River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-10-19
THE SIZE OF II
THE WORLD III
By Rev. William Spiegel
Of the Old First Church, u
Cincinnati ~

JuSL DIS Lie UlOOu dppC0Ao W alACI-
ent people to be of various sizes, from
that Of a dime to that Of washtub,
even physical qualities and quantities
Of this world and the other material
worlds of the universe vary in their
apparent dimensions with the vary
ing capacities of physical, mental and
Imaginative eyesight
A given individuals worlh and all
there therein is will always vary in ac-
cordance with that individuals subjec-
tive proportions.
In very real and deep sense every
pne builds his own world. Some build
It exceedingly small and others, with
better grasp Of the meaning of life,
build it big. And | would that we
might all have that broad conception
which not only means big world for
as, but the doing Of big things In 1t
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
size Of our world, the moral and spir-
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-
he
boundaries Of the little world Of the
ancients and have accurately meas
i. 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
1ocity. And this inconceivably big
world Of ours has 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 1t on a larger scale and fill
1t 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 a great many people
in the material things is so great that
it absorbs their whole thought, ambi
tion and action; and 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 1t involves our
hearts. People who lack sympathy live
in a 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 sympathfes 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
it rich.
Finally let us ever remember with
the psalmist, 1.-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 insignih. |
cant or dark, in the light of his plan
and presence, and this fills our world
with divine purpose and grace.
Our world thus widens out until 1t |
is lost in the full splendor of God and
is great with his greatness.
Thus our world is little or big, &C.
cording to our knowledge, interest,
sympathy and faith, and by increas-
ing these we enlarge and enrich our
world. A big soul will build big
world. One of large vision and wide
interests, or tender sympathies and a
masterful faith cannot be shut up with
in the narrow confines of personal self.
interest and littleness of spirit, but
will ever build large and richer
world. Then, too, big world helps
tremendously T. make a 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 8
larger soul.
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