The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1911-11-16

| worlds of the universe vary in their
apparent dimensions with the vary
ing capacities Of physical, mental and
| imaginative eyesight.
A given individuars world and all
| there therein is viii always vary in ac-
| cordance with that individuals subjec-
! tive proportions.
In q very real and deep sense every
one builds his own world Some build
it exceedingly small and others, with
! a better grasp of the meaning of life,
! build it big And ] would that we
| might all have that broad conception
| which not only means a big world for
us, but the doing Of big things in it
| by ourselves. We all delight in the
master minds that are doing the big
| things in the material world, and they
| are truly great; but greater than these
| wonderful feats of engineering skill
| which can tunnel the Hudson or dam
| the Ohio are those other deeds by mas
| ter minds whereby this world is made
| the better-the more nearly perfect.
1t is this aspect Of increasing the
hAGO VI Oul WI III TIC lllOl al anu SlJlt
itual, to which l would draw attention.
| Obviously, then. our world varies in
| size according to our knowledge Any
| thing that lies outside of our knowl-
| edge is evidently no part of our con-
| scious world. We have widened the
boundaries of the little world of the
ancients and have accurately meas
ured and weighed 1t.
We have found something of the
magnitude Of the other worlds of the
universe and compute distances in in
terstellar space in years of light We
locity. And this inconceivably big
world Of ours has a vast influence
upon our thoughts and life. The great
er our knowledge the bigger our
| world; and the, Christian especially
| should keep his mind alert and alive
to this growing world and ever strive
| to build it on a larger scale and I'LL
it with greater meaning.
Then, too, our world grows with our
interests. This is even a closer rela-
ton than knowledge, implying care
concern, participation. There are nee
| essarily large areas Of knowledge
which lie outside of our interest, but
as interest lays hold Of us and con-
trolls thought, motive and conduct our
world IS large or small according to
the area of our interest. In this re-
spect people differ tremendously.
The interest of great many people
in the material things is so great that
It absorbs their whole thought, ambi
ton and action; and a world whose
absorbing interests are in material
things, however great its business and
| however immense it's wealth is es-
sentially small and insignificant The
man in the big world is the one who IS
thoroughly interested in his business
or profession, but whose interests also
reach out into the worlds of science,
literature, art politics, social progress,
education and religion.
Then again our world enlargeS with
| our sympathies. Sympathy is closer
still than interest. as it involves our
hearts. People who lack sympathy live
in small barren world, but those
who have wide and warm sympathies
melt easily into the lives OF others and
thus enlarge and enrich their own
world. And in our sympathies we
ought to be bigger than the mere cir
Gle of our own friends, our church or
our country. Whoever cuts another
human being out Of his sympathy by
so much narrows and impoverishes his
own world. and by as much as we
make our sympathies broad and
tender we enlarge our world and make
1t rich
Finally let us ever remember with
the psalmist, The earth Is the Lords
and the fullness thereof" That lifts
it into divine relations and worth.
From this point of view we see the
world falling fresh from the creative
hand Of God developing under his
providence, redeemed by his grace and
being rebuilt even in our day, into a
universal kingdom of brotherhood
and love. We are co-workers with
him and are now building this new
and better world, however insignifl-
cant or dark, in the light of his plan
| anu pl CStl4NC, anu lIIlo illo Jul WI lu
with divine purpose and grace.
Our world thus widens out until il
Is lost in the full splendor of God and
is great with his greatness.
Thus our world is little or big. ac-
cording to our knowledge, interest.
sympathy and faith, and by increas-
ing these we enlarge and enrich our
world. A big soul will build a big
world. One of large vision and wide
interests, or tender sympathies and
masterful faith cannot be shut up with
in the narrow confines of personal self
| interest and littleness of spirit. but
will ever build a large and richer
world. Then, too, big world helps
| tremendously to make big soul. Our
| environment calls us out, as it were,
| so that we stretch our powers to
match its appeals. Soul and world thus
work together to widen each other out
| into larger relations. We should work
at both ends of the problem, striving
to build bigger world and grow a
| larger soul.