The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-09-18

same time We must see how insecure
this is as a guard and guide 10 life.
\ man might have a corrupt heart
and be filled with all evil passions.
| but ii stands 20 reason that society
cannot take him 20 task for that, nm,
less il gets something on which il can
\ lay a finger. And apart even from
such deeper moral depths OF charac.
| ter, there may be actual transgres.
sions, but. until they are discovered
and proved. society must treat them
as il they did not exist. 4 man might
| be a thief. not only i'm desire and
| heart, but in reality, but until he is
| found out. he rubs shoulders with
| honest men everywhere as one OF
| themselves. Society is not ashamed
of him, and he need not be ashamed
| OF himself
The shame OF being found out may,
| OF course. induce this better feeling,
and be the beginning of a nobler and
more stable moral life. IL is one OF
| the blessed functions Of punish ment
10 offer us this point of departure as
the house of Israel through the shame
of idolatry reached a loathing OF II
| that ultimately made IL impossible in
Israel. Welcome the retribution
which brings us self-knowledge; well
come the detection which makes us
| ashamed and makes us distrust our
selves at last; welcome the punish
ment which gives repentance OF sin:
welcome the exposure which finds us
out because IL makes us at last find
out ourselves! All true knowledge is
| lself-kncwledge. All true exposure is
self-exposure. The true judgment is
self-Iudgment The true condemna-
ton is when man captures and tries
! and condemns himself. Real repent-
| ance means shame, the shame OF self
that he should have permitted him.
| self 10 fall so far below himself, and
have dimmed the radiance OF his own
soul. Long after others have for.
gotten, IL may still be hard for a man
| to forgive himself. Long after others
| have forgotten, he may still remem-
| Der. To this sensitive soul, To this
VitaliZed conscience there may be even
wounds hidden to all sight but his
own sight--and Gods. AS the THE.
is ashamed when he is caught. the
house OF Israel is ashamed, at last,
not because of the mere exposure, but
because OF the ingratitude and wick
edness and folly that made an eA.
posure possible and necessary. We
| need TO have the law written on our
hearts, TO conform TO that and not 10
! set of outward social rules: we need
TO walk not by the consent OF men
but by the will of God: we need TO
see the beauty OF Christ's holiness,
and then our sin will find us out,
though no mortal man has found ii
out.
AS the thief is ashamed when he
is found out, so the house of Israel
VIII be ashamed" Shall be-must
be! We are only playing with the
facts and forces OF moral life If we
imagine it can be otherwise. Real
and ultimate escape from this self.
exposure is impossible. There is nc
secrecy in all the world. Murder
will out" is the old saying. or Old
superstition, If you will. The blood
cries from the ground. II will out in
some form or other, though not al.
ways by the ordinary detectives art
Retribution is a fact OF life, whether
1t comes as moralists and artists of
all ages have depicted or not. Mora,
life writes itself indelibly on nerves
and tissues. colors the blood. IL
records itself on character. Any day
may be the judgment day, the day of
revealing. declaring patiently what is
and what has been. The geologist
by casual cut OF the earth can tell
the story of the earth's happenings
by the strata that are laid bare, de.
post on deposit. The story OF our
life is not a tale that is told and then
done with. IL leaves its mark on the
soul. 1t only needs true self-knowl.
edge to let us see II all IL ONLY needs
awakened memory to bring It all
back. II only needs the fierce light
TO beat on it to show il up as IL was
and is. There is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed and hid
that shall not be made known. There
fore whatsoever We have spoken in
darkness shall be heard in the light,
and that which ye have spoken in the
ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetops." Ashamed when
he is found out! II TO be undetected
is the only defense, It is to gamble
against a certainty. Found out we
shall be, as we stand naked I'm the
revealing and self-revealing light.
Then shall we begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us, and to the
hills, Cover us
Rock OF ages. cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
IL a