The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-11
GOD AS CAPITALIST HAS INVESTED IN US Rev. Dr. Foster Breaches at the South Highlands Presbyterian RECEIVING AND GIVING God Lavished Ills Gifts and There Was Never an Age When He Did
 So With More Unstinted
 Hand.
RECEIVING AND GIVING

The Rev. pr. Sterling J. Foster, pas tor of the South Highlands Presbyterian church, preached at that church yester- day. Taking his text from l Corinthians S:s: "Ye are Gods tiled land" he said;
 A late writer has recently said that life suggests irresistaibly the idea of an unseen capitalist who has invested large ly in us" To this conclusion was he drawn by simply observing life as we know it. Beginning as a tiny bundle of possibilities, he says. we are dependent, and could survive only few brief mo- ments, were our needs not supplied and throughout life we are largely recipients and absorbents
 The universe flows in through myriad open gateways of the soul, leaving de- posits from it's infinite storehouses We gulp the present and the past. All his tories all literature work at us. We may not have read them, but they create the atmosphere we breathe.
 The agonies of martyrs, the struggles of patriots, the visions of seers, the achievements of science, all help to swell the revenues upon which we draw In fact, there is no arithmetic that can cal culate the cost in thought, in effort in suffering in all that constitutes ulti- mate values, that has gone to the equip ment of the humblest of us alive today. "
 A Modern Method.
 This is the modern method of stating the same truth, though partially, that the Apostle Paul has stated centuries since The unaided intellect perceives the wealth of resources poured out upon us in rich profusion. and the apostle speak ing by revelation, does not hesitate to call the unseen capitalist God; "Ye are Gods titled fields" and intelligence Is directing the operations of soils and sea- sons, of influences and environments, and all with a grand purpose in view-4that the fields produce-that the capitalist re- ceive returns.
 To awaken fully to this truth, is to ex- perience the birthday of the soul. So long as life Is only receptive. so long as it a,bsorbs alone, so long does the soul Ol Ihdll ilS dOIHlaiib rih at4NSNNttb ehAA0 the great business of life is not begun
 Jesus experienced this awakening fully at tweleve years of ago, when on his first visit to the temple he remained be- hind and when reproached by His par ents said, Twist yet not that I must be about my fathers business" The period of passive reciptivity was forever poss- ed with him at that early age, and "I must work the works of Him that sent me" became the watchword of his life, And this with no great convulslon of his nature.
 Quietly and imperceptably, amid the quiet surroundings of his provincial home. he had felt the divine influences at play upon his perfect soul and responded as the opening flowers to the genial rays of spring.
 Receiving and Giving Nothing.
 But when age has crept on space and the habit of receiving and giving nothing in return has become encrusted in the life. the soul struggles to break through its prison house, and the mighty convul- sions of which we read are the result. Are we to believe that because these are of rare occurrence today that there are few who are experiencing this awakening? Are we to conclude that our age shows a determination to give nothing in return for the care and cultivation of GodP
 Many are asking this question with anx- ous hearts. and there are many who answer in the affirmative. But can we not hrd ip the multiplied agencies for culti- vating the youth and the rich results that have accrued from them, some compensa- tion. partial it is true, but solid never theless, for this evident imperviousness to the call of God displayed today?
 Are there not multitudes Of the young throughout our land who are awake and awakening to the commanding obliga- t:on to make return for the capital lav- ished upon them in such abundance? am persuaded that here must we find explanation. if explanation is to be found, of condition that has been the despair of good men these ten years past. God the Capitalist.
 Of this, however. we can be assured God, the great Capitalist, has not despair ed, for He continues to lavish His gifts. and there was never an age when He with more unstlnted hand titled the soil of His lands, and poured out in greater abundance His good gifts. And in this is supreme inspiration for continued en- deavor and fresh call to renewed activity.
 Now can we echo the words of the ancient man of God What shall I rem der unto the Lord for all Ills benefits to- ward me? I will take the cup of salva- tion and call upon the name of the Lord. I will offer the sacrifices of thanks giving and will call upon the name of the Lord" Lord God of our fathers, be with us yet lest we forget; lest we forget"