
secrated, to hallow all relations, and to lit
them to a higher level.
1t is the inner meaning and power Of re.
ligion, and renders it easy, nay, natural,
to know God as friend, companion and
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. Ii we wander
away, let us be careful that we do not for
get the path OF return.
Having this inestimabc treasure OF love,
1t matters not much what we are denied.
Soul rest and Quietude will come of them.
selves. We cannot hide away from attiic'
tion, but the strength TO bear will come as
holy visitation, as II God Himself should
stoOp and OvcrshadOW our llttieness, our
incompletencss, with the sense of the all.
suiferingness OF His presence. For love Is
like a dove that mas made its nest under
our roof and soOthes us with its tender
cooing. 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 is the constant, the un'
changing friend
Such love breathed in the soul OF Mary,
sister of Lazarus, as she sat at the fset OF
the Master. 1t was well that she put away
the trihes Of life for a time, 70 be with
Him who could visit her only on a favored
day, and was soon to dopart 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 partlsug OF the holy bread and
wine OF q loving spirit a great experience
revealing infinite things takes US whence
we may never return 10 our frvohtes. To
partake OF this sacrament we must be
made worthy Galahad could only behold
after many trials and long wanderngs the
Holy Grail, There is Holy Grail for
each OF us 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. - The
Christian Register.