Jesus was no cynic, no ascetic, and no fanatic. He loved the great
outward world, and was the friend of all men. He was hated only by the
Pharisees, if to these He spoke sharply, His words to the children were
sweet as a mother's, and in His words about the birds and the flowers
you hear the tones of a lover. He loved the lakes of sweet Galilee,
her hills, her fields and her olive groves; and among them often took
His disciples apart to rest awhile. Adopt Christ's views of God; of
the future; Christianize your opinions, your character and your
conduct, and you will have manly joy even in the midst of sorrow.
Christ lived much in communion with God. He lived much out of doors,
in the fields and among trees, the birds and the flowers.
We must come back to nature. Happy the man who owns a piece of ground
in the country and lives on it betimes, where he can hear the robins
singing their hymns and the winds chanting their litanies; where he can
see the sun rise and feel the hush of the hills; where the spirit that
is in the beautiful world can touch and bless him as it did the blessed
Christ.
Brothers, I wish you great joy. Live in the constant sense of the
Heavenly Father's loving presence, and of nature's veracity and
friendly intention. Distrust all doctrines, all opinions and all ways
of living that destroy manly joyousness. Never lose sight of the fact
that a noble life is a truthful life. Truth is a trust. He who has
discovered any portion of useful truth has something in trust for
mankind. God is the author of truth, and when man seeks this imperial
virtue and acquires it, he is in possession of great power.
This brings us to the final practical thought. This power must be
appropriated. The cable car that is unattached to the cable will make
no progress and stand still forever, even though the engines in the
power house glow with heat, and the cable, gliding along in the center
of the track not two feet away, is laden down with power. The cable
car must close its grappling iron and grip the cable before progress
can be made. It must come in contact with the power. An electric lamp
will swing dark and unlighted while all the other lamps about it send
forth enlightening rays, and all the dynamos in the world may be
revolving in the engine house, sending a surging current within a few
inches of the isolated lamp, and all in vain unless it come in contact
with the power. You must turn the switch and let the current flow in,
and then the lamp will itself shine and will illumine its surroundings
like the rest. So, in like manner, if we are to make progress in this
life, we must lay hold of the cable. We must come in contact with the
Divine. If we do not, the power of God is of no avail to us. If we
would be lights in the world, we must come in contact with the Divine
spirit, we must unbar the doors to our hearts and let the current of
divine power and love flow into our lives and illumine them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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