Evening journal., 1916-02-10

Luke xviii: is -@And Jesus said un.
70 him. receive thy sight; Thy faith
hath saved thee
OF ali the physical inhrmities. me
thinks the saddest is the loss Of sight
Not to be able 20 look out onto the
face Of the earth and the skies. not "a
rec the beauty Of the stm-kissed val
ley. or the snow-capped mountain
peaks. moi fo DchOi1 fhe distant held
clothed with ferdurc, or rich with
golden harvest. not 10 sec the or.
chards laden with their blossoms and
fruit. or the autumn forests with their
varied huos of brown and scarlet and
gold. not TO be able 10 see the glory
81 the sun and moon and stars and
clouds: not 10 enjoy the works Of art
or read the printed page, not TO be
able 10 look into the faces of our
loved ones. how sad h Is 10 be blind
Three children were standing IN
front Of a store window on Christ
mas eve. and two OF them were de-
scriblng 10 the third the beauty OF
the toys. A passersby, attracted bS
their earnest and vivid descriptions
stopped 10 listen. Al last he said
''Why are you telling the little fel.
low about the playthingsg Why dom
you let him look for himself7" Then
they turned and said 10 him. But
mister. he cannot do u. He cannoI
see he Is blind"
Sad indeed ia physical blindness
but there rs something infinitely sad
der stlll. and that Is spiritual blind.
ness. Not 20 know the goodness and
love. OF the heavenly Father; not ic
comprehend His mercy. not To under.
stand His salvation. as revealed III
the death and resurrection OF Jesus
n men could get Just one vision OF
the love OF God. ID would cause them
in humility and In penitence. 10 cal
ON Him, FOR pardon and mercy. Al
about ua. on every hand. are multi.
tudes who are spiritually blind. and
iha saddost element Of their condi.
tion Is that thcy do not realize THEN
blindness. They cannot comprc-
hend what they arc missing IN not
knowing Christ and beholding the
story OF His salvation.
a little blind boy. who had been
put under the care Of a great oculisl
and had been given his sight. when
the bandages were taken of. was led
by his father out into the flower gar.
den when he looked around, he
burst into sobs His father said, ms
boy. what is the troublcg' "Oh. papa,
said he, why did you not tell me that
everything was so beautiful?" ~ tried
TO-" replied the father. but could
not make YOU understand
What IS the cause OF this spiritual
blindness? II Us due first OF all 10
doubt The Scripture says that
Moses endured as seeing Him who l..
inVinciblc" He saw with the eye OF
faith ST. Augustine well said. ~ do
not know that ] may believe; be.
Hove that ! may know" Faith does
not seek primarily an explanation, 4
seeks an experience. You never vii
have spiritual vision until you ar,
willing 10 go 10 God IN confidence
and trust. and then you will find fha
spiritual things are spiritually dis.
ccined
Another cause Of spiritual blind.
ncel g. prejudice In spiritual
az well as intellectual affairs. The old
adnec holds true. "Tho hlindesi man
ia he who viii not see" The man
Who is truly wise constantly keops
ms mind open 10 now truths. In no
other way can YOU make the right
growth and developments either intel
lcclually or spirltually So often
minds are blighted by bigotry. super
stltion aud ignorance. An editorial
recently. well emphasized this point.
IN which the editor said that the poo-
pic who were opposing the union cam
paign were those who dld not attend
who had not heard the messages.
Ihcy were unwilling 10 open their
minds % the divine sunlight.
But The greatest source of spiritual
blindness rs sin. Tho Apostle Paul
spoke about making the cross of
Christ OF none effect What did he
moan? Would II be possible for any
one 10 destroy the beauty of the sun
tho moon and the stars. 10 blot out
the scenery Of woodland and meadow
oh. no. and yet ono blow upon youi
eyes would make for you All that
beauty as though Il never had been
What rs Il today that rs binding the
spiritual vision? II Is vice. lust
avarlcc. sclhshnoss; II Is rebellion
against God. pride. prejudice. and
passion, II paralyzcs the spiritual
optic nerve and dulls the religious
rotna so that the soul sees no beauty
or attractivenoss IN Christ's gospel.
Many have lost "thc upward look"
How The soul can be blinded by sin
~ well Illustrated by the story OF
Rembrandt. one OF ihc suprcmoly
gifted painters To-day one Of his
portraits would bring a. hundred
thousand dollars IN the market But
n you would understand how man
can mar his very self by sin. all you
need TO do Is to study the two por-
traits Of Rembrandt painted by him
SELF. In the first one he stands forth
Rloriously handsome youth. His
race shines like an alabaster vase
~iih lamp in IT, The whole man ex-
nales strength. and there is nothing
Tor which he cannot hope. We know
that he has genius 10 create. and