Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-12
MUSICAL EVENT
IS CELEBRATED
SPECIAL SERVICES HELD BY
CONTEMPORARIES
Church Honors Anniversary Day of
Installation of Memorial Organ
and Minister breaches Ape
propriate Sermon

Ten years ago at the First Congrega-
tional church, then at the corner of
Sixth and Hill streets, the Hildreth
memorial organ was dedicated. Walter
II. Skeele was installed as organist.
Yesterdays services were both full
musical ones in honor OF the event.
The organist and the choir were as
sisted at the evening service by Arnold
Erauss of the Los Angeles symphony
orchestra. The church was decorated
in white and green.
AT the morning service Rev. William
Horace Day preached on Jesus the
Artist" lie said in part.
when Jesus said Consider the lilies
OF the field he spoke as an artist, as
an adept in the appreciation and en-
bodiment of beauty. The true artist
may express his vision of the beautiful
in many ways; he is still an artist
whether he paint picture or utter n
parable. In keeping with the spirit of
this anniversary day, we all want
to express our appreciation Of the
noble gift of Mr.. and Mrs. Hidreth and
the splendid service of Mr.. Skeele, our
organist. This organ played by such an
organist has contributed to the spiritual
life of this church inspirations which
have been wrought into character. This
ministry of music is in accord with the
purpose of Christ for his church.
EVERY artist must choose the form
in which to clothe his genius. Jesus
made almost exclusive use of a single
literary form-the parable. Without a
parable spake he nothing unto them.
Not fable which deals with lessons of
world prudence, not with allegory in
which truth and it's illustration are
blended, but in parable in which truth
1ltTgf rafi ion II GiF q
each other but never confused, each
remaining distinct from each other. No
other form Of literature can compare
with it in it's enduring nature and in
its power to instruct because based
upon life rather than abstract thought.
Beauty in the Commonplace
at is a high type of artistic ability
which appreciates and can portray the
beauty of historic pageants. but it is a
higher mark Of artistic genius to dis
cover beauty in that which the in
artistic man Gespises as commonplace.
The artist reaches the highest level in
his ability to so interpret common life
that others may discover the beauties
for which they lack insight List called
a Hungarian gypsy to his room day
after day, transcribing the folk songs
of Hungary; out of that study came
the Hungarian rnapsodies. Walking
through the halls of Versailles there is
an attraction in the battle scenes of
French history, in the coronations and
pageants of royalty, but Gerard and his
fellow artists can hardly be said to
have Interpreted life. Millet and Jules
Breton, with their pictures of humblest
peasant life attain artistic power inn
possible for the men who see beauty
only in the finery of courts and armies.
The higher artist genius reveals the
fundamental beauties of the common.
Jesus found material for his literary
gems in the mixing of the leaven, in
the sweeping of the floor to find one OF
the lost dowry coins, in the hen shell
tering her chickens as night comes on,
in the cleaning of cups and platters, in
the sower who went forth to sow.
"Our Lord could detect possibilities
of moral beauty in the most repulsive.
AS he sat at dinner in Simon's house a
woman of the street came in and began
to anoint his feet. His fellow diners
drew back in disgust because she was a
sinner but Jesus, with insight into
character, saw in this manifestation of
love the evidence of the divine life. His
genius in perceiving moral beauty was
shown in his choice of the twelve COM
mon men into whose toil-hardened
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his kingdom on earth. Jesus was an
artist because he could perceive beau
ties in nature and in character. He
was an artist in his ability to reveal
the beauty in what he saw even when
associated with the commonplace and
the repulsiVe.
I'm the noble use of music-the
latest of the arts-we find fellowship
with Jesus the artist. The child sitting
by your side is being trained i'm this
service as the music of worship leads
him UP 10 God to meet the stress and
storm of those coming days when he
will begin to demand a reason for the
faith that is IN him. If he can have
been so made spiritually alert to the
presence of God he will always be able
to fall back on that experience and per-
haps be delivered from the shipwreck
of faith which may suffer"
EIlMEPAI NE P0pIIIkP