Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-11-16
SPIRITUALITY.

religious thought and teaching mas con-
fined spiritually" 10 the profuse use
or pietistir terms and prayer meet
ing phrases and experience meetings
and pale countenances and emaeiatcd
frames aud The far away look in the
eyes" and other neutral tluts of celiS-
iousness.
1t is zoo fine a word to be trified
away and lost in the shallow waters
OF conventionalism. 1t needs to be
brought out of the hazy atmosphere of
mysticism into the bracing air of a
robust righteousness. \ man needs TO
be taught that he is not only spiritual
when he prays adoringly and sings an
gelically and talks ravishingly. but
that he is also tremendously spiritual
when he does justly, lives an honest
life, il loyal to his friends. fOrgives his
enemies. loves the right for its own
sake. and IN every way is true to the
best he kncws.
1t is true that in these times we
need revival of spirituality But it
must be a revival that means more
than the agitation and conyulsion of
the nervous system. 1t must mean
what Jesus taught in the beatitudes, Il
humility that is not egotistic and con
ceited in it's humbleness, 4 hunger and
thirst after righteUH less that is ex-
pressed more in RICH living and just
doing and fair dealing than in signs
and tears. purity of heart that is
more than a spasm of ecstasy but a
new life that sees God in things and
fears God too much 70 deal falsely
with things into which the divine has
come.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. perhaps the
most profound aud clearest modern
apostle of spirituality, says: We grope
after the spiritual by describing it as
the invisible. but the true meaning Of
the word is the real"
That is simple and direct 1t com
mends itself TO our sense Of truth in
our best and highest moral moments
The spiritual is the real in things
ITO be spiritually minded" Paul says.
'is life and peace" That is, to be real
minded is life and peace. Truth is
spiritual. Jesus said, The words
speak TO you they are spirit and they
are life" And I will pray the Faith
er and he will give you another COM
forter, even the spirit of truth" There
fore, everything that steers away from
the unreal and heads toward the GEM
inc and the sincere is steering toward
the spiritual.
Spirituality is therefore not some
thing unearthly. nou-worldly, however
unworldly it should be. Spirituality
does not take US off into impossible
dreams; 1t brings Us out into present
conditions and invests US with pow
e. to deal with them and dispose them
in the best way for-ou own good and
the worlds good. Spirituality is to be
invested with the Christ power. which
Is the divine power 70 deal wisely.
truly. according to Gods ways and
methods with things. events, Circum-
stances. and conditions. Spirituality
does not reject. condemn. ignore the
material 1t does not weep and moan
about this materiaIistic age" Ii ad
mits it. bat with 4 divine determine
ton it insists in crowding God, and
right, and love and mercy, and human
itarianism on this rough uufeeling,
selfish. ruthless materiaIlsm. Jesus
taught practical spirituality when he
said to his disciples. When We pray
say Give us this day our daily
bread That does not mean let bread
drop on us by some supernatural way,
but in this "materialiStic age" il means
let the divine come into the way we
get our daily bread.
Anyone who gets his bread by any
means that are unjust; anyone in
whose bank account there Is a dishon-
est cent anyone whose daily bread is
the income Of fraud. deception, unfair
ness. anyone whose daily bread is un-
Justly wrested from another's mouth
prostitutes this prayer OF Christ's by
substituting hypocrisy for spirituality
when he prays Give us this day our
daily bread" Better never repeat the
Lords prayer at all than make Fl ri
sees of ourselves by mounting it, Bet
ter thousand times he altogether r
regilious than he religious hypocrite
Before this petition can become a true
prayer 10 God. before II amounts TO
an ,hink rs n plea To divinity. it must
be diviuity's appeal tn the hand work
er. the bran worker the heart worker
the money worker to be what lies in
his power an honest worker. Il true
thinker. which means true thinker, a
genuine brave lover OF man and God.
Christiy spirituality Pauline spirit
uality. that Is, Christian spirituality.
Is simply thIs-the putting of God into
the world. Not Gully going about and
wearing a label of tod on our coat
sleeves. but adjusting ourselves first
of all to Gods law. 10 Gods morality,
To- Gods philanthropy. to Gods democ-
Tacy To Gods rcpubiicanism. all of
which together and much more are
Gods Christ in the world. Where
the Christ attitude. the Christ relation,
the Christ morality. the Christ love Of
tSe world are sustained there viii be
the spirituality that brings maintains,
and guards life and peace. The Christ
life is not only a biography 1000 wears
old. the Christ life is God In the world
to-day. The true life, the honest life.
the sympathetic life. the earnest life,
the genuine llfe-that IS she Christ OF
to-day. God manifest in the fiesh.'
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