The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-07
! of him, and he need not b. ashamed

of him, and he need moi b. asnameo
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. 1t Is one OF
the blessed functions of punishment
to offer us this point Of departure as
the house of Israel through the shame
of idolatry reached a loathing OF II
that ultimately made it 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 or sin;
welcome the exposure which hnds Us
out because it makes us at last hRd
out ourselves! All true knowledge Is
self-kncwledge. All true exposure is
self-exposure. The true judgment Is
self-judgment. The true condemna-
ton is when a man captures and tries
and condemns himself. Real repent
ance means shame, the shame Of self
that he should have permitted him
self to fall so far below himself, and
have dimmei the radiance of his own
soul. Long after others have for
gotten, it may still be hard fora 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 thief
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 ex-
posure possible and necessary. We
need to have the law written on our
hearts, to conform to that and not to
a 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 1t
out.
LAS the thief is ashamed when he
Is found out, so the house of Israel
will 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. 1t will out in
some form or other, though not al
ways by the ordinary detectives art.
Retribution Is a fact of life, whether
it comes as moralists and artists of
all ages have depicted or not. Moral
life writes itself in0elibly on nerves
and tissues, colors the blood. 1t
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 a casual cut Of the earth car tell
the story of the earth's happenings
by the strata that are laid bare, de-
post on deposit. The story of u
life is not a tale that Is told and then
done with. 1t leaves its mark on the
soul. 1t only needs true self-knowl-
edge to let US see it all. 1t only needs
awakened memory to bring 1t all
back. It only needs the fierce light
to beat on it to show it up as 1t 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,
ard that which We have spoken in the
ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetops." Ashamed when
he Is found out! If to be undecided
is the only defense, 1t is to gamble
against q certainty. Found out We
shall be, as we stand naked in the
revealing and ~self-revealing light.
Then shall We begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us, and to the
hills, Cover u.s."
Rock Of ages, cleft for me.
Let me hide myself in Thee.