Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-05-23
FAITHS !. PARADOX
PsaImist Voices 1t When He
Cries, "Have Mercy Upon Me,
O Lord, for Am Weak"

The Paradox of Faith! 1t is this:
Faith is both an avowal of weakness
and an assertion of strength. AS an
avowal of weakness, Faith throws it.
self upon God. AS an assertion of
strength, Faith-reverently be it said
throws challenge at God. AS an
avowal of weakness, Faith confesses
mans need of God; as an assertion
of strength, it processes Gods need OF
man. In one breath it voices the help
lessness and the indispensableness Of
man. Underlying all invocations of
Gods help is not merely the knowl-
edge that feeble humans must have
divine assistance, but also the con-
sciousness that Almighty God must
have US and our work for the accom-
plishment of his purposes. We mat
ter to God-or else why pray to him?
Why should he stand by us If he does
not require our presence in the world,
if our work is of no consequence to
his creative plan?
Goo NOI lnQIITeTenC.
The stars move on, though we grow
too weak to stir; the flowers bloom
on, though our frame withers. The
heavens are. never stained by the
blackness of our despair. No bird has
ever ceased to sing when the lullaby
of the bereaved mother was silenced
at the tiny grave. We live in world
that appears Indifferent to our aspira-
tions and longings. And if God shares
this cosmic Indifference, why invoke
him in time of distress? But when
Faith invokes God it is convinced that
he cannot be Indifferent to US, since
he needs US. He needs the work our
hands find to do, the feeling that pulse
in our hearts, the thoughts that flash
I'D in our mind. He needs our love
and our goodness; he needs the poets
song and the prophets vision; he
needs the painters color dream, and
the martyrs matchleSs heroism; he
needs the smile that beams in baby's
face and the hope that blooms in the
maiden's bosom. He needs our tears
and our laughter; he needs all the un-
speakable misery, the Incompatible
richness, the thrilling eXaltations of
human souls. Be we weak or strong
he needs us such as we are.
Faith Challenges God.
Faith, therefore, reverently chal-
lenges God, saying: This Indifferent
universe is so much vaster and
mightier than man, and 1t is against
the forces of this incomprehensible
universe that mans puny strength is
constantly pitted; but if the cosmic
forces crush man who will do his
work and what will take his place?
VIII the silent stars? VIII the rush
ing breakers? Weak and frail he is
yet powerful to do his appointed work !!
Thus with the psalmist we rightfully
express the Paradox of Faith when
we petition our Maker in the words,
"Have mercy upon me; for am
weak" founding at the same time our
petition upon the daring claim: For
in death there is no remembrance of
thee; in the grave who shall give
thee thanks?' That is to say, if the
Song of Man be silenced, feeble
though his voice, yet will it be missed
from the harmony Of the whole.
The great wonder of life consists in
the fact that alongside of the cosmic
forces there is room for the human
soul. The still greater wonder is that
alongside of God there is room for
man. If this spells responsibility,
it also spells privilege. Hence-the
Paradox of Faith.-Rabbi Joel Blau,
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New
York.