The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-06-02
VISIONS All TASKS.

while Peter thought on the vision,
the Spirit said unto him. Behold. three
mon seek thee.'-Acts y. 10.
These words recall 10 many of you
"a most familiar picture. Peter had
been sitting on the top Of Simon's
house at Jafa, and there had been
shown to him the sight of the great
sheet full OF all living beasts, of which
he had been hidden to take and eat.
And when he hesitated. YOU remembcrl
how voice had spoken to him and re-
bukcd the narrow punctIliousness with
which he drew distinctions and thought
some of Gods creatures clean and 9TH
ers unclean. y new idea had come 10
him. He saw IT very vaguely. 1t was
all abstract, bewilderinS and elusive
But as he sat there the Spirit spoke
Three men are asking for thee" They
were the servants OF Cornelius the
Gentle, coming to ask him 10 visit
their master. Our verse shows Peterl
standing between the vision and it's
application. 1t was critical moment
The question was whether the vision
could pass through Peter to the threel
f.
row he went away with Them the
question was decided and the idea and
It's appropriate duty had Joined hands
All men, like Peter. stand always
between visions and tasks. There Is the
world of truth on one side and there
is the world of men on the other. Be-
tween the two stands man: and these
dc
be. meet through his nature.
Truth is vague and helpless until
men believe il. Men are weak and
frivolous till they believe in truth
How can we better tell the story OIL
YOU who first believe in God yourself
and then are drawn out to make your
fellow men believe In Him. and in maxi
ing them believe. find your own belief
grows stcadier and deeper. than by
recurring To the story of Peter, to-
whom "as he thought on the vision, the
| Spirit said, Behold, three men seek
thee?
There are some moments In life when
this position Of man. standing between
the visions he has seen and the fellow
I
power, is peculiarly manifest. In such
sharp relief stands the graduate on the
threshold of the world, or the young
priest on whose bowed head the hands
of ordination have just been laid. The
! two worlds on each side OF them re-
| ccivc Illumination from each other. and
this illumination is sent back and forth
! tIrnncb Ct,
! glory often fades. or seems to fade
Especially does this loss seem often
true Of men who are ella med by the
/ hard and dry details OF life men who
have left their youth behind them and
are entering middle age. To all such
would say: You may expect to grow
less enthusiastic and excited. DO not
ing OF the facts OF life with those ac-
cumulated convictions which must be
the real heart of any true enthusiast.
YOU ought 10 be growing more and
more earnest the longer you live Be
liovc In man with all your childhood's
confidence, while you work for man
with all mans prudence and circum-
spect'on. Such union of energy and
wisdom makes the completest char
actcr and the most powerful life.
Bu, how shall man toin this power
OF energy and wisdom? The answer is
plain: only by developing to the fun
his powers for knowing and loving
These two qualities are and must be in
all men. Not merely in the greatest
men. for IL is not a question OF great
ness, bat of genuineness and complete
ness. Just az the Same chemical clc-
ments must he In n raindrop that arc
IN Niagara. and II they are. the rain
drop rs MS truly water as the cataract
so the power of learning truth and tho
power OF loving man must he In You
or me. as well as in Shakespeare or So
crates: and IL they are, then We are as