Evening star., 1924-03-23
Life More and More Influenced
By Principles of Christianit,

ight-thinking men to accept the prin-
ctples of the Nazarene not only as
the revelation of God to man, but as
common sense and common judgment.
1t has been my fortune to be a
member Of not few organizations.
From year to year / have seen their
rituals, forms and ceremonials un-
dergo changes. Real or pretended inn
provements have been constantly Of
fered and adopted. i have observed a
growing effort to enrich the cere-
monials and to impress the neophyte
with the beauty of the diction and
the pomp of the ceremonial. OF these
organizations, which are frankly ad-
mitted to be of human origin, al
though seeking to teach some great
and eternal truth, 1 know not one
that 1t not all the time seeking
changes designed to improve.
The other day I sat at the COM
munion table consecrated to the MEM
ory of the Man of Galilee. / saw
bread and wine, emblematic of His
emily passed to the communicates by
two men who are authorities in the
medical world, by two bankers who
have much to do with the prosperity
of their state, by two lawyers who
stand at the head of their profess
sion, by business man and a work
ingman. My mind reverted to the
fact that it was just such a cere-
monial in every particular as had
been kept for centuries by those who
areth. 1t has not been altered.
changed or reformed. Nothing had
been added thereto and nothing, sub
tracted therefrom. Unless those who
served and those who partook were
quite satisfied of the solemnity of the
occasion and of the truth of the in
cident which II was intended to COM
memorate, then the ceremony was an
idle and foolish thing. There was
no business advantage to be obtained
from 1t. no political or professional
honor no glory or reward to come
out Of ii. The ceremony was a tribute
of faith and confidence in the deity
of Jesus come down through all the
centuries.
k* X x
/ was again impressed as / had been
impressed before that, although the
Bible might be destroyed, all books
of exegesis burned, all commentaries
torn to bits, so long as the commun-
ion service endured strong and in
dubitable proof of the truths of the
statements contained in the four gos-
pels would endure. And as l looked
at the men who were passing out the
bred and wine my thoughts reverted
to history, as / know history, and
reached the conclusion that nearly all
the good that has come TO mank ind
has come through the instrumentality
of those who believe in the sacred
ness of this ceremonial Without the
faith of men such as these there
would be no public schools, no free
libraries, no real art, no great incen-
tive for music, no outburst of senti-
ment toward the poor. the weak, the
suffering of humankind. There would
be no friendly hand clasp, no gentle
elbow touch. i went back to the law
of the tooth and the fang, to the doc
trine of the survival of the fittest,
when the fittest to survive were those
who were the strongest. / saw men
riding to power over the crushed
bodies OF their fellowmen. These
things have changed. a kindlier and
finer attitude OF life has succeeded
them because through the ages there
have always been men who believed
in the deity Of the Nazarene. The
proof of their belief has constantly
been made manifest to mankind by
their Willingness to engage in the
simple ceremonial Of the communion
hour.
The world moves forward by faith.
by vision, by enthusiasm, and God
may not strive within US unless we
some far-off divine event. The con-
the communion is proof of the faith
that has moved mountains.
Copyright. 1924. by o1st Century PressD