Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-03-04
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AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE.


they laid daily at the gate Of the tenn
pie which is called Beautiful, to ask
an aims of them that entered into the
temple. Acts 8: 2.
The lame man Of old was laid daily
at the gate of the Temple which Is
called Beautiful" The gate SO de-
scribed was probably the gate on the
women" to the inner court While the
other gates were overlaid with gold
and silver this portal, according to Jo-
+ sephus, was made "of Corinthian
bronze, and much surpassed in worth
those enriched with silver and gold"
The lame man was perhaps one Of the
most unfortunate individuals in Jerus-
allen, having no means of earning a
livelihood, being quite friendless and
! certainly forlorn-yet he was we'll
placed.
The situation at the door Of the
| Temple was both pathetic and prom
Using. He could not walk in, but his
thoughts could enter; he might not
join in the praises of the worshiping
hosts within, but he could catch some
thing Of the enthusiasm which bright
ened their faces as they came out
While he was outside the circle of
inner, intimate communion he was yet
in the line of blessing and could make
daily proof of the fact that it was bet
ter to be a lame door-keeper in the
| house of God than to dwell luxurious
ly in the court Of a riotous Herod.
IC is impossible to tell how pure
were the motives Of the lame man in
| habitually frequenting the doorstep Of
the Lords house. He was certainly
after money-but if all who are after
money in some shape were excluded
from the sanctuary congregations to-
day would be much thinner than in
many communities they are. To a
degree the lame man needed coin, and
to a certain extent every man needs
1t, but if his thoughts and desires had
been wholly centered upon money it
is not likely that Peter and John would
ever have been attracted to him, or
been empowered by the Lord to work
in his case a miraculous cure. Let us
suppose that the lame man had some
sincere interest in the Temple itself
as we'll as in the tolls which he col
lected from the charitable, and that,
! while not Indifferent to the silver and
the gold, he cared most Of all for the
spiritual message which such men as
Peter and John had to give.
1t was a fine thing then that the
lame man got as far as the Beautiful
Gate. Rich or poor, men alike need In
their lives the identifying touch, and
hard prosaic lives need it most of all
Even If the lame man could not enter
the Temple recesses he could look up
and admire the architectural beauty
about him, and the CLEAN Of that Cor
inthian bronze brought touch of
brightness into his life. The geranium
plant in the window of the city tene-
ment, the tree struggling FOR stunted
growth in a city street, all these are
glimpses and gladdenings of the aes-
thetic sense-the sense for color, for
proportion, for harmony, which, often
degraded to a goddess art" are yet
susceptible Of serving, when purified
and idealized, the highest aims of the
moral nature. The Iame man was de-
formed in himself, but he was trans
formed by his daily look into the face
of the Beautiful above him.
All men, however, athletic or vigor-
GUS or full of pride, are at some point
weak-are somewhere in their being
lame and impotent and in need of
aims, or Of spiritual uplift far better
than aims. There are beautiful Gates
unto which we all alike need to come
God has made, not one nor two nor
six, Is in the Temple of old, but many
such portals, in different parts of the
pilgrim country of mortal sojourn and
broad areas Of higher experience
There Is first the Beautiful Gate of
Faith. If the lame man had not In
some degree had faith he would not
have received from the miracle-work-
ing apostles what was better than
alms-new health and strengthened
what was better than physical health
and quickening-t recreating Of his
spiritual manhood, the renovation of
his moral nature. Without faith it is
impossible to please God, or to get any
thing worth while done He who
would be successful in this life must
be much at the Gate of Faith.
There is secondly the Gate of Pray
er. Prayer is faiths voice Faith finds
its expression through prayer. The
prayerless man Is always essentially a
weak and resourceless man The lame
man was weak, but he knew how to
use his voice in prayer, and so he did
not remain weak.
There is the Beautiful Gate Of Love.
The lame man appealed to the love
that was in Peter and John, and did
not fail to receive response. Love
is the very atmosphere of that land Of
delight into which the Gate Beautiful
opens. When love dominates and per-
meates a human life heaven itself at
once begins to be realized on earth
There is always in love an inherent
beauty, an indescribable charm, and
just because it is so the devil tries
hard to disseminate the spirit of hate,
which tends to pull down and destroy
all Gates Beautiful everywhere
There is the Beautiful Gate of Hope.
The soul that is full Of faith, prayer
and love is consequently and naturally
hopeful. Hope paints life in roseate
hues, and while it may be unfounded