The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-12-14
ooueo r commits a man to living his

cause it commits man to living his
life in absolute unselhshness. Given
father. and what follows? What an
alchemist is a newborn babe. Inc
touch of those tiny fingers transmutes
the base metal of thought of self into
the pure gold of thought of the unselI.
From the moment when his first babes
first cry summons the instinct of faith.
erhood in q mans bosom the man must
deny himself, he must henceforth lose
himself in another. Love once mere
passion of possession is reborn pas
sion for self-sacrifice. This father mas
a family, and it is the family, the
home. the health Of the whole Whlcn
become his chiefest concern.
Given son. and what foliows:
What must be the true sons concern:
Surely it is the same as the fatners.
TIE father no more than the son. the
sen no less than the father, exists LOT
that home. 1t is this mutual instinct
of being supported and supporting
which makes us sing, "Ihere IS ho
place like horle:"
So here, again. the axiom or tne
earthly relationship we call home IS
true for the celestial relationship we
call religion. This is the extension OF
the old Fifth Commandment III re-
lision-"Love your enemies and pray
for them that persecute you; that !e
NAV be sons of your Father who IS IN
heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sendetn
rain on the Just and the unjust"
Like God the Father, the Son must
have q love that is boundiess, ungrudg-
ing and gratuitous. The family, not
one favorite here and another tnere'
but all the members must receive VIII
out bias, be; blessed. without preJudlce,
be cared for without favoritism.: Inc
son must live so that no man can De
noorer. no woman sadder, no child
more wretched for aught he has done
or left undene. He must live so that
through his words and deeds men'may
see truth, reverence, purity. and pos
sess the means Of happiness, ana ne
must so live not for profit, prudence or
popularity; he must SO live, though IL
means a curse, q crown of thorns and
q cross. . .... .,
And if we seek to know what that
means, what sonship involves. we 60
to Him who taught rs to say Cur
Father Bis life is just spent in go
ing about doing good: He does so much
for the imperfect. the defective. the
degenerate, that He gets the nis1name
of 'friend Of publicans and sinners"
He never bears a grudge, He never
remembers an insult, He never seems
to see anything in the men about Him
but their need of the good things he
has to give away. And He gives. gives
until when He comes to die He has
nothing worth gambling for but HIS
cloak-the che that was pure Whlte'
woven without seam. That day, the
day He died, the men He had lived
for led Him away like lamb to the
slaughter. And while they were max
ing the wounds for Him to hang by He
prayed, Father, forgive them, they
know not what they do"
In the last place, it is serious thing
to believe in the Fatherhood of COO,
necause it means that Gods perfect
ness consists in His impartial love, and
love is the most awful thing in the
world. It has been said. 'Be afraid OF
the love that loves you; 1T is either
your heaven or your hell Ihe hVes OF
men are. never the same after they
have let themselves be loved; If they
are not better they are worse For TINS
is the mystery Of love, its paradox
while it is the greatest thing in the
world it is the most helpless" For the
love of her child. without thought Of
the cost, a mother would give her
own life In exchange: and yet she must
stand at it's death bed with helpless
hands when the heart spring unwinds
and the little life runs down. A father
would give his fortune, his blood to
keep his sons heart clean and White,
but all his paternal passion cannot
check that sons mad pace, If the boys
lust take the bit between his teeth
and drag him along the edge OF the
moral precipice. A son may leave
home; a despot might compel his sub
iect to come back, father can Only
wait, and watch and keep open the
door,:
We shrink to apply all we know OF
the weakness of human love to the
divine. Yet it was through man the
Father made His love plain to us. he
came, the Christi to His own and they
received Him not. He loved His own,
loved them to the end. and yet at the
end they deserted Him, betrayed Him,
hung Him on cross.
You remember the Tuesday before
the Friday when they nailed Him be-
tween two thieves. He was standing
in the temple at Jerusalem. Did he
love that fair, rebellious city, You
NAV never know how. great was that
love. Could He save that imperilled
city? Jerusalem had bound loves,
hands with indifference so that He
could not reach out to rescue her; she
had tethered his feet With hate so that
He could only stand still and watch her
sinking into the gulf that Titus was to
dig. Stand close to the Christ as He
speaks-you see He is draining love
bitterest cup: He is realizing loves
helplessness, 1T is the vail Of heart
wounded because its love has been
,..:.>IJv o-a - ooppnf yorcrf Tho doom