Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-11-09
THE PASSING AND PERMANENT.

BY Henry T. Gore.

By Henry It. Cope.
Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good" / Thess. ", 81.
When the walls are being rebuilt it
is easy to imagine that the founda-
lions are being destroyed Old creeds
pass away, but truth remains; II they
were true in their day they do but
give place to the larger truth OF the
new day. We need to distinguish be-
tween the turmoil attendant to the
process of building and the beauty OF
the new temple that arises.
The old folks hear the new truths
and ask where are the foundations
gone? The young hear the discussion
between the old and the new and ask,
is there anything settled, any worth
believing2 What are the permanent
elements In religion on which the life
may build while the things that are
but temporary are adjusting them
selves.
1t would be the height Of folly to
assert that there is no change Some
say that we must believe precisely the
same things as our fathers believed.
To do so would be to be false to our
fathers, for they refused to accept the
traditions OF their elders. The land
marks we leave behind once were far
In front of the seekers after truth
Truth Is ever changing: our vision
is ever enlarging. The road remains.
but the traveller moves on. With the
living every day has some new light.
Creeds are erystallized statements OF
truth; truth Is vital and cannot be
contained In unchanging forms. Gre
dulity blindly accepts yesterdays pic
ture Of trath; faith, with open eyes,
seeks to-day's truth itself.
Skepticism Is must less sinful than
credulity. The sloth of the man who
will not examine things, will not prove
them, who prefers to buy his garments
OF truth ready made, results In what
is worse than unbelIef, and that Is
blind belief In the false. 1t Is a re-
ligious duty to question every teach
Ing, to prove all things.
How may we find those things that
are certain? How Esay we discover the
truth for one day, the truth upon which
we may build? Surely there are some
things fixed and certain, there is some
where pole star and compass. How
may we find that truth which belongs
to our day and in which we may have
the confidence that our fathers had in
their truth?
The test of the vital truths is a
practical one Only those truths are
vital which concern the present busi-
ness of living in all It's wide sweep. 1t
Is a matter Of indifference that we may
think Of the color of angels hair or
the number of strings to their harps;
1t is a vastly different matter what
we may believe as to moral obliga-
lions, human rights, and duties.
The test Of creed Is an ethical cEe.
What things work out best In living,
what are the ideals, doctrines, beliefs
that make the noblest characters and
the most useful citizens, the best sons
and daughters, and parents, and neigh
bors2 What are the things that help
me most In my life, the things that
give me moral stimulus and bracing,
the things that lead me to covet the
best?
The way to find the truth is to do
the truth; only the truth that we can
/ do is worth discussing If Won will
give yourself to the business of living
the truth you have you soon will have
the living truth for this new day.
Too many people are holding up as
saving doctrines matters Of philoso-
ply and speculation, matters of child
ish curiousity, because 1t Is easier TO
hold these things theoretically than to
hold living truth practically. The
truths that save men are the ones
that change their characters the great
authorized and divine translation of
the Bible Is its translation into pres
ent day lofty living.
Build your life on the belief In
goodness, In eternal, Infinite goodness
as the order of the universe. on the
superiority of love to hatred, on the
final victory Of love and goodness, on
the ideal of this great human family
Of ours that shall come to live in unity
and brotherliness, and so fulfill the
Will of the infinite father of all. These
things work WELL