The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-26
THE VIRGINIANs WEEKLY SERMON
CHIMES OF THE SOUL
BY REV. FREDERICK F. SHANNON.

I 20. wondrous is Gods earth" cried
Schiller, "and good it is to be a man
upon it." AS it cannot possibly be
good to be a bad man upon the earth,
surely part of the very highest good
is to behold Gods earth through eyes
of inner loveliness. Christ deepens
the good into the best. He begets that
Observation-Disclosures in the soul which
discerus beauty, wonder, and awe in
terfusing the veins Of creation, Lord
Kelvin Is a striking illustration of
this truth a trained thinker and
scientist. dominated by a passion for
accuracy, he has the nth power of
Christian insight. Locking at tree,
he says "A. tree contains more mystery
Of creative power than the sun, from
which all it's mechanical Energy is
borrowed" studying the miEnonette,
he concludes: AN earth without lie.
a sun, and countless stars contain less
wonder than that grain of mig
nonette." Why, @ man who owns a
tree or n sprig of migonnette, and
knows how to think of their loveil-
ness has an INNER opulence that
pours contempt upon heaps Of goddess
gold. .o
"Divfnity lies all about AS" wrote
Professor James. and culture ls 700
h{debOund to even suspect the iatN,
Tofstoi,s words are omplementarV'
G-,he more we live by the intellect
the less we understand the meaning
of life Well, then, what Is to re,
deem culture from its sterllty ana
jnfellect from its duIlness3 -FOUR
Nfetzsches and SChopenhauers are
very assertive They are pathetic tN-
anpIes OF the modern mind IN IT'S IN
rbristiauized aspect. But they at
l.aat uraxe that there can be no sane
optimism without the Christian rei1-
syian. ans more than there could ne
gravity without space. Ihe% ciafhoF
for the coming back OF the pagan
streak. for the reCrudescenCe OF the
animal, for the renasccnee OF the
vulgar. for the rehabilitation OF the
devil as an angel Of light. Happily
these APOSTLES of "the ego" are fore
doomed, and their philosopher with
them, The kelVins, the jameSes. the
Tolstois. the Euckens. the Berssons
have been girded. either consciously
or uuconsciously, for proctalmlng the
old. truth that neither culture nor
intellect can supply the demands of
human life Men are stAl painting
for God They know that nothing is
more insipid than technical eXcelI-
ence devoid Of spiritual reality, W
must have life. and we have 1t IN
Christ. As flame feeds flame. so life
feeds life. And the CHRISTIAN mas mas
lIfe--thc only life. the true hfe- the
aenoIsn ffs-~-in OVERLOOKING album
dance. 4 came that they may have
life. and may have Ii abundantiy.
Therefore. the spiritually abundant
liver is the one pre~eminenuy Quahheo
thinker Of the lovely. He knows
beauty at its source. he knows that
ss...s Z forever.
He knows this because he knows
that lin the beginning was the Word,
and hc Word Was with God. and the
Word was God
And so the Word had breath and
with hanan hands the creed of
creeJIs
In loneliness Of perfect deeds
More strong than all poetic thought"
I'll The Chime OF Graciousncss,
Think Of whatsoever things are
gracious A gracious soul is the best
commentary on the grace uf God. He
illustrates the infinite In dimensions
Of the fnite " ben, Baphael had
finished his painting called the
50 bvls hr offered iu sell * for nine
hundred ducats Chgi. the banker.
offered only five hundred. Raphael
aEreed thai any painter III Rome
should arbltrate she matter. Aware
II the somewhat strained relations
between Eanhaa! sad Ai2helanEo;
the great sculptor was chosen View %
eing the work, and pointing to the
head Of one of the SibylS, ne said
That head alone Is worth one hun
dred ducats 10. "Then how much are
the others worth9" asked the Chasler.
They are worth n0t less said Mich
eIanEo. The cashier reported the re-
SUIT 10 the banker Laughing, Chiga
sid !. hundred
duCatS TT once aud b% very polite
for IL he shoald charge us for the
draperies We should be ruined -
But how many ducats must Michel
ceive? Not onet His price was
above rubies. He WAS munificently
compensated in the uncolned gold Of
/ d gracious soul. NaSarl says that
the "Sihyls" is Raphaels masterpiece.
But what would the world not give
TO have this iece-~Mlch elan-
geio prais.ng the picture of his en-
envy? n gracious soul IS a miniature
copy of the God of grace. Living
in that fine air, our private ends be-
gin to harmonic with the public
and universal whole. Our thinking in
then translated into life. our life
is then hid with Christ in God. And
{ tki4~ ~ NtE secret Oh liA1 Nl41ltS THAT
ring In the dome OF the soul
Sometimes the Muse 0vertakes one
on a hillside in June The bluebird
flashes past with the sky on his back.
The robin hops about with the sunset
m bis breast. Tho HOG aranaS over
TITS hof5cf ,hgniasl ms, The butterfly
OPENS and closes wSflgs that are hung
with rainboWs- There In the odor Of
the grass--a deep sea Of green be-
meath answering to the dep sea OF
blue above~~these lines were writ
ten:
! thought a true and noble thought
1t shook the vast and golden stars:
Upward is sped and, trembling,
sought
The song and chant Of angel ehoirs.
! spoke brave and cheerful word.
Not dreaming that it went any
where:
( The dead. both small and great, over
And said: we know: thy word
is fair"
! sang simple. soulful song.
A hubbling lyric Of the heart:
The world forgot It's ancient wrong,
And said Men, choose the bet
ter part"