El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-11


erwise extinct species Of ecclesiastical
nightmare. still galvanized by zealot
magic into the semblance of divine
sanction and vitality il never pos
sessed-
But. on the other hand. I reverence
the spirit. and the motive of the past,
through all the maze of grOtesque i'm
agery that man has spun from crude
and facile fancy and I believe that
much that has come down TO us.
touched with consecrated intuitive
hood and ancestral associations. Is
still fertile with suggestion and illu-
minative power. provided We do not
try TO impose IL as dogma upon men.
The sOcalled historic dogmas Of the
Immaculate conception, the blood
atonement. the polytheism Of Trim
ity OF three cooperating individual
Gods, the fetish worship Of the Bible
as a sort of Jewish born talisman
with every letter aglow with imme-
date physical contact Of divine ef-
fulgence, the distortion OF Christ's
heart 70 heart talk with Nicodemus
into a mystic chemical formula that
applies an acid test TO every tender
and hesitatinE profession. the devas-
tating sacrilege Of grossly material
izing Christ's delicate and poetic i'm
agery Of the future life. OF demons
and angels. and OF the Fathers love
and majesty-these are but well
made elaboration and degradation Of
the marvelOusly simple and sincere
message Of Jesus. whose sole and su-
preme desire was that men should
break and cast aside every bond OF
priestcraft and tradition and come
with child like. certain faith TO an
omnipotent, all loving Father and
p &c AL ION
ship was the heart OF true religion.
all else but natural consequence and
corrollary.
No Room for Artificial Creed.
Such a revelation. with all that It
naturally implies. has no room for
artificial creed or dogma. the pre-
scribing OF specific passwords and
shibboleths. or catechetical oracles.
but as in the case Of the human fam
lily. every son of God must find in his
own experience the terms of vital re-
lationship that will spell for him sal
walton and add a line TO the ever
growing chronicle Of this Infinitely
varied adventure in divine grace and
comradeship- Such. it seems 10 me. is
the keynote at least OF Christ's i'm
mortal message
That is the supreme reason why
this marvellous message has not only
persisted through the years. but IS
today the dynamic OF every growing
and forward looking hope and pur-
pose in the world. That is why arr
and science and trade and politics
alike are breaking the letters Of SEN [
sualism. Of materialistic astigmatism. 3
OF greed and selfish hypocrisy. and /
promise more and approximation to- /
ward the goal Of spiritual recOgni- ]
ton OF their long deferred service to- !
ward the perfect union Of mans life F.
and viii with that Of his eternal I
Father. That is why the keynote OF 4
Jesus is found 10 be the pitch-pipe Of I
every human endeaVOr. by which all i
may be attuned to that divine har-
nony for which all the passionate ]
clamors Of humanity to the present /
hour have been but the babel OF pre-
imiuary moderation
That is why the beatitudes. the .
Lords prayer. the matchless visions I
of the fnasmuch" incarnation OF God /
In man and man in God. the pervadinE l
democracy OF the ''whosoevers" that I
stand like ever-Welcoming portals ar ]
the entrance TO every phase Of truth ]
Christ proclaims to men. why the in /
mitable parallels and the works Of I
mercy and unfathOmed power. that I
mark his whole ministry. and finally Z
The wonderful grace and trust and I
humility that transfigures those last Z
tragic days-why all this escapes the I
devastation of the years and touches |
bur inmost life today with the assur-
lnce OF divinity and Of oneness with [
the spirit OF God itself that battles
and humbles US the while it beckons l
Us irresistibly on
Overwhelming Proof Of Truth.
The overwhelming proof OF the
truth and the amazing vitality OF the
Christ message as well as the assur-
ance Of the Immortality OF its pro-
,laimer. as well as that Of every soul
who seeks to incarnate both in his
own character. is seen in the never
falling conquest they have made OF
every heart that has honestly ac-
cepted them. whatever the blood OF
brain, position or environment. Z
through all the years to this day.
I believe that the present war could
never have been. but for a deliberate
distortion OF the ideals Of Christianity
and the misleading and subversion OF
an entire generation OF a whole ma