The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-11-29

perlcnce common to lis all. Here is q
SONG composed by some unknown sing
er 1900 years ago, 4 singer OF Il diner
cnt race. in I far away land, under ell
tirely different circumstances from
those IL which we live. but this song
has been AXE up and repeated by
millions of human beings because the
words express the ever recurrent SeEti-
mcnt of the human soul in all ages and
all lands. AS the hart panteth for
the water brooks 50 panieth NY soul
after Thee, 0 God" You shall find
this sentiment expressed in ten thou
sand hymns. In q million churches on
this Sunday morning it is being sung.
In a million mosques it is being chant
ed. In q million Buddhist temples it
is being uttered. Ali around the earth
all classes and conditions OF men. rirll
and poor, wise and foolish, coed and
bad, high and low, are longing and
| praying to have His Spirit bear wit
ness with their spirits that they are
children Of God. -
And not only do the people who be-
liere in God testify to this. The most
remarkable and pathetic testimony
| comes from those who intellectually
deny that there is sufficient reason to
believe in the existence Of God. 1t
| seems to me that almost the wreariest
words that ever fell from human lips
were uttered by Professor Clifford
when he felt himself compelled intel
lectually to take the atheistic position.
81 have seen the spring sun shine out
Of the empty heavens upon d soulless
earth, and have felt with utter loneli-
ness that the great Companion was
dead" And yos will remember that
Professor Romanes, though at the last
he saw a great light and went to his
death full Of trust like n who wraps
the drapery of his couch about him
and lies down to pleasant dreams" at
one time wrote a book called "a Can
did Examination of Theism," and in
| this examination found no rational
ground for a belief in God. He closed
| his book with these words: Il an not
ashamed to confess that with this vir-
tual denial of God the universe has lost
its soul and loneliness, and when at
times / think, as think at times l
must, of the appalling contrast be-
tween the hallowed glory Of the creed
that once was mine and the lonely
mystery of existence as now l find it,
at such times it will yer be impossible
| to avoid the sharpeSt pangS Of which
my nature is susceptible" Take note
of these words Of an absolutely sincere
and fearless man, 1.-The sharpest pangs
of which my nature is susceptible"
Now why should one feel like that?
Suppose there is no God, what of it?
Suppose it should be proved that this
world has been produced by the opera
ton Of physical forces working in &C
cordance with blind and heartless law,
what Of it? Is not the sky just as blue,
the grass as green? Are not friends
as dear? Why should we not get along
without God? Why should we care
whether God is or is not?
A friend told me this incident the
other day: There was q family consist
ing Of an aged man and woman. a
number Of sons and daughters and q
little group Of grandchildren. The aged
grandfather was enjoying a serene and
happy old age, loved by all, and the
home was one of peculiar brightness.
One night the aged man, as usual, took
his evening paper and sat in his accus-
toned place to read, wiped his glasses,
made a comment or two to the white
haired wife knitting opposite, and af-
ter q little, as his custom was, fell into
one Of those quiet siumbers peculiar to
old age. Around him the other men,
bers Of the family talked and laughed
and joked till n said, Father seems
to be sleeping very soundly," and, plac-
ing his hand upon the old mans Shout
der. discovered that he was dead.
Now, ask me. will you, what difference
is made? The home was left. the lamp
burned as brightly, the newspaper
filed with interest was there, nothing
was apparently changed. Was not the
sky just as blue and the grass just as
green ard did not the stars shine as
brightly? What difference did it
make? Why, if he was dead his spirit
could no longer bear witness to the
her. His spirit could no longer respond
to the joy of his grandchildren. There
is q difference between q dead body
and a living man that makes one stand
in the presence Of his living friend
with joy and in the presence Of the
friends dead body with unutterable
misery. There is q difference between
a dead universe and a living universe.
That is the reason for these utteranceS
of black despair from those who do
not believe in God.
My soul l~ongeth-yea, even fainteh
for the courts of the Lord"
Now i want to call your attention to
the testimony Of this hunger after God,
to the existence Of God. Whence came
this universal and Unsuitable desire?
It came from the same source as the
mighty longing Of a woman for a child,
the longing Of the child for a mothers
love. 1t was wrought into man by the
same power thatmakeS the man search
through the world for the one woman
to whom he can give himself in love;
by the same power that makes the
maiden desire above everything else
the love Of n strong man. All these
are wrought by nature into human ma
ture. David vas right and his analogy
was complete. "As the hart panteth
after the water brooks so panteth my
soul after Thee, o God" AS the thirst
of the hart for water, as the fact that
the hart suffers and dies without
water, is testimony enough for him that
somewhere there must exist water to
satisfy his thirst, so the thirst of the
human soul for God, this mighty cry
that goes up from every human soul,
is inexplicable except upon the ground
that God is and that somehow Els
spirit cal bear witness with our spirits
that we are children CT God. When
you have convinced me that the love of
man for woman. of mother for child is
without meaning or purpose then /
will hnlinro TINT this lnnninn of tho hi