The Green Forest tribune., 1916-03-31
CHAPTER xxx.
Hand 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.
 It 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 hem alone must he preach; nothing nore and nothing less. That was the duty for which he was hired His own hind. his own intelligence, the reason and I the snirit and ? tt the ssagl which ~ had gi x5Ia 1sHere' for no other use slthan 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 madf the discovery that he was not preaching God! He was preaching the cAurch and it's creed!
 Startled, now, he went through the thirty-nlne Articles or Renglon, on1e by one, slowly, thoughtfully, and with a quickened conscience. Reason knof;ked at the door of Falth, and entered;E but it did not drive out Faith. Theyh sat side by side, but each gave something to the other. MO- Father' e4son stripped the mask from Faith, Tore away the disgusting cloak, and Idis. played her in all her simple beay1ty sweet and gentle and helpful What was the faith he had been called 4pop to teach? Faith in the thirty-ninek Ar. ticles of Religion! This had been @lev- erly substituted by the organizerIs of an easy professlon' TOT taltn Tn Bod, which latter was too simple of con pre- hension for the purposes of any or ganization.
 For long time Rev. Smith BoyE sat in the corner pew, and when ha had l closed the DOCK, all that hao peeIh be- hind the wall of his mind camd ont and was sorted into heaps, anI the bad discarded and the good retained. He found wonderful rellef ln Ithat. He had lived with a secret chamber in his heart, hidden even fromI him. self, and now that he had openeh the door, he felt free. Above him, abound him, within him, was the pfesenlce of God, infinite, tender, easy Of Under standing; and from that God, h1S God, the one which should walk with him through life his friend and comforter and counselor, he stripped every ehred
 of pretense and worthless form and
 useless ceremony!
 T believe in God the CreatoH the
 Maker of my conscience; my Friend and Father" The creed of Gail!I
 For a moment the rector stool. tall
 and erect, then he stretched forh his arms:
 | q know that my Redeemer lif flthr ' he said, and sank to his knees , Two high points he had kept lf his , faith, points never to be shakeH the
 existence of his creator, his merd ane his love, and the divinity of hiI son , who died, was crucified and piried
 and on the third day arose to acenC unto heaven. Reason could nt de q stroy that citadel in man born o tht
 necessity of faith! Man must ieiievt f some one thing. If it was as eaIy, al F he had once set forth, to believe ,a tho @ biblical account of the creation f tht
 world as to believe in a pre-eNsten f. chaos, out of which evoluted the spiri f. of life, and all it's marvels of glpwin, a trees and flying birds and req onini a. men, it was as easy to go on ste1 Il further, and add the son to the lathe
 and to the holy ghost! Even .chao II must have been created! ~ h Fully satisfied, Rev. Smith Boy q walked into the vestry, and wrfte hi T. resignation from the rectorship q Maj , ket Square church. for he cold n c- longer teach. and preach, faitb~In tn