Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1918-04-17
KINGDOM
Life Summed Up in the Words
ITO Have" " Ito Do" "to Be"
and Ito See."


God-Matt. :33.
Each human life may be summed up
in the words ''to have" "to do" "to
be" and "to see." These interrelate
themselves and show human life as
progressive. When these are duly fos-
tered human life is reaching out
toward its best,
The earliest to show itself is the
desire "to have" The infants active
fingers are the visible expression of the
latent instincts Of the soul. Gods pro-
vision for rapid development is the
active, fmpelling instinct to have, to
own. Experience shows how the con-
ditions may best be met. Nature pre-
sents herself in her possible abundance
Of fruits and wealth, love and, friend
ships, comfort and health, home and
happiness, and says, "Obey and you
may have. Fail to obey and you lose"
God presents himself in Jesus and by
the very possibilities Of human excel
lence then awakened says, "Obey me
and this excellence you may have" To
seek to know and fully realize this con-
sciousness of God is the most pressing
need of.the human heart and the great
est need Of our present time. The
peoples Of the earth need again to be-
come God-conscious. Then they will
become sane, human, brotherly. But
they must become God-conscious on
new level-the level Of altruism rather
than selflshness. Then ITO have" will
be inclusive rather than exclusive Of
others.
The Desire to Do.
But "to have" is not the highest In
stinct and therefore does not develop
our highest nature. Merely "to pos
sess" is q quality we have in common
with every other creature. ITO do"
is higher than "to have" "To have"
gives entrance into the kingdom Of
property, "to do" gives entrance into
the kingdom Of service. And for hu-
man being service Is more enrichfng
than possession. A man does not know
God until he knows himself and some
thing about his fellow men. No man
will use God until he knows man. No
man can rebuild his own or another
human life until he weeps over the
ruin or failure he has seen or expert
enced. Right Is the first condition of
service and love is the second. ''To
do" is thus q method os growth in the
kingdom Of God-it Is also one Of the
essential points.
But even service must have its
source of inspiration. ITO be" is
therefore higher than ito do" This
gives entrance into the kingdom Of
character. In the last analysis man
does what he Is. True character Is
not q building, it is presence, the
presence Of God in the soul. Charac-
ter may not be salvation, but 1t GER
tainly Is the assuring proof that God
Is coming to his own in US. A man
is not a Christian whose religion is
something added onto the other things
he says are his. If his religion Is not
peryading and so breathing through
each one of these as to make them dis
tinctive, then his life is not Christian
The Desire to See.
The highest Of all Is "to see." With.
out vision nations perish, for without
vision souls perish. Many men have
committed soul suicide who are still
active in the pursuits of life. But their
activities lack supreme purpose. Many
q man makes high claims for himself
who knows not that God has departed
from him. On the spirit there must
be light. In the heart there must be
expectancy. To the eye Of the soul
there must be more seen than the hand
can ever realize or words express. TO
every climbing soul there must be o
temple vision like Isaiah's or an open.
air vision like PaulS. Beatrice was
not merely woman to Dante-She was
the vision Of q beautiful character.
Hawthorne had in his own soul much
of the mystic when he wrote about
"The Stone Face" and made Ernest be-
come like the face he had so devoutly
studied and loved. This is the king
dom of vision in which is found the
light which gives all the other king.
doms their possibility of enjoyment
and realization. Blessed is the man
who is thus daily living this fourfold
fe!-Rev. John R. Macka5, D. D..
North Presbyterian Church, New York.