Evening star., 1959-12-20
SPIRES OF The SPIRIT
To the Pure in Heart
BY DIR. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
Chaplain Of the United states Senate

ages. Every POcb OI1lCC III LIlc
land is swamped under a
perfect avalanche of wrapped
gifts. They are all symbols
of Gods gift to humanity
which broke the ages in two.
The Christmas month is
an appropriate time for each
Of US to look at what we call
"our religion"-not at the
creed we hold, but at the
beliefs that hold us. The acid
question is, What is there
really in the package of my
faith?" To be sure, it is
inclosed with all the trap
pings of form and ceremony.
The surroundings where we
go to exhibit it are more ano
more ornate and jeweled,
contrasted to the bare meet
ing houses of an earlier day.
Whatever it is that is inside
our faith package, on the
outside it is tied in silver
and gold and the cover is
embellished in beauty. But
If our bundle should be
opened, what would be found
within? Is there anything
really alive?
A college professor con-
fessed that with him it was
just as If he had put what he
had called his faith In a
bureau drawer-left it there
without its being used; and
then in an hour Of emer=
gency, when he needed It
most, he opened the hiding
place to find that there was
nothing there. He had kept
the wrapping. but lost the
contents. The Christ who
came to Bethlehem declared
in His later public ministry,
"If the salt loses It's saltness
what good is it but to be
trampled under the feet Of
men?"
Now there are many tests
as TO the validity of the
faith we announce as our
own. Does that faith purge
our hearts and minds of the
uncleannesS which dims
spiritual vision? Life is
largely made or marred by
the imagination, which has
to do with what we habitu-
ally look at with our inner
eyes. The one whose lowly
birth we hail, enunciated
one Of the primary laws of
spiritual well-being when
He declared, THE pure in
heart shall see God"
AS we join once more the
multitudes on the way to
the Manger where lies the
most sacred Of all mys-
teries, a baby, we remember
that of that child grown to
manhood 1t could be said
that to Him the very thought
Of impurity of any kind was
abhorrent. Among all the
sons of men, He is the only
one to whom a word such as
purity or holiness can be
applied without any reserva-
ton whatsoever. His life was
clean, transparent, pellucid
as a hillside spring which
reflects in all its depths only
the sweet glad light Of Heav-
en-. Surely the Christmas
tide is the season for us to
hold our own lives up to the
light of that white purity.
OF course, we are con-
demned as we see our lives
in His light. Well has it
been said, You can always
tell a mans quality by not
ing the things to which he
is alive; people constantly
reveal their spiritual rank by
their responsiveness" 1t is
the pure in heart who see
God and the god-like in all
about them.
But what does this test of
purity reveal of the affinities
Of the American people? At
the, same time churches are
being erected at an acceler-
ating pace-and the throngs
in places of worship were
never so large-there is a
flood of impurity which seems
to be inundating the whole
land. Moral standards were
never so low. In fiction it Is
assumed that a book cannot
be expected to be a best
seller without its invitation to
peep at scenes saturated with
illicit sex. And all this seems
to be enjoyed-yea, reveled
in-by the most respectable
people. If any supposedly
exemplary person is portrayed