Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-10-09

cnud must be discarded by the man,
and just as in large measure the science
OF to-day will be the superstition OF
tomorrow. If men grow in things how
Ench more shall they grow in thought
te1glon being mans attempt t, ex-
press III deed and word his thought OF
the highest and best it would belle its
name If each new height ga;ned did
not show some yet greater height be-
iofe An interchangeable religion would
not be religion at all.
Aet no other thing has So worried
mary good people as the fear that their
religion should change. Just as thew
once believed that the universe was
m"de, finished and fixed forever-.as
though such thing wculG ever be
true OF a universe aglow with Iife-so
tney thought of their religion as COM
mltted to them complete like q set of
Interchangeable laws. Therefore their ut
hiost concern was to preserv1 it's pre-
else form. and the great thing in re-
hSloH became not the spirit of its
teaching but the form Of it's text. Fail
IRE to realize the vital and therefore
developing nature Of religion resulted
Ill the guarding of the letter that kills
a the expense of the life giving spirit
And when faith forsook its cErysalis
stage they wept such bitter tears over
It's broken she'll they have not vet seen
the fairer glory into which it has
grown
If there be any ground for lament
as TO the condition of religion it lies
not in the failure to preserve the old
statements and the old customs. not in
the unWillingness of the world to-day
to shrink itself into yesterdays out-
worn forms OF truth, but in the pitiabIe
sight OF a church that tries to keep up
the old life with dead formulate. that
bas so far forgotten it's great tea cheers
revelation as not to know that religion
is life and not logic, or laws OF Law
guage. The saddest feature to day is
the unwillingness of the church to go
forward instead of being the leader of
science and Of civilization she is often
reluctantly dragged behind these on
moving powers.
The need now is not to go back to
Moses and to Paul, as though these
were our goal, but, taking some guild
ance from them, TO go forward into
the new truth that is ever daw1ling
He who steps into the twilight of new
truths always finds the day breaking
shout him. If he stands perfectly Still,
the full day comes and then the night
again 1t is only the man who keeps
on moving forward who is always in
the light. The trouble is that so many
are standing fast in truth from which
the light has all died out, and they are
calling their darkness the only day and
denouncing those who prefer the light.
The ancient good ever stands OPP
posed to the new best. 1t says. better
stay in the old Egypt you Know than
perish in Il desert untried But true
souls step forth. They find tie desert,
and often it is drear; yet God is there,
and morns are bright and mamma falls
by the way.
Then. beyond the desert there is
Canaan beyond the Alps, Italy: beyond
the doubt the delight of larger, clearer
truth. Do not fear leaving the old: do
not worry over theological unrest Us
rest is but the sign of life. Better the
childs unrest than the senile plaCidity
of old age Better the death in the
desert than decay in Egypt. Better to
die in doubt than to mold away III the
empty tomb of truth. Consider him,
who for the joy set before him, despis-
ed the cross; forget the things behind
and press forward to the prize before,
the clearer light and larger life.