The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-03-27
SAYS SOUL SHOULD Be
LIKE MOUNTAIN BROOK
Ought To Go Leaping Along
Toward Goal, Rev. James |.
@Hanee@Feiiis =AHdienee-

ihe Rev. James l. Vance was greet
ed with another large audience when
ne delivered an address In the Lenten
services In the Detroit opera house,
"Wednesday noon. He said in part:
Christian faith is rich. not SO
much in what IL has. as in what IL
commands. IL commands the CONT
nent OF hope: IL has a title TO the
domain OF expectation. Its song is
yet TO be.
his does not mean that the pres
ent values of the Christian life are
poor, for they are rich beyond ex-
preston, but We are saved by hope.
Man is born hunter, a constitu-
tional seeker. He finds pleasure in
pursuit rather than in possession. To
reach goal is TO hear a call. God
has built us this way because he
wants us TO grow. and so IL comes
about that a certain amount OF dis
content and dissatisfaction with pres
ent attainments is not only not wrong,
but essential to the highest progress.
We must distinguish between stag
nation and content. Both have re-
pose, but the repose OF stagnation is
the lace OF death. Yonder is a stag
nant pool with neither source nor
outlet. II Is fed by occasional rains
which equalize evaporation. It's sur
face is covered with a green scum
which emits vile odors and loads the
air with the poisonous germs OF dead
| ly diseases. Its world ends there in
that Shiny girdle of marshes filled
with rough flags and croaking frogs
ana marking the spot where decent
earth is besmirched by the touch OF
the dirty pond 1t is picture of
IstaRnation OF a man who ends in him
self and whose world is bounded by
his senses.
But | can see another picture. Ii
is that of a mountain brook, leaping
from boulder to boulder, down the
mountain side. breaking into CLEAN
ing cascades, dashing and splashing
among the stones, Waiting of into
laughing. dancing eddies, gathering
here and there into deep transparent
pools where crystal depths mirror the
stars, making the grass grow green
along the summer banks, festooning
the overhansing branches which dip
into the winter waters with delicate
traceries OF the frost and graceful
pendants of the ice king, never rest
ing, always Fastening, for the brook s
life is beyond itself, and its goal Is
the open sea. 1t is the picture OF a
soul that lives with its face toward
the morning: it is natures parable OF
faith.
The Christian expectation is God.
The trouble Is not that We lack hope,
but that we wrongly locate II. Some
times we ground our hope in the cir
cumstances OF life, sometimes IN our
friends, sometimes in luck and pluck,
and LIES morning turns gray and the
day dies down in defeat.
But God can keep the day bright,
and those who put their trust In him
need never despair, God is for all
He declines 10 be monopolized. NO
sect, no creed, class. nation, age,
plane. or civilization has any monop-
oily of God. The Almighty refuses TO
be cribbed or combined or confined.
Since God is for all, none need de-
spair. Heaven waits on every door
step. and TO all night jewellers the
prophet OF faith shouts, The morning
cometh.
Christian expectation is not only
great, tnlt Certain Nou viii hS'Si
|disappoint us The only permanent
values are The spiritual Some OF
you are great believers In the future
of Detroit real estate, but you are
not so sure as TO lots in the New
Jerusalem. Yet the only values that
will ABIDE are soul values.
Earth breaks up,
Time fades away
Heaven flows in
With it's new day,
Therefore, live with your face to-
ward the morning Trust God nor
be afraid get out of stagnation into
expectation; get up from the boys
and the shadows TO the SUBMITS and
the sunlight; get out OF parsimony
into plenty, and out OF apprehension
INTO assurance. Get 10 God.