The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-11
THE JOY or RELIGION.
lSelected for rhe rilnes.Dispnt


! Tie burden OF the Lord. Will even
| punish that man and his house. Thus
/ shall 70 say every ono tn his neiEhbor
and every ono to his brother. What
/ hath the Lord answered? and what
! hath the LORD spoken?'-Jcrcmiah
/ HXtii 1886.
| III reading this statement OF tho sad
condition in which Jerusalem had
tfallen. wo recognize that God has built
this world so that the healthy and
| Legitimate exercise OF every power
! ought always TO he u source OF pleas
urc to it's fortunate possessors. 1t
would be very terrible were it not so,
| il the intrinsic condition or activity
were pain; that would be incredible
| as - general fact Of human life, and it
/. would DO incredible also. 1 think, OF
any one human power. taken by itsolf.
| Plenty Of powers there AFRO which VIC
| cannot now put into exercise without
pain--wo cannot work without weari-
| ness, We cannot trust without disap-
ointment. We cannot think without
'-~ 80 .no".rht ,vh'"il we send out
striking almost Immediately on sorno
obstacle which turns 1t out OF the
course of perfect truth. And yet the
soul still seeks TO work, to trust and
TO think, for tho soul must exercise its
power i'll order that the soul may lind
itself.
And now among tho powers OF men,
| 10, there is one highest power which
has always been bearing witness of
itself which has always refused to DO
ignored or denied. But still the power
OF religion, tho power in man OF count
ing himself 4 child OF q heavenly
Father. and Of looking up TO that
Father for commandment and for care,
has always borne witness to its own
and beauty.
In thinking oil, this religious power
We arc driven to the belief that il must
be true simply because 1t is our high
est faculty. 1T cannot be So" runs
nmr simplest thought. that all my
powers are meant and made 10 give me
JOY, while this my highest power has
no Joy to give. 1t cannot be that
was made SO that my thirst should
run to the river and my friendship to
my friends, and yet that my soul
should hold back and hesitate when it
is offered the chance TO 20 10 Cod
IL must he that In my supreme faculty
the law OF all my faculties will be su-
premcly realized, and that shall lind
JOY in loving and obcying God. which
no other activity in my nature has
ever attained" The happiest moments
that have been passed upon this earth
have probably been moments In which
consecratcd human souls have intense
: ly realized their nearness TO the soul
Of God. and the most passionate de-
sire which the world has ever seen ha.
been the desire Of eager hearts who
had tasted of divine communion and
yearncd TO come yet nearer 10 the God
whose beauty and goodness they had
apprehcnded through spiritual means
Why. Ii this Is SO. DO not all men
seize upon. the truth of religion? The
! broadcast and simplest reason for their
failure To do 40 is that men do not
| lag hold OF the truth that religion is
natural TO man; they think of il al
ways in Its negative aspect; they re-
call its prohibitions; they remember
It's shalt nots." and they fail TO real
lie that the commandment not to do
in the old Testament is swallowed up
in the larger commandment OF the
moro abundant life which the New
Testament SO richly promises to those
who Will accept its offer and follow
it's life.
lsven il man had never sinned. there
stu might have come to him the great
assurance Of the Nastness Of the range
of goodness and strength TO which he
might attain il he would only lay hold
on the power of God. And so Chris
tianity becomes II new thing when YOU
grasp the thought that ii Is not pri-
inarily the forgiveness Of sins; 1t is not
intrinsically the acceptance of this OF
that peculiar DOGMA. but ii Is, in its
essence. solely the offer and the means
for new life, for higher thoughts,
graycr struggles, nobler society with
brother man. profoundcr character, and
an evcr-growing understanding OF tic
richness and the fulnes3 Of the grace
that was in Chrsts teachings.
You are right In the midst Of tho
Sltitt1l u liIC nolld- nc luuiull
society is III your ears Through it,
piercing it as tho lightning pierccs the
stormy sky. there comes some word of
God. He tells you that your soul is
sacred, that sclnshncss is death III life,
that Judgment is coming. You turn
away and will not listen. You plunge
! again into tho strife OF tongues. Per-
maps YOU can escape that voice Of God;
If YOU can, il is dreadful If by
blessed incapacity you cannot escape
it. then there is only one thing to do
TO listen To H. and obey IL, TO question
1t, What hath God answered." What
bath God spoken" To open your
heart to the living word OF God, 10 be
His servant, and 10 do His viii.
If self-sacriice cxiausts and cmbit.
tcrs YOU, the refuge is not in self-in-
! diligence, but in more self sacrifice IL