The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1906-10-19

motto becomes. not Give and let live"
but Live ourselves and get all we can
at the other mans expense" OF course
| am not now talking of the capitalist
and tile laborer as individuals.
Yes, Capital today cannot be proud
of her past record. She has heart of
stone. Neither has labor today any
thing to be proud of in her past ac-
lions. She has an adamantine heart of
selfishness and greed. But when look
upon the struggles of these two mighty
social factors | am not pesslmlst, for
in the social storms, in the strikes and
determinations, in the blows, which are
now falling thick and fast, in the wars
and rumors of wars, in the universal
social disorder, see bright day COM
ing. Peace and prosperity and univer-
sal brotherhood shall yet be evolved
out of the present social chaos. No
"stagnating social cosmos" is here. All
these social upheavals are only rain
bow signs in the heavens that the So
cial wars shall soon cease. "Where no
oxen are, the crib is clean, but much
increase is by the strength OF the OK"
What is true of the mental, physical
and social realms is emphatically true
of the spiritual life. 1t is not by
life of spiritual ease that we are going
to receive Gods true messages. 1t is
only by struggle, only by prayer, only
by agony, only by wrestling, as Jacob
wrestled with the angelic messenger
through the long, dark night, that
Christ reveals his face to us in the
"beauty of holiness" We must do as
Jesus did. We must spend forty long
days in the wilderness before we can
come to our true spiritual cosmos and
walk hand in hand with God.
| was never more impressed with this
thought than some time ago when l
was reading The History of Preach
er's Life" by DR.. Rainsford, late rector
of st. Georges Episcopal church of
New York city. DR.. Rainsford had
been preaching the gospel for many
years. He was at that time one of the
most prominent preachers of Canada.
Suddenly there came a time when his
old theology was passing away. He
could not see things as he once saw
them. Try as he would, he could not
see them with the old eyes. Like Sam
son, he seemed to be shorn of his
strength His audiences left him. His
power seemed to be gone. But he kept
bravely on in his spiritual struggle.
He prayed. oh, how earnestly he
prayed! Then one day the new light
came. He was praying in his study
and reading the parable Of the prodigal
son when the new gospel truth dawned
upon him. He said: THAT prodigal son
went away from God, but he never
ceased to be a son of his Divine Father.
Some of us may wander far, far away,
but we are all Gods children. He new
er ceases to love us. He is ready to
receive and forgive all of us if we
only come back to the Divine Fathers
loveW At once DR.. Rainsford's old
faith was revived; the theological mys-
teries passed away; from the chaos,
the disorder of his religious hopes,
there came the cosmos of the faith of a
simple child.
fFleuu, WOulu 'lOOk lulO your eyes
today. You are worried You are like
Martha, troubled about many things.
But you are not like Mary's sister,
worried about heavenly feast You
are worried about your relationship
to God. oh, / thank. Jesus today that
you are worried. / thank God that
your theological crib is disordered. You
are miserable; you are distressed; you
are anxious but this is well. 1t is out
of such distress that you come to eter-
nal rest and peace. The danger is
when a man is content with himself,
when he is Indifferent and untroubled.
That is when the crib is clean. The
way to happiness is through the tur-
moil that is hard to bear while it lasts,
but afterward brings the peaceable
fruit of righteousness. No "stagnat-
ing spiritual cosmos" is yours. Reach
up. Reach on. In thy darkness keep
on stumbling. Pray. Diligently search
the Scriptures. Keep on. Keep on.
copyright. 1906 by Louis Klopzch.l