The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1910-04-21

II II tnlS pulpit ID ValfQ, IL means
that q searching God and q searching
that they flow together In the soul Of
a man; that he shall be the meeting
| point of man and* God; that he shall
| experience. apprehend and speak this
unfon-thfs oneness; that he shall
| interpret God to man; that he shall
| interpret man to God. Like the slen-
| der rod of the wireless transmiter. he
| shall be attuned to respond, out of q
million vibrations, to those which
rush down out Of the Heart Of the
Infinite. These he shall translate to
all the world. But to do 1t he must
be attuned, as we'll to every cry of
earth: all its joys and agonies must
be his own; the wars and sorrows of
man. his dim aspirations; all wrongs
and in1ustices, all science and art and
culture; all coarseness; the grotesque
criminal. the moving idiot, all beau
ty; the love of a mother, the sacrifice
OF friend-these must be his.
Above the din of the factory he must
hear the shrek of the child; through
the city's roar must come to him the
low sob Of the oppressed, the muffled
groan Of the underworld. where men
writhe, the hot curse in the palace
where men sin, all selfshness, all
moral grandeurs must be his, and all
the wandering cries of earth must
break at last upon his heart.
His commission is the SD Of
Isaiah. his inspiration is Calvary; in
him, in his soul, God and man must
flow together, two vast tides meeting
and mingling and blepding-not a
flame Of fire, not an altar and a ritual,
but a man; living soul, sweating
blood drops. agonizing and interpret
ing. and bringing together man and
God. This is the pulpit and its mean
ing.
Humanity is not long out OF the
woods. standing erect and looking at
the stars Is a recent achievement.
The life OF the spirit is still somewhat
alien. The airs from that land touch
our brows strangely: but the marvel,
the wonder. the incredible blazing
wonder Is that we respond at ALL
That we hear, however DULY; that
we apprehend, however dimly: that
amid the fierce multitudinous cries we
do detect this one high note and. how
ever falteringly. respond! This Is
the wonder! For through thick dark
ness and across unknown heights a
far journey have we come! But we
have come, and though in our strong
crude moments we may jeer at our
own spiritual aspirations, neverthe-
less the church, the pulpit, and the
speaking, Interpreting man. witness
to our final conviction of the reality
OF the spirits life.
And it .symbolizes and reveals at
last the loftiest and most powerful
achievement of the race. Greater
than industry, greater than COM
merce, greater than government, or
philosophy or literature or science or
art, it reveals the hidden forces of
the human heart, and by it We declare
the secret conviction of our soul
that we are spiritual beings related to
vast thrilling spiritual order whose
meaning is thus revealed. The man
who believes himself called to oc-
cupy it may we'll cry: "Woe, woe Is
met" for he shall stand between the
living and the dead
Has the Duluit justified itself; has
it revealed the secret? Has it
brought God and man together, max
ing valid his dimmest aspiration?
Witness Paul: tortured. wruog. until
at last he sings his hymn of love and
the world grows suddenly gentle and
still to listen. Witness Joseph Parker
or Philips Brooks. Have not these
succeeded? Witness Brown, the
drawn face OF the man; his tragic
mien. What crushes him so terribly?
Wherefore art thou red in thine ap-
Darel. and thy garments like him that
treadeth in the wine vat?" What Is
1t but the crucifixfon OF soul trying
to relate a sorrowing. suffering HUI
manity to a loving, suffering. SORROW
ing Father! Day and night the cry
breaks up against his heart; the cry
OF mans pain and his sin; day and
night he hears the voice of God
speaking tenderness and love: and he
is trying to bring them together. to
make them one.
Wherever in any pulpit stands one
who brings God down into life, one
who can translate the confused voices
of mankind and speak them up to
Him. there stands one who reveals
and tnterprets mans place In the uni
verse.
know not what Gods expectations
may be, nor how bitterly We fall
short Of the achievement which might
be ours. but this I know: the way has
been long and very rugged. I see the
crudeness. the confusion, the impo-
tence; but through these rknning
catch strange and marvellous light
CLEANS as from the very throne Of
God.
No, not meeting Gods expectations.
and yet perhaps God smiles even
while He weeps. perhaps He is
pleased and proud a little bit. even
while He holds US to be broken in
the shadows. AS / look over the
process, the fearful process ~ Crea-
tion: as I behold the first dull face
blinking at the stars: as I hear the
first awed whisper God" as 1 see
dynasties. nations, civilizations. races.
move shadowy across the horizon; as
l behold the savage bending low be-
fore his fetich; as I see this act be-
come the gorgeous ritual. as 7 see at