Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-02-16
TIE UNIVERSAL FAITH.

By Rev. Henry F. Cope.
Though he he not far from every
one of us, for him we live and move
and have our being.-Acts 27:2 27, %.
1t takes a broad minded man of
profound convictions 10 appreciate the
truth. in another mans creed. Later
interpreters have made Paul the
champion of bigotry the truth is he
was so much the apostle of liberality
that he gave his life as a witness to
that which men then called heter-
dOxy. When he comes to Mars hill he
talks to the teachers there about the
truth and the good he finds in their
religion.
The fact that these "heathen," as
his people called them, were worship
ers of many gods Is to him evidence
of the faith that underlies all forms
of religion, the faith in the dl-
vine. Men may differ as to defni-
tions of gods, but everywhere there Is
this sense Of the divine. 1t is better
to have too many gods than none at
all; better to be pOlytheist than one
who thinks only Of god who, far
off on his throne, neither knows nor
cares for his people; better have
scores of statutes than believe your
God is yours alone.
There are many things we can di-
vine that we cannot define. Yet men
have built their differences on their
definitions Of the great spirit. Some
talk in terms Of specifications so pre-
else that one must conclude they have
held the contracts for the manufac-
ture of their gods. No one can be alb
solutely sure that his picture of the
Unseen is correct. Perhaps we can
now know more of the Father of Spir-
its than the weeds of the wayside
may know humanity. The terms of
the lower can never contain the truth
of the higher.
But how little it matters what the
precise details of the picture may be
so long as it grows better, nobler,
fairer, and more worthy of the wor-
ship and better fitted for the inspira-
ton of the race. Exact and clear cut
lines belong to childhood; larger
knowledge and growth make the lines
less distinct, but the picture not less
real. You think less of the details and
more of the image on the mind.
You can give the feet and inches
and the angles of substantial things,
but in the spiritual world mathemat-
les fail. If any man gets any salts
faction out of his exact delineation of
his God let him enjoy it for himself;
but he must not force that outline on
another, saying: Acknowledge this
as the true and only representation of
the deity; believe this or be damnedw
Mans great need is not precise in
formation so much as it is the pres
ence of his God. To realize that this
being, whatever. however he may be
and all language fails when we
come to that which Is without prece-
dent or parallel with us-is not far
off, that he is the most real, intimate.
unvarying presence in life, that none
are nearer so that it may be truly
said that in him we live, and move.
and have our being. This is the es-
sential thing.
Not God we are going to see; but
God who is so close to us that we
do not and cannot live without him;
that is the faith that men need. Not
some one to be criticised, analyzed. or
feared, but the ever present friend.
the underlying strength, the unfailing
protection, the unvarying inspiration,
the great fact of spiritual life. How
1t would simplify all living and all
religion If we but accepted that. the
fact of the eternal and spiritual in
and about us all.
That would make all live divine, be-
cause no life is apart from the divine.
That would make the secret of the
better life, the larger, freer communi-
cation with the spirit so near to us
all. This makes prayer as simple as
breathing, as natural as talking with
the friend by your side. This makes
worship but the outgoing of affection
and praise. No matter where you
may be or how directed it must reach
him who is on every side.
Never mind about definitions of
God; cultivate the life that finds COM
munion with the spiritual, the best
the most pure, and elevating, and you
shall find your God in all.