The sun., 1916-12-31


holy n prayer that bees from the gvd
of chance his pity for the living. Aye!
1T is those who arc abort to live, nUt
TO die. that We should salute. Life IL
tho eternal slayer; death Is but the
final punctuation Of the vital para
graph. Life is also the bctrayer. a
cosmical conspiracy of deception en-
circles Us. We cali 1t Maya, and flat
ter Dur finite sense OF iiunlor that we
are no longer %entrapped By the shin
ing appearance of things when We say
aloud Stay. thou art 81 subtle that We
know you for what you are-the pro-
foundest instinct Of life: its cruel de-
light IN pretending to ~ what 1t Is
not. We are now. all of us who think
that we think. newly born I'austs with
out eyes lnndagcd by the supreme
binders. Time and Space. Nature
clothes the skeleton In IA motley suit
OF flesh, but our supersharpened ears
overliear the rnttling OF the bones. We
arc become ~ wise that love itself is
NJ longer a sentiment. only n scnsa:
tion: religion IL first cousin 10 volup-
tuousness; and If we arc So minded we
may Jig to tho tune Of the stars up
the dazzling staircase, and sneer at tho
cloud gates Of the Infinite inane.
Naught succeeds like negation. and We
swear that in the mouse OF tho UNDER
tsker II il impolitc ~ speak Of shrvuds.
We are nothing if not dcterminlsts.
And VIC believe that the devil deserves
tho hindmost.
We live in order 10 forget life. For
II delicate machinery Of apperccp-
ton there is no longer right or wrong
vice and virtue arc the acid and alkali
of existence. And a q 700 much acid
deranges the stomach. so vice corrodes
the soul. and thus we arc yirtuous by
compulslon. Yet We know that evil
serves its purpose in the vast chem
istry of our being. and IL banished the
consequences might not be for univer-
sal good; other evils wodld follow In
the train Of a too comprehensive miti-
CATION. and our end "A stale swamp OF
vain virtues. Resist not evil Which
may mean the cvcrse of what 1t
seems TO preach. The master modern
imnoralist has said: Embrace evil.
that We may be over and done with It.
wy nv W l'tlN EipI.s E''nIlfy-Ns
wealth. health, happiness; all toys eX-
cept health: health OF the body. OF the
soul. And the first shall be last.
The human soul in health? But
there is no spiritual health. The mys-
tic DIR. Taulcr has said: God does
not reside in a vigorous body: sinis-
ter, equitable nevertheless, the dolor-
GUS gertrude that the most rudiant
OF e~xistcnces ends in the defeat OF dis
ease II death; that happiness is rela-
tive. a word empty of meaning in the
light Of experience, and n~on-eXistent as
an absolute: that the only divine oasis
in our feverish activities Is sleep: sleep
tho prelude to the profound and ctcr-
silence-why then this gabble about
soul states and the peace that passeth
all understanding? Simply because
the red corpuscles hat rule our dcsti-
MES are, when dynamic. mighty breed
crs Of hope. When the powers and
municipalities OF darkness prevail, our
guardian angels. the phagocytes, are
by the ~leucocytes. Gods and
devils. Ormuzd and Ahriman. and other
phantasms Of the sky, may all he put
on n microscopic slide and their strug-
giles noted. And the evil ones arc ever
victors In the diabolical game. No need
TO insist on II. In the heart of man.
kind there is n Tiny shrine with it's
burning taper. the Idol Is Self: the
propitintory light is for subliminal foes.
Alas! IN vain. We sttccumb, and in
our weakness we sink into the grave.
II only We were SURE of the S.ycr StyN
afterward we should pay the ferry tax
with joy. Better Ilades than the poppy
Of oblivion. Ready 10 bo anything IN
the ecstasy OF being ever as Sir
Thomas Browne sagely remarks.
Tho pious and worthy Or. Jeremy
Taylor. who built cathedral like struc-
lures of English prose { the greater
glory of God and for the ediiication OF
ambitious rhetoricians. has dwelt upon
the efficacy OF prayer in "a singularly
luminous passage: Holy prayer pro-
cures the ministry and services Of an
gels. II rcscinds the DEGREES Of God.
II cures sickness and obtains pardon.
II arrests tho sun in it's curse and
stays the wheels OF the chariot Of the
moon. II rules over all Gods crea-
lures and opens and shuts the store
houses OF rain. II unlocks the cabinet
OF the WON'T and queGclles the vio-
lence of fire. II stops the mouths of
lions and reconciles our sunferancc
and weak faculties with the violence
of torment and sharpness of persecu-
ton. II pleasos God and supplies all
our needs. But prayer that can do
this much for MS can do nothing at
all without holiness, Tor God hearcth
sinners. hut IL any nan be a wor-
shipper Of God and doth Ills Will. him
He hcareth."
II should not be forgotten that Tay-
|or, the greatest English prose master
save John Milton, was Il stichicr for
Suod works a. well a. faith. II" was
considered almost hetorhloX because
OF his violence OF speech wien the
subject OF dcathbod repentance be-
came a topic Of discussion; indeed, his
bishop demonstrated with him because
his stiifnecked opinions. To joust
through life as at IL pleasure tourna-
ment aHd when the dews Of death
tho forehead To cil on God
in your extremity seemed Ia this clu-
quent divine an act of Sinking cow
Far better face the evil one
in a defiant spirit than knock for adj
mittance at the back door of paradise
and try to sneak by the winged police
man into n vulgar bliss. unwon, UNI
hoped for, undcscrved. Therefore the
startling statement. "t;ui
i, an rntf, not elr,nn,.S ~ ,pn.l IL, ,l, N,-I.