The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-12-22

the base metal OF thought or self into
the pure gold OF thought of the unself.
From the moment when his first babes
fist cry summons the instinct OF fuIh-
c.hood i'm mans bosom the man must
deny himself, he must henceforth lose
himself in another. Love once mere
passion o. possession is reborn pas
sion for self-sacridce. This father has
family. and II Is the family. the
home. the health OF the whole which
become his chiefGst concern.
Given son. and what follows!
What must be the true sons concern?
Surely il is the same rs the fathers.
The father no more than the son. the
son no less than the father, exists for
that home. IL is this mutual instinct
of being supported and supporting
which makes us sing, There is no
place like home:'
So here. again. the axiom or the
earthly relationship we call home is
true for the celestial relationship we
call religion. This is the extension OF
the old Fifth Commandment in re-
ligiOn-"LOve your enemies and pray
for them that persecute you: that We
may be sons Of your Father who is in
heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise
on the evil and the good. and sendeth
rain on the Just and the unjust"
Like God the Father. the Son must
have a love that is boundess, ungrudg-
ing and gratuitous. The family. not
one favorite here and another there.
but all the members must receive with
out bias. be blessed without prejudice.
be cared for without favOritism. The
son must live so that no man can be
poorer. no woman sadder. no child
more wretched for aught he has done
or left undone. He must live so that
through his words and deeds men may
see truth, reverence. purity. and pos
sess the means Of happiness, and he
must so live not for profit, prudence or
popularity; he must so live, though it
means curse Il crown of thorns and
Il cross.
And if we seek to know what that
means. what sonship involves. we go
to Hin who taught us to say Our
Father" His 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 nickname
of friend Of publcans 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 20 die He has
nothing worth gambling for but His
cloak-rhe one that was pure white,
woven without seam. That day. the
day lie died, the men He had lived
for led Him away like lamb to the
slaughter. And while they were maxi
ing the wounds for Him 10 hang by He
thnp, thaV
know not what they do"
In the last place. it is Il serious thing
TO believe in the Fatherhood OF God,
because it means that Gods perfect
ness consists in His imDartiai love. and
love is the most awful thing in the
world. 1t has been said. "Re afraid Of
the love that loves YOU; it is either
your heaven or your hell. The lives OF
men are never the same after they
have let themselves be loved: if they
are not better they are worse. For this
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, Il mother would give her
own life in exchange: and yet she must
stand at its 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. 4 son may leave
home n despot might compel his SUBJ
feet to come back, q father can only
wait. and watch and keep open the
door.
We shrink to apply all we know or
the weakness of human love to the
divine. Yet it was through Il man the
Father made His love plain TO us. He
came. the Christ. 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 a 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. rebellous city? You
may never know how great was that
love- Could He save that imperllled
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 10 the Christ as He
speaks-you see He is draining love
bitterest cup: He is realizing loves
heplessness, lit is the wall Of a heart
wounded because its love has been
despsed" and it cannot avert the doom
which impends over those ii loves.
"Oh. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. how often
would l have gathered thy children
as hen gathered her chickens, and
We would not. Behold. your house is
left unto you desolate."
To sum up. il is a serious thing to
believe in the Fatherhood Of God, be-
cause this belief involves sonship, and
sonship involves brotherhood. and
brotherhood involves living for the
spirit behind things. for the higher
life. the eternal kind. on which death
lays no hand. on which the grave has
aF,s,