Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-10

trihing matters compared with the fact
that God is and that we may call him
our Father. 'Unitarianism, 'Trinitar-
ianism,' are mere word bubbles COM
pared with the fact that the spirit of
Christ is in the world. saving 1t. These
things are not fundamentals. They are
only terms, forged by human intel
lects to express one phase of the Truth
as it appeared to them. Jesus cared
for none of these things except as they
nampered and hindered those who be-
lieved them instead of believing him,
who worshiped them instead of using
them to serve their neighbors.
1.-THE time comes more than once in
mans life when he must know what
he believes, when the truth that is in
his own heart is all that he can find.
But no truth is ours until we first live
it, until it enters into our lives and
we become it.
1--WE may therefore say that no man
can accept or embrace the religion of
another. 1t must become his own first,
or else he cannot receive it, If he
takes it from another without change,
it is not a religion, 1t is some state
ment of opinion, some type of ceremo-
NAL or some dust-heap or sarcophagus
of words, from which the life has long
since blown away.
can friend finds no necessary attribute
of religion. Love is not love unless 1t
contains the impulse of renewed life.
1t must purify itself by action. If thou
lowest me, feed my lambs. There Is
no other evidence. There is no other
way in which emotion can impinge on
religion. Sensations says my friend,
are within the reach of all. Preachers
deal with them sometimes. Our rit-
i t,0t,. civ hon
are books that pile up great waves of
emotion in us, almost as real as If we
had earned them. l have read of bat
ties so wildly portrayed that my cold
| blood grew hot and I felt like hero.
l cooled down little more weary than
before; that was all. 1 have listened
to great preachers who talked so ia
miliarly Of holy things and made them
so real that earth has seemed dreary
when I touched it again. Emotions are
dangerous things unless they find an
outlet in action. We can so narcotize
ourselves with holy things that our
senses will lie to us. We can mediate
on holy things until we feel that we
are holy, too. But periods of rude
awakening come We find we have
been hearing and not doing, saying
Lord! Lord" and not doing God s
WILL
Story of the Slaves
"I stood said my friend, 'one sunny
day on q coral reef in the harbor of
Veracruz. The hazy blue air was full
Of sunshine and the healthy doors of
the sea. Birds were tumbling about
overhead in the perfect abandon of
strength and room and tropical COM
fort. The white rocks and blue sea
were mixing in a line of fleecy foam
~ ho cQnmpd flow 9WQX
on the wave crests. 1t was perfect
day, such as God sends us often when
he let's heaven down to rest on earth
for a little while. At my feet was a
square hole out of the rock. Across
it were bars of IRON I put my face
down, and when my eyes became ac-
customed to the darkness below, l
could see human forms there, men in
chains, standing in water ankle deep,
with the ocean ceaselessly pounding
overhead, it's hoarse laugh reminding
them that they would be thrown to
the sharks when they were dead. l
could see their haggard faces turned
up toward the little, barred square of
light, which was all of the great free
outside world they could see. Since
that day that Mexican prison has been
the background against which I have
set my ideal of freedom. Chained hand
and foot, Enclosed by rocky walls, de-
pendent upon their masters for food
and drink and air and life, these men
were slaves.
"'And yet, not all slaves are in
chains or behind prison bars
Life is love, and love is life eter-
nal. Only he who loves lives. Wisdom
is vain unless our knowledge is turned
into love.
Love for men-and this soon passes
into love for God-lifts man above the
physical where death is, into the spir-
! itual life everlasting"