Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-13
Sunday Morning Talk
The Ultimate Resort.

They all, men, women and children,
were calling upon the name OF God
This sentence i'll a vivid newspaper de-
scription of a recent railway horror ar
rested my thought. Instantly the picture
flashed before me-the aWIul wreck the
passengers pinioned under the cars the
survivors hurryinS about IN the uIh
morning twilight 10 find, If possible, some
means of relief, whlle the DiteulhS anu
mang ed forms Uf two score persons SIGN
an,d the on.ouker ana the agOnlzlnS cries
ot tine Wuuudcd and dying gave the unal
LouCn OF woe 10 Tie dWlui ti"SS"S' -'O
wonder tnaL tuele Was tliis sd
caluus upon the lefty. DVuEtIess So4iio
VINO useu the eX.s essIon hau Seiuoh DC
Lure employed IL. Possibly X" I1u
.vpn ueuleu his existence, ana mad never
SPOKEN OF Coo save 10 LAKE his hdiie iIi
yaln. TO the lips OF many tue eAPteH
SION came naturally, because theg Hdu
trusted and served Him ali Their .iFts
ionp Bul at all events, there they al
Were-CnristanS. aSnoStlcS, materld4isis'
Notwithstanding upon COD. Previous
distinctions vanished, and ali, driven pS
a common impulse in the presence OF so
<errtOle a caiainity. appea-ed 10 TOD
There was naught else to DO.
That is the ultimate scsort OF al! OF us
sooner or later. When the great crises
come when the ship is going down, wheh
some terrible experience betalls US, some
thing leaps up from the potto-l OF our
hearts, and it always leaps God"ard. II
Is a universal human instinct the re-
Spouse of the soul TO its Make. Ii is
the elemental thing in our nature rising
up to find and claim something outside
of Itself with which 1t is allied and on
which il may rest when all else seems
to have given way.
Catastrophes, then. serve to throw the
soul back where it belongs. When our
bark glides gayly over peaceful seas the
thought Of God too often recedes. but dis
tress. anguish. disaster force US TO the
ultimate resort. We must have some sort
Of an explanation, some redress, SOM
condensation Our minds would be crazad
if we thoueht such things could happen
because of themselves only, or because
Of a malignant fate. why do I believe
in God?" said Phillips Brooks once.
First. because the universe is unthinl;
able without Him, and. second. because
Jesus believed in Him Certainly this
criss-cross world is less of a puzzle on
the suppostion that there IS a God than
If the contrary be assumed Moreover.
the witness of Jesus is all important. He
was not the victim Of celusion, nor was
He an impostor. He was the truest.
kearest man who ever lived. What He
held and taught with regard 70 God can
he safely accented.
This Is the way in which relief comes.
We shall not get elaborate explanation OF
all the accidents that God permits but
we shall get something hetter-a convic-
ton that He has not withdrawn HIS
Hand from the holm Of tn" universe. So
we are hraced to bear the Inevitable. sure
frat some day mysteries will be solved
and all just commentators made for pain
and woe Another word-not so far
away, after all--cores within orr vision
and we can wait till We reach II for an
explanation Of the things that may never
he cleared ND here.
IT, then God is the one substantial en-
durin~ fact Of this universe. why wait
for some awful evnnrier"e to bring Us
into touch With Him? Why not IN davs
Of health. hnppiness md prosperity ar
nretorn ourselves to tho Thought of Him
Why wait 70 nav 20 Vim until the e''-
igercias IF If force us nann" frOr1 or
,;r-p W. v rot herin now 20 cultivate tho
-,ersonnl ro,ntiorehin? To he ah'n to say
from, the heart in da~@ % eUnshi0a oHa
~ aavs Of shadow NV Cod" fills FIFE
with peace and hope a. ''"w"""
TIVE pAPSNN.