The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-19


science unless man directs the breed
| ing? Man may breed these things,
but only because man is made in the
image of God-the same God who,
during the limitless ages by the laws
which we are discovering, has kept the
| laboratory of this earth at the right
| temperature, has purified its atmos-
| phere, has driven the winds, has guild
ed the sun, has parted the land from
the waters, and has directed the
| course of growth, drawing ii with in
exorable divine gravity from the first
| living thrill in the waters of the prime
val sea up to the soul of man. And
| more-much more wonderful than
| that, this same divine force has guided
the destiny of man upward through
| the ages with unfaltering steps, with
unwavering progress, revealing to man
| DeumeS all the truth that his soul
could take; even when the miserable
blind agents of the revelation scorned
| the God that gave them the light they
| boosted of; even when Gods own chill
| dren cruclf1ed Him who was not ScOrn-
| full, martyred those who were not
proud. This great power, this living
| God is directing the world today, is
| moving through life, even the lowest
| life, and equally surely he is moving
through the highest life, as he moved
in the beginning. And if education
| does not teach us to take account of
| God in our daily lives. practical ac-
| count, as of anything known of the
/
first great purpose. The man or wo-
man who mocks God is a fool, though
he know all the books and all the les
| sons ever learned of books in all the
| government of this universe, whose
laws are immutable, whose punish
| ments are just. And the man and the
| nation that would cheat God by say
ing Lord, Lord on one day and forget
! ting His covenants on other days are
doomed, even though they build tenn
! pies to learning, and erect affairs to
science in every city. Education
should teach this, and if it does not
throw books out of the window and
go find God in the street.
The God of the Street.
And the God that you find in the
street will show himself in the spirit
OF humanity If your books have
taught you something of the Divine
1mmanence, something of the theory
of God, they have only fitted you to
| begin the laboratory work with men.
| And it is another essential of an educa-
ton to know that in doing your duty
to men, you should always find that
duty by the Golden Rule-by the
spiritual law that kindness makes for
happiness. For by obedience to that
law, all that is good and worthy in our
civilization, or in any civilization has
been built, Cast thy bread upon the
waters and it shall return after many
days" is merely simple statement of
to every action there is always an
equal and contrary reaction. Newton's
third law of motion must be the basis
Of our faith in physics, and it should
be the foundation of our faith in things
spiritual
Your histories will teach you that
for thousands of years men have
moved in swarms. as gnats move or as
birds move in fiocks. or cattle in herds.
| Your scientific books. if they can not
show you why. should burn an inter
rogation into your soul that will not
heal until you have done your best to
answer why. The statesman will tell
you that we have organized to Insure
domestic tranquility. establish justice,
provide for the common defense, pro-
mote the general welfare. and secure
the blessings of liberty" But if this
is an automatic universe in which the
strongest are fittest. why should those
things interest us? Why insure do
mestic tranquility 2" Is there not plum
der for the man of war? Why "estab-
lish Justice" if might makes right?
Why provide for the common de-
Tense" if the battle is to the strong?
What has the promotion of "the gen.
eral welfare to do with the laws of
nature? or the blessings of liberty
why should they be secured in the
face of the survival of the f1ttest? Yet
in spite of the precepts of science, de-
filming the law of tooth and claw, men
herd in towns. in cities, in states. in
nations and in races.
The Centripital Force.
There is a centripital force drawing
men together, and Babel can not
scatter them. The instinct that unites
men is as strong and as real as the
force of gravitation. 1t is as demon
Strable as electricity. 1t is bred in our
bones, and fused into our blood as vi
tally as the law of Self-preservation
1t is the force that drew the animals
up to the plane of manhood, and is
drawing men up to the plane of God
hood. 1t is no mere copy-book phrase,
this law that kindness makes for hap
piness; 1t is material as any of the
great forces that have moved this uni
verse, Paul stated the law of kind
ness conversely when he said: Greed
is the root of all evil" We Insure
domestic tranquility" we establish
justice" we provide for the common
defense" we promote the general
welfare" and 1--WE secure the blessings
of liberty" merely by instructive
we may throttle greed, and by throt-
thing greed make it possible for men
to be kind without paying tribute to
the greedy. Civilization-the gnat-
swarm of men that drifts over this
earth, is merely the attempt to curb
the lustful unsocial members of the
swarm, and make it possible for men
to be kind and being kind be happy
without too great a sacrifice to tenn
poral substance.
''When the rogue's eye and the
greedy gut" said Martin Luther four
hundred years ago. mark that any
one must have their ware, or that the
buyer is poor and needs it
they look not at the worth of their |
ware, nor at the value of their service. |
but simply at the need and want of
their neighbor, and they put up their |
ware, which they would leave at a low |
price were it not for the necessity of /
their neighbor. And so through their |
greed, the neighbours need becomes |
the mark and price of the ware. Tell !
me-is not that unchristian and in |