Norwich bulletin., 1909-04-10
UNION FAST DAY
 SERVICE AT PARK CHURCH.
Central Baptist and Three congresa- tionaI Churches United-Sermon by Rev. pr. s. H. Howe.

The union Fast day service of the | Park, Broadway, Second Congregation l al and Central Baptist churches was held at Park church on Friday morn Ing. the five pastors of these churches taking part in the service. The open ing part of the service was conducted by Rev. l.. l.. West, D. D.. and the closing exercises by Rev. Peter c. Wright.
 The scripture reading was given by Rev. F. $. Worcester and prayer of fered by Rev. Lewellyn Pratt, D. D. The mornings anthem was Calvary, beautifully sung by Mrs. A. p. Story and the choir.
 The sermon by Rev. S. H. Howe. D. D., was taken from Isaiah 6S: 35, "I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me. looked and there was none 10 help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore mine own arm brought salvation" The prophet unconscio1sly anticiTated the victori- ous work of the lonely but triumphant Messiah. Beginning with the thought of Gods vindication of Israel and the pun ishment of her ancient foe, the pr phetic massage flows off into wider meanings than he intended. The in strument of vengeance disappears into the instrument of salvation. The cen tral thought in the prophets words is | l the speaker. It is the cry of the soli- tary soul. One life above all others was so lonely and solitary as to be an ] unfathomed deep to us. We try this | day of Passion week and on this eliminating hour of Good Friday to | fix our eye upon the one supreme Sol i itary of all history. It is the one day when. detaching himself from all men. he stands alone in awful and unshare5 ! solitude. From the eternal mystery ho | came and went alone. We share in a ! degree an experience Of this mystery and solitude in which He perpetually | walked. We have common ground with | Him in the solitude of unshared per | sonality. The sense of comradeshiD and share in the common life of others | He had, too. We seem never out of | sight or earshot of human influence and yet there are moments when there | falls upon us the sense of an awful and subduing solltariness, when we realize that here at the heart of things we are alone and no eye watching us | but the Divine.
 Here is a vast and roomy world | where passions burrow and motives | play and thought scars and resolutions | are formed and battles won or lost. | Here are temptations men must meet ! alone. The result of the hidden battle
 shows In the one held in open day. | Then there is the solitude of penitencP and faith where human voices and
 wills are impotent to help. There is
 also the solitude of great task. It Is one of the penalties of greatness that 1 it gets assignment to great undertak- 1 ings which isolate 1t. Moses, David, l the prophets. Paul, Luther, Knox, W.T. liam the Silent Cromwell, Washington l and Lincoln are examples. But one figure on the horizon stands in a soli- | tary grandeur to whom none can be l fG Q
 He walked solitary among men for two l reaFons-the sheer mass and loftinesG of his personality and his great task.
 We understand other men who have
 lived, but not Him, His nature was so
 manifold
 No ether wrought such mighty deeds
 or had such far-reaching plans. His
 included the whole human race. He
 drew to Him hundreds of millions of
 people. Just this magnitude of his
 world plans made him 30 uniutelligib'e
 to friend and foe and sent him Into
 solitude even with the Syrian multi
 tudes at his feet. It was the solitude
 of an unimparted and upcomprehend-
 ed secret that not a contemporary re-
 motely comprehended till the mission
 was ended. Two great facts of re-
 demption are Gods coming to us and
 His return to God. Let us return to
 the scene on Good Friday. Of helpers
 there were none No human footstep
 was heard at his side-he trod the
 wine press alone. The nation fell away
 from Him. His friends deserted and His disciples forsook. He walked alonr
 the Via Dolorosa- At Calvary the sol
 itude deepened. There were a few
 tear stained faces among the watchers but the multitude were there to wit
 ness an execution. The crowd mocked
 and wrung a moments sensation out
 of the scene, the soldiers gambled fol his garments and his enemies had theil
 little hour of triumph. The caravans entered and departed from the city anc
 the Roman legions moved unthinkins
 about their tasks. The life of th'
 hoary old east did not break It's race-
 though that solitary sufferer would
 blot out some day all it's age old super : stftions. And yet the picture of lone l Illness Is not complete. He could beaI
 the forsaking of the world-but z ? deepAr da<iciees feiL For one dar4