Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1908-09-10
themselves. Society II not ashamed

themselves. Society II not ashamed
81 him, and he need not be ashamed
If himself.
The shame Of being found out may.
If course, induce this better feeling,
Ind be the beginning of nobler and
more stable moral life. It Is one OF
The blessed functions of punishment
% offer us this point Of departure as
he house of Israel through the shame
If idolatry reached O loathing Of 1t
hat ultimately made 1t impossible In
israel. Welcome the retribution
which brings us acknowledge; well
some the detection which makes US
ashamed and makes US distrust our
Ielves at last: welcome the punish
nent which gives repentance of sin;
Welcome the exposure which finds US
tut because 1t makes us at last find
tut ourselves! All true knowledge Is
,elf-knowledge. All true exposure is
,elf-exposure. The true judgment Is
Ielf-judgment. The true condemns
ion Is when a man captures and tries
md condemns himself. Real repent
.nce means shame, the shame Of self
hat he should have permitted him
Ielf to fall so far below himself, and
iave dimmed the radiance of his own
,oul. Long after others have for
gotten, It may still be hard for man
% forgive himself. Long after others
lave forgotten, he may still remem-
ser. To this sensitive soul, to this
'italized conscience there may be even
wounds hidden to all sight but his
,wn sight-.-and Gods. AS the thief
s ashamed when he Is caught, the
house of Israel Is ashamed, at last,
because of the ingratitude and wick
,dness and folly that made an ex-
)osure possible and necessary. We
iced to have the law written on our
hearts, to conform to that and not to
2, set OF outward social rules; we need
20 walk not by the consent Of men
,ut by the will of God: We need to
Zee the beauty of Christ's holiness,
and then our sin will find us out,
though no mortal man has found 1t
tut.
"As the thief Is ashamed when he
found out, so the house of Israel
Will be ashamed" Shall be-must
)e We are only playing with the
acts and forces of moral life II we
imagine 1t can be otherwise. Real
and ultimate escape from this self
exposure Is impossible. There Is no
secrecy In all the world. Murder
will out" Is the old saying. or old
superstition, If you will. The blood
:ries from the ground. 1t will out in
some form or other, though not al
ways by the ordinary detectives art.
Retribution Is fact Of life, whether
t comes as moralists and artists OF
I'll sses have depicted or not. Moral
life writes itself indelibly on nerves
and tissues, colors the blood. 1t
records itself on character. Any day
nay be the judgment day. the day of
revealing. declaring patiently what Is
md what has been. The geologist
~ casual cut of the earth can tell
he story of the earth's happenings
by the strata that are laid bare. de-
2osit on deposit. The story Of our
life is not tale that Is told and then
lone 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. 1t only needs the fierce light
% beat on 1t to show it up as 1t was
and is. There is nothing covered
hat shall not be revealed and hid
hat shall not be made known. There
,ore whatsoever we have spoken in
darkness shall be heard in the light,
and that which we have spoken in the
ear in closets shall be proclaimed
lpon the housetops." Ashamed when
ae Is found out! If to be Undecided
s the only defense, it is to gamble
against 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
lills, Cover u.s."
Rock of ages, cleft for me.
Let me hide myself in Thee.