Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-07-20


i'm mountain cave. 1t matters not
| whether the worshiper be white or
black. whether he worship on his knees
or on his feet or on his back, so long us
he worship in spirit and in truth.
Christianity so far as it consists of Il
visible performance at all is the most
natural and spontaneous outgo or the
religious instincts to God. and religious
worship is essentially personal com
munion with God and in such form
and place as is best suited, to the wor-
sinner and most in accordance with the
will of God.
Hence, YOU will see, one of the prime
characteristics of the church triumph
ant is perfect liberty. Get religion"
said Augustine land do as you please
BY which he meant if you truly get re-
ligion you will always please to do
right. Paul means the same thing
when he says. IF We be in the spirit
We are not under the law" And Jesus
| meant the same when lie said, "Makc
the tree good and his fruit will he
good" And hence, the ideal Christian
life is perfectly "pontane0us. ODe-
| lience is not by cOmpulsiOn of law, but
by impulsion of love. "All the law is
fulfilled in one word Thou shalt
| love-
We have heard not Il little about
the consent of the governed, and we
nrc likely TO hear more. The state
ment as ii stands in that famous docu-
nent will not bear Il literal application.
But there is good reason to believe
that our fathers knew what they were
| n. thny had SuiI sOnE-
crnment derives its potency from the
consent of the governed they would
have been uttering the exact truth.
Statutes are imperative until the SUD-
jects consent. Perfect society implies
perfect acquiescence III the Will OF the
superior or law making power The
more society progresses toward unity,
the simpler and more equahlc will gov
| arnment become because the more gen
| pral will be the consent or acquicSence
| In the government. Paul says, 81 con-
| sent unto the law that il is good and
| in the perfect society of Johns vision
| each man enjoys perfect liberty be-
cause the will of the governor and the
governed are in perfect correspond
| rnce. Each individual does as he
pleases and at the same time does AS
He plcaseS.
In some such way the perfect COM
munity is characterized by perfect
unity without uniformity. Each per-
forms his own duty in his own way,
but is all the while i'll perfect har-
mony with his ncighbor. Again. in the
perfected society there is no diStinc-
ton between the religious and the sec.
II, hn tinns and
places of religion. We gather here in
this house of prayer believing that
God is present here as He is not in
other places, as, indeed, lie has prom
ised to be. 1t is Gods concession TO
our limitations and iniirmiticS. But
it is far from the ideal. We are apt
to identify religion with the means of
religion, rather than religion itself.
We get grace by our religious exercises
to keep Gods commandments in ali
our walks of life, and that is religion.
The members of the church triumph
ant are equally religious every day of
the week and every hour of tn" day,
and hence, church going in our sense
of the word, is forever abolished. In
that society. one does not need To say
Ia his brother, Know the LOrd,' for
all shall know Him from the least to
the greatest. There is no more preach
ing. no temple therein"
once more II is obvious that the
more faithful and devoted we are TO
the means of religion here the sooner
we shall be fitted to do without them.
Your child, learning to play the piano,
finds il hard labor 10 spell out note by
Ia, ~ Ytli-
mcntS of practice. BY and by she will
go beyond the rules. She will acquire
The genius of the skilled performer.
And the more diligently we observe
our religious duties here the sooner
we shall get beyond them. The more
faithful we are now to the times and
places of religious worship the sooner
shall we be ready for that society
where all life IS religious.
Xachariah had tnat vision ages be-
fore John had it, when he saw "lIoli,
ness to the Lord" inscribed on the
bells OF the horses and the pots i'll
The Lords house, rs sacred as the
bowls of the altar: yea, and every pot
in Jerusalem rs holy rs the vessels OF
the sanctuary. That was ut least
glimpse of the tcmplplcsS city of God.
And now shall we not Keep before
us that ideal? Let lis not be diScour-
aged hy the great disparity between
that far-off perfection ANA present
reality The poet we'll expresses our
feeling:
Oh, Land of Promise, from what Pts.
gah'S height
Can | behold thy stretch of peaceful
bowers.
Thy golden harvest flowing ont of
sight.
The nestled homes and sun-illumined
towers?
Gazing upon The sunsets high-hcaped
gold
Its cragS of opal and of chrysolite,
Its dceps on deeps of glory, that I'M
fold.
Still frightening abySscs,
And blazing precipiccS.
Whence but Scanty leap it seems to
heaven.
Sometimes q glimpse is given
or thy gorgeous realm, thy more I'M
stunted blSSes.
Gazing upon that vision. let MS be
faithful to our temple duties here that
We may be fitted for that city where
there is no temple, "for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it."
No troubles are so great that they
cannot be built into the steps of the
staircase, by which souls mount up to