Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-01

! 4OI NllCJ hIlOW AOl WAlclL AAANy W.
But love is the foundation of Christ's
creed. The world had known love
before; parents had loved children, and
children parents; husband had loved
wife, and wife husband; and friend had
| loved friend; but Jesus gave new
definition of love. His love was as
| boundless as the sea; its limits were so
far-reaching that even an enemy could
not travel beyond it. Other teachers
sought to regulate the lives of their
followers by rule and formula, but
Christ's plan was, first to purify the
heart and then to leave love to direct
the footsteps.
Easy to Believe Christ Divine
What conclusion is to be drawn from
the life, the teachings and the death OF
this historic figure? Reared in q car
penter shop; with no knowledge of lit
erature, save Bible literature; with no
acquaintance with philosophers living
or with the writings of sages dead, this
young man gathered disciples about
him, promulgated higher code OF
morals than the world had ever known
before, and proclaimed himself the
Messiah. He taught and performed
miracles for a few brief months and
then was crucified; his disciples were
scattered and many of them put TO
death; his claims were disputed, his
resurrection denied and his followers
prosecuted, and yet from this beginning
his religion has spread until millions
take his name with reverence upon
their lips and thousands have been
willing to die rather than surrender the
faith which he put into their hearts.
How shall we account for him? What
think We of Christi" 1t is easier to be-
lieve him divine than to explain In
any other way what he said and did
and was. And l have greater faith
even than before since have visited
the orient and witnessed the successful
contest which Christianity is waging
against the religions and PHILOSOPHERS
of the East.
1 was thinking q few years ago OF
the Christmas which was then APP
preaching and of him in whose honor
the day is celebrated. 1 recalled the
message, Peace on earth, good will to
men, and then my thoughts ran back
to the prophecy uttered centuries Pc
fore his birth, in which he was de-
scribed as the Prince of Peace. TO re-
inforce my memory I re-read the
prophecy and found Immediately fol-
lowing a verse which I had forgotten
"a verse which declares that of the
increase of his peace and government
there shall be no end, for, adds Isaiah.
"He shall judge his people with Justice
and with judgment"
Thinking OF the prophecy, / have Sc
lected this theme that / may present
same of the reasons which lead me to
believe that Christ has fully earned the
title, the Prince of Peace, and that in
the years to come it will be more and
more applied to him. Faith III him
brings peace to the heart, and his
teachings, when applied will bring
peace between man and man. And If
he can bring peace to each heart, and
If his creed will bring peace through
out the earth, who will deny his right
to be called the Prince of Peace?
All the earth is in search of peace;
every heart that ever beat has sought
for peace, and many have been the
methods employed to secure it. Some
have thought to purchase it with riches
and they have laboredvto secure wealth,
hoping to find peace when they were
able to go where they pleased and buy
what they liked. OF those who have en-
deavNred to purchase peace with money
the large majority have failed to secure
the money. But what has been the ex-
perience of those who have been sue
cessful in accommodating money? They
all tell the same story, viz. that they
spent the first half of their lives trying
to get money from others and the last
half trying to keep others from getting
their money, and that they found peace
in neither half. Some have even reached
the point where they find difficulty in
getting people to accept their money:
and I know of no better indication of
the ethical awakening in this country
than the increasing tendency to scru-
tinize the methods OF money making.
A long step in advance will have been
taken when religious, educational and
charitable institutions refuse to con-
done immoral methods In business and
leave the possessor of ill-gotten gains
to learn the loneliness of life when one
prefers money to morals.
Political Power Does Not Bring Peace
Some have sought peace in social dis
tinction, but whether they have been
within the charmed circle and fearful
lest they might fall out. or outside and
hopeful that they might get in, they
have not found peace.
Some have thought-vain thought
to find peace in political prominence;
but whether office comes by birth, as
in monarchies, or by election, as in re-
publics, it does not bring peace. An
office is conspicuous only when few can
occupy it. Only when few in a genera
tion can hope to enjoy an honor do we
call it a great honor. / am glad that
our Heavenly Father did not make the
peace of the human heart depend upon
the accumulation of wealth, or upon
the securing Of social or political dis
IlilcllOIl,
could have enjoyed 1t; but when he
made peace the reward of a conscience
void of all offense toward God and man.
he put it within the reach of all. The
poor can secure it as easily as the rich,
the social outcast as freely as the
leader of society, and the humblest citi-
zen equally with those who WELD politi-
cal power.
To those who have grown gray in the
faith need not speak of the peace to
be found in the belief in an overruling
Providence Christ taught that our
lives are precious in the sight of God,
and poets have taken up the theme and
woven it into immortal verse. No un-
inspired writer has expressed the idea
more beautifully than William Cullen
Bryant in the lode to a Waterfowl"
After following the wandepings of the
bird of passage as it seeks first its
northern and then its southern home,
he concludes:
Thou art gone; the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form. but on my
heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.
He who. from zone to zone.
Guides through the boundless sky thy GER
tain flight.
In the long way that must tread alone
VIII lead my steps Alright
Christ promoted peace by giving us
the assurance that a line of commu-
nication can be established between the
Father above and the child below. And
who will measure the consolation that
has been brought to troubled hearts
by the hour of prayer?
And Immortality Who viii estimate