Grand Forks herald., 1922-06-12

/ o2gHree1feIae enf. sAd 9 IT. IN sthese erndM-
atttie class from thl6 btASfoSn. shad
ship in religious education, ana the
contmSncefnsnt address was my In,
itiation Into the task, entrusted to me.
The lfiterYentng years hAve unfolded
the pan6ramA Wiiich I tf1eh could not
anticipate ana foresee even In my At
tempts to induce an inverted memory
Of It. 70 u. PERHAPS. not altosethsf
years Of teaching to, close by actine
~ the same capacity in which 7
served at the begffininD OF my pro-.
feaeotial experfence.. 6 IS "a rs u,
Wesley college and I today ceie-
brate our tin wedding. On such oc-
ca1i6ns III the presence Of the as
sembled guests. 1t II customary for
the husband to indulge in grateful
"Reminiscences ana 70 forecast; hapnx
think about, the pfoceedings. sh9fi
take adyanfake st the 3situaticn ana
indulge in whatever I please to my
hearts content. shall discuss that
which hold to be central In, the Held
in. which Il shhve been 1Ab0yfnk. I
proposet0 make statement 6f some
Of the fundamental things which I
have been PRIVILEGED to teach for ten
years. d. .S
NY Ct1l0L interest mas Oeon LN0
normal development of the religious
egthusiaemss ef young people. nov
the Christian religion, with which /
have been primarily concerned, is
the organization of life in Its tatAAty
according to the; purpose of God aY
revealed and interpreted ny Christ. It
is the expression in worship and con-
duct Of the consciotishess of God a.
Far from being u disconnected ana
detachable interest, religion is an
human nature It is not an intellec-
tual amendment, an After-thought. a
by-product, but the central regulat-
ing principle Of hfe.. It is not an
acquired taste but an Unborn hunger.
When the religious impulse Is allowed
to decay, the person Is as maimed as
one without memory or emotion, as
Religion is not something artificial
and mechanical superimposed upon
us from without but q racial inheri-
tance. cosrnic movement.
The fascination Of teaching the
bible and the laws of religious de-
velopment to. hundreds OF young
people is manifest. Bach onc0tning
na shifting ana ffihctuattnt social
order. 1t has been my responsibility
to assist minds in the formative stage
to discover these Outstanding moral
and religious principles which further
an adjustment to an expanding mod
ern universe.
It has been my task to give the
religious impulse substance and
modes Of self-reali1ation. hAve
brary Of SIXTY six books written by
no one knows how many men scat
tered over d period OF a thousand
years and containing almost every
variety Of literary device ana compo-
sition. which we cell the bible. Az
teacher and students We Is have be-
come ,conversaf1t with thS men and
line the only Kind 6ffs civilization
which can endure.
We have become acquainted with
a labor leader like Moses. : RejectinE\
the tinsel cliilk of the coin, OF they
court Of Egypt, Identifying himself
with the cattle OF a people reduced
to virtual slavery, Moses, obedient to
the call of compassion, iraugurates
a revival Of religion among his op-
new devotion to their. God, leads
them out Of bondage, gives them the
laws which, are. the >. ifoundation,1
stones of demoetacy, and, Yields them
into the begihH1ngs OF the most In
fuential nation history knows ;e,.
We have. ventured within Y the
sacred, precincts of! thes. temple at
nJeruaa lem with 8hs. youthtut,.1s Isaiah
Of the Holy One of Israel uhcteAted
and eternal, of the great I Am self
conscious and self-determining. ''pa-
vilioned in splendor and sirded with
praise" Animated and sustained by
this experience. Isaiah could discover
no sphere in which the presence Of
God could not be felt. and strove for
forty years against Untold odds to
accomplish the regeneration Of his