River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-12-23
CHAPTER xxx.
Hand in Hand.

Han0 IN Hand.
| Rev. Smith Boyd walked slowly out
into the dim church, with the little vol
ume in his hand. The afternoon sun
had sunk so low that the illumination
from the stained-glass windows was
cut off by the near buildings, and the
patches of ruby and Of sapphire, of
emerald and of topaz, glowed now near
the tops of the slender columns, or
melloWed the dusky spaces up amid
the arches.
1t was hushed and silent there de-
| serted and far from the thoughts Of
men. The young rector walked slowly
up the aisle to a pew in the corner
near the main entrance, and sat down,
still with the little Book of Common
Prayer in his hand, and, in the book,
the Articles of Religion. From them
alone must he preach; nothing more
and nothing less. That was the duty
| for which he was hired. His own mind,
his own intelligence, the reason and
the spirit and the soul which God had
given him were for no other use than
the clever support of the things which
were printed here. And who had for
mulated these articles? Men; men
like himself.
Rev. Smith Boyd suddenly made the
discovery that he was not preaching
God! He was preaching the church
and it's creed!
Startled, now, he went through the
thirty mine Articles of Religion, one by
one, slowly, thoughtfully, and with a
quickencd conscience. Reason knocked
at the door of Faith, and entered; but
it did not drive out Faith. They sat
side by side. but each gave something
to the other. No, rather, Reason
stripped the mask from Faith, tore
away the Disgusting cloak, and dis
played her in all her simple beauty.
sweet and gentle and helpful What
was the faith he had been calleG upon
to teach? Faith in the thirtJ-nine Ar.
ticles of Religion! This had been cley-
erly substituted by the organizers of
an easy profession, for faith in God.
which latter was too simple of compre-
hension for the purposes of any or
ganization.
For long time Rev. Smith Boyd sat
in the corner pew, and when he had
closed the book, all that had been be-
hind the wall of his mind came out.
| and was sorted into heaps, and the
| bad discarded and the good retained.
| He found a wonderful relief in that
He had lived with secret chamber
in his heart, hidden even from him
self, and now that he had opened the
door, he felt free. Above him, around
| him, within him, was the presence of
God, infinite, tender, easy of under
standing; and from that God, his God,
the one which should walk with him
through life his friend and comforter
and counselor, he stripped every shred
Of pretense and worthless form and
useless ceremony!
II believe in God Ene Creator; the
Maker of my conscience; my Friend
and Father" The creed of Gail!
For a moment the rector stood. tall
and erect, then he stretched forth his
arms:
II know that my Redeemer liveth!"
he said, and sank to his knees.
Two high points he had kept in his
faith, points never to be shaken; the
existence of his creator, his mercy and
his love, and the divinity of his son,
who died, was crucifed and buried,
and on the third day arose to ascend
unto heaven. Reason could not de-
stroy that citadel in man born to the
necessity Of faith! Man must believe
some one thing. If it was as easy, as
he had once set forth, to believe in the
biblical account Of the creation Of the
world as to believe in a pre-existent
chaos, out of which eyoluted the spirit
of life, and all its marvels of growing
trees and dying birds and reasoning
men, it was as easy to go one step
| further, and add the son to the father
and to the holy ghost! Even chaos
must have been created
Fully satisfied, Rev. Smith Boyd
walked into the vestry, and wrote his
resignation from the rectorship of Mar
ket Square church, for he could no
longer teach, and preach, faith-in the