The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1910-07-07

ehe facts correctly or incorrectly, the
facts themselves have inspired ir
man OF every age wonder, and, in the
old days, worship. Both in the stars
overhead and nature underfoot and
around men have felt the presence
OF a power not themselves. 1t has
inspired poetry and created religions.
The worship of nature was mans
first worship. 1t is the object of the
mans most exact knowledge. To
know this world outside ones self
In some of its marvellous workings
has been the aim of our science.
Now, what religious Interpretation
shall we put upon nature? Shall we
spell it with a capital N and regard
1t as the cause OF all things, as many
do? Or shall we regard it as the out
ward, visible manifestation Of a pres
ence whose
Dwelling place is the setting sun,
And the round ocean and the living air.
And If behind nature there is this
Power, using nature as a garment,
what shall we call It? What is its
name? The old catechism says: 81
learn to believe in God the Father,
who hast made me and all the
world" What an Interpretation OF
mans experience of nature is this
to know that behind and through all
this universe is God, whose relations
to it is that of father or creator;
whose attitude toward 1t is fatherly!
Such is the first Interpretation of the
Trinity.
In ones experience of life our hu.
manity as we'll as nature plays an
important part. There was a time
when nature was here in all it's
power. but man had not yet ap-
peared. The earth was the home OF
beast and bird and fish. Then came
the human creature, related to all
other living things in many physical
ways, but mentally separated from
the animal world by an ocean of dis.
tance. For unnumbered centuries
now has this human creature lived
upon this planet. He has worked out
institutions, literatures, PHILOSOPHERS.
religions, arts and crafts. Here is a
human development corresponding tc
natures life. and yet higher and
more complex.
What is the Interpretation which
throws light upon the facts of human
history? Is man the lord of creation.
or is there some spirit higher than
the human, manifesting himself in
and through the human, incarnatins
himself in humanity? Does man find
his highest life in serving and admir-
ing himself, or in serving a divine
spirit which reveals ilrelf to him in
his reason and his conscience? And
IL there is sons spirit, akin to the
human spirit and yet different from
1t, calling men ever to follow him
what shall we name him? Again ]
ind the answer in the old catechism
of our childhood: Il have to believe
in God the Son who hath redeemed
one and all mankind" In mankind
there is at work, and has been
throughout its life on this planet
God. He has not been simply a cre-
ator, father, calling man into being
and sustaining man as He sustains
the physical universe. He is in man
as He is in nature, but revealing
Himself to the human as He could
not to the brute. as the Power which
upholds the human, feeds it, inspires
1t, calls it ever back from the sens
ual to the moral and spiritual, leads
1t ever forward to it's goal and pur.
pose. In Jesus Of Nazareth this Son
God, who is in every man, has
manifested Himself most completely
and perfectly. There is seen. as St
John says, 'the light which tighten.
eth every man that cometh into the
world" AS nature bears witness tc
God the Father, so humanity bearf
witness to God the Son.
So does our human life find it's
illumination in the divine life. Our
experience with nature, humanity
and our own souls finds It's interpre.
tation in the truth that God is Father
revealed to us through the nature
which He has made; that God is Son
manifested in the humanity which
He is redeeming; that God is Holy
Spirit, known in the spirits Of each
one Of us whom He is sanctifying.
The truth OF the Trinity does not
end here. 1t asserts further that
these three are one So frequently
men find themselves unable to dwell
at home, in more than one of these
sides Of life. Our scientists are stu.
dents of nature; they know the worlt
of physics. chemistry and biology
Their spirits roam at home within
those fields. They know God the Fa
ther and worship Him. But for hu.
manity they have little interest; his.
tory does not speak to them: and the
spiritual experiences of individual
men puzzle them and seem morbid
are for whom nature means nothing
They are appalled, by the apparent
ruthlessness and injustice of hei
ways. Their spirits are at home IL
the life Of humanity. History is the
voice of the Eternal to them, speak.
ing words Of life. God the Son 1.
their God and about God the Creator
they are frankly agnostic. There are
still other men for whom neither o,
these voices has any meaning. His
tory is the voice of dead ages. Ma.
ture has no voice at all What is rea'
to them is that Spirit which the,
know at first hand through their owr
reasons and consciences. 1t is Goo