Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-06-11
SECRET OF SPIRITUAL BEAUTY.

unto every one OF Us is given STdCo
according to the measure of the gift
OF Christ"
In mans finest and most useful
creations there is the charm of SYM
metry. In noble architecture there is
both strength and beauty. The nobler
| the example the more conspicuous the
bleeding of these characteristics, as
in Giotto's Campanile, at Florence, the
lovely Church of st. Ouen, at Rouen.
and the Cologne Cathedral. A great
locomotive is a thing of beauty as
we'll as of power. One of the most
beautiful of all things is a great ship,
the embodiment Of triumphant power
that makes the stormy ocean a safe
| highway.
In character God desires the best.
His architecture in the building of
| character makes provision for sym
metry as we'll as strength, for lowell
ness as well as personal power and
marked individuality. There would
be more symmetrical Christians If
there was more study of His ideal of
| human nature and more cooperation
with His spirit, which He gives with
out measure. Symmetry of Christian
character is not an unattainable ideal.
There have been many actual exam
pies of 1t. Perfect examples of 1t are
very rare, but that they do not exist
Is too much to say. Most of US have
seen some people whose goodness was
| strong In all directions, and every
element of strength enhanced their
| personal charm, their spiritual beau
ty. Among both the cultured and the
| uneducated we have known some In
whom the beauty of holiness has been
gloriously, though modestly, visible,
Grace is victorious principle. 1t
never welcomes outwardly without at
the same time working inwai dly.
There Is nothing so broadening as a
divine life in the heart. The indiYid-
ual spiritual life is in closest relation
ship with all the spiritual power in
the universe; has vital fellowship with
all goodness wherever it exists; has
discernment, when divinely quickened,
to see what is best and most beautiful
covets all excellencies as its own; for
power to live an ample human life 1t
draws upon all the resources of God,
Oftentimes some extraordinary de-
velopment or manifestation of spir-
itual earnestness blinds us to the spir-
itual beauty and humility by which 1t
is attended Still oftener perhaps
some lofty manifestation of spiritual
loneliness IN character wells the
strength that all the while lies be-
meath it, as the verdure of a tree
wells the stalwart branches that have
| triumphantly wrestled with the wild
| est and most angry winds, and are
only the stronger for the conflicts en-
dured
For centuries the Christian Church
seemed to see the passive elements in
the character Of Christ, and had only
a weak, and unworthy conception of
the Lord whom 1t adored. The man
illness of Christ, as though newly dis
covered, fascinates the attention Of
our times. The evangelists saw it.
and plainly portrayed 1t, though the
Church SO long failed to devote at
tention to 1t. There is no strength in
GOD that is not in Jesus "in whom
dwelt all the fullness Of the Godhead
bodily" Those who make Jesus more
merciful than God, are equally in err
TOR. The gospel shows Him all gem
tleness and all strength, all purity and
all mercy, all humility and all dignity,
all meekness and all majesty, all truth
and all love, solitary and most social,
| the perfect model Of both the contem-
platiVe and the active life manifest
ing the divine heart by His self-sacri-
flee, humiliation, and death. and mani
Testing the divine life ana power by
rising again. But how often in Chris
tian theology the perfect spiritual
beauty Of Christ has been obgcured.
How often an imperfect conception
has been presented, instead of the
completeness OF His living person. In
like manner, the most symmetrical
Christians are often but partially APP
preciated. Their spiritual beauty
causes their force to be undervalued.
Their activity, their earnestness, their
self-denial, their righteousness, their
courage, are often but little recog-
nized, because they are so happily
blended with humility, gentleness and
meekness. The most mature and com
plete Christians are those who have
least self-assertlon. Those who have
closest communion with God are the
ones who know not that their faces
shine. A Maroon Christian may be
useful. but, like the thin edge of a
wedge, mostly for splitting purposes.
Those who heal and bind up and build
up are such as have the fruit of the
Spirit In a rich cluster Of varied viz
tues.
Symmetrical Christians are not all