Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-09
ANGELES HERALD MORNING. SEPTEMBER 1907

set hanging its canopy Of gold over a
sapphire sea. l love to hear God In the
symphony of the forest winds. / love
to find God in the inspired scriptures of
the prophets and streaming in glory
through the heroic deeds of noble souls;
but / also want to see him in the laws
that control the wasting disease, in the
broken bodies and lusterless eyes of those
who bear the burden of sickness. 1 want
to know that he partakes of the terror
of the plague, the anguish of the battle-
field, the horror of the charnel house, the
heart-numbing pain of the sweatshop.
want to know that the loneliness OF the
widow and the helplessness of the orphan
are shared by him; that the cruel lash of
the taskmaster falls on him; that the
terror felt by the drunkard's wife is
known by him; that the wide-eyed de-
spair of the betrayed and outcast woman
brings sadness to him.
II want to know when I sink beneath
the load of care he feels the crushing
load. I want to know when I fall be-
meath the lashings of guilty conscience
he feels the raw weals upon my soul. And
believe he does.
This has been the desire of man in all
ages This is why he deifed Christ. The
transcendent tragedy of the cross has
melted the hearts of men for twenty
centuries. The Man of Sorrows has been
the worlds highest conception of divin-
ity When Jesus was placed upon the
throne of majesty with the Father. then
did the sorrowing heart of man elevate
Mary, the suffering mother, to the place
of supreme worship.
Over Soul
There is conception of God that
conceives of him as the over Soul ever
stretched in silent repose,' perfect in
purity in power and satisfaction, to
whom there can be no pain or disappoint-'
ment or sin. But there Is another con-
ception of God, perfectly consistent with
and growing out of the other idea, that
sees him working through all things to
the fulfillment of his great purposes. We
are the manifestation of God. We are
the creatures of his love. His life is pull
sating through our brains and nerves.
And with this conception of God l am
now concerning myself.
God is suffering with you. In your
agony OF soul, in the bitter disappoint-
ment,. in the cankering grief whose pres
ence Is hid from your dearest friend, he
is "a partaker. Therefore, cast your care
upon him. The real value of suffering
is found In that 1t makes us feel our
and forces us back upon
God. We realize our dependence upon the
great all-pervading spirit life and that
brings God very near to us. Even as
little children in the presence of danger
run to the protecting embrace of father,
so we, in the presence of suffering and
pain, run to the embrace of our spiritual
Father. And this brings consolation, en-
couragement and strength; and supplies
the larger reason for the existence of
suffering.
There ls Escape
Shall we ever escape from suffering
and pain? Yes, when we have learned
the lessons of pain, when beneath the
heavy blows OF anguish our characters
have been fashioned and shaped into
beauty and symmetry, when under the
testing of the fires of suffering we have
been found genuine. when by repeated
experiences we have found that the
things of sense and self are valueless
and we know that true and satisfying
life can be found only in the identifica-
ton of ourselves with universal purpose
then shall we be free from suffering"