The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-03-07

uGlouIS VI lliNA
L 2ssssEEzazs W. 2sz8sasA mate communion
with God - and
this man called on his soul to wait
upon God.
The psalmist recognized within him
self something to which many are
very indifferent-a soul that related
him to God, and differentiated him
from the brute creation. Whether
that which he recognized was In itself
immortal or only contained the pos
sibility Of immortality need not inter
eGt us now, but 1t was another self.
an alter ego, what some might call
the subliminal self. and which has in
those who have lived a life Of pur-
poseful sin, been stifed, and yet cries
out constantly for recognition, and
nourishment, and ultimate perfection.
1t is not the imbecile who thinks Of
his soul, but 1t is the man who recog-
nizes his true humanity. If you please:
as In this case, oftentimes the man OF
affairs, Of parts, of high ambitions.
And this man Is frequently quite out
Of patience with those who profess to
be physicians of the soul and yet
prescribe little or nothing that hene-
fits the soul.
Great statesmen, fnanciers. railroad
magnates. inventors, artists. manu-
facturers. etc, when they go to
church, want soul food, something to
which the soul responds. A leading
lawyer recently said with reference to
the message that should be given
from the pulpit: 1T should come from
God. and should relate to the inner
life, it should be food for the soul"
The call was not to something in
definite: Wait thou only upon God"
Here is the recognition of the cor
relative to the soul, the spiritual God.
This recognition was not OF an alb
stract idea, but Of a personality-it
gave no opportunity for quibbling and
doubling. There was no suggestion in
any little of" This man of affairs
and great parts was not the only his
toriCal character who has thus thought
and acted. Some men may be like
Job and ask where they may find
God, but many others have had direct
and constant intercourse with the
spiritual God, they have seen him who
Is invisible.
Can this not be said of our three
martyr presidents? OF Gladstone, of
Bismarck. of William of Germany, OF
Justice Harlan? And as we glance
back over the past do We not have
Chinese Gordon. Stonewall Jackson,
Oliver Cromwell. Gustavus Adolphus.
Savonarola, Paul, David. Moses. Abra-
ham and host Of others? Granting
that these men waited or God. for so
they all professed, their achievements
are not an enigma.
What Is It to wait en- God? Is 1t not
keeping silence before him? Let all
the earth keep silence before him"
And such silence before God is an es-
sential element Of prayer. One has
recently said that prayer is not the
claiming a hearing, 1t is giving a hear
ing; It is not speaking to God. 1t is
listening to God. 1t is true that
Whatever is best for me. my God will
bring 20 me.
II do only walt and trust and pray,
What'er seems dark to me, shall end IN
light for me;
IT'S but the cleaning. which fore-runs
the day"
This waiting before God, too, sug
gests a readiness TO respond to the
call Of God as the old retainers would
respond to the call OF their liege
lords. And was there ever a period
of the history OF the race when the
likelihood OF a call was as great? The
world is open to men spirit-flled to go
to the thousand million human beings
who as yet do not know the true
God.
Another suggestion is that of tarry-
ing. How impatient We are! A man
must make his first millions In ten
years of business. Ten more millions
must be made in the next five years
Who now tolls for the slow increase
on an investment. except the man
who lacks the speed of action of to-
days trading? And this is largely
true of christian work-we will not
work to the limit and be patient as
long as the fruits do not fall into our
laps in great quantities. And how
impatient we are in trial! We will
not wait until God gets through his
process of realizing for us our best,
away our dross. And this waiting on
God would not he honoring to him IN
less our waiting was with confident
expectation The soul of David would
never have received a blessing if Re
had waited before God indulging a
1arhanC