The Universe a Vast Electric Organism Part 14

The solemn cathedral, the soft-toned organ, the mellow light from colored windows, the awe and anxious faith, have added soul development and psychic power to human life.

The mother who bowed in prayer, the father who a.s.sembled his children around the family altar, have added spiritual power to themselves and their posterity for all generations.

And it is the honest, home-loving, G.o.d-fearing and praying mothers and fathers of the past three centuries that have made the Anglo-Saxon race and the civilization of to-day what it is.

The Bible says truly, "to be spiritually minded is life," and to be worldly minded is to lead us back to pagan selfishness, when cruelty was a pastime, and poisoning and a.s.sa.s.sination were fine arts.

This book of G.o.d we call man is bound in imperishable atoms that dissolve into-viewless ether, and are tied together with electric bands as pliable as silk and as invisible as thought, and the spirit they enwrap is as strong and enduring as omnipotence.

The statement is often made to the prejudice of religion that religion has been the cause of most of the wars and cruelties that have desolated the earth since the commencement of human history. This is unjust and misleading. Until the formation of our government, church and state were united among all nations and politics and religion were blended, and a purely religious war was impossible. As to the miracles of the New Testament, if they were all discredited the immaculate teachings of the gospel would remain. The peculiar glory of Christianity is the regeneration it brings to man, putting him under the law of love; and without miracles we would still have vital, uplifting, heaven-inspiring Christianity.

As to the infallibility of science, she has nothing to boast of over religion. Science has been groping her devious way from colossal blunder to blunder, and championing as many absurdities and superst.i.tions through all the ages as ever the religious devotee dreamed or the religious concept propagated. She is still teaching some of the grossest superst.i.tions and incredible absurdities. Science has received nearly every fundamental truth from religion, and is at last steadily developing and proving the true religious concept of the universe, in showing that all visible things are the product of invisible spirit, invisible law and invisible force; that the spiritual and invisible world is the supreme reality; that its Creator and Ruler must be the Father of Spirits, and virtually re-echoes the words of Christ, "G.o.d is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." It teaches universal love, helpfulness and equality, which was demonstrated by Christ when He called for water and washed the feet of those who worshiped Him. This was His last object lesson, so little understood in Christian philosophy. But ethical and psychic science have lifted it to be the glory of perfected civilization, and endorsed the exalted truth, "Let him that is greatest among you be the servant of all."

All knowledge and truth are in a sense inspired revelation from G.o.d, whether written in nature or the human soul. There is scientific revelation written in physical facts and recognized by the senses; there is G.o.d's revelation written in the secret conscience and reasoning power of man, and they naturally sustain and supplement each other and the revealed truths of the Scriptures.

It may be that the first chapter of Genesis was not intended so much as an infallible record of the divine order in the creation of the world as to teach the vastly higher spiritual truth that creation is the work of G.o.d, thus leading men to His worship and away from the lower worship of sun, moon and heathen deities.

The mechanical conception as to the mode of inspiration and revelation tends to give way before a larger conception of the process--that G.o.d speaks to man through the experience of the events of life. Thus revelation becomes a living process, and all later history may become a commentary on sacred history, renewing and confirming the primal utterance of G.o.d to the soul of man.

The reign of law, which was little understood by the ancients, is now universally accepted and endows the human race with new powers. It also gives new conceptions of the "intelligibility of nature," which is but a modern scientific term for religion or the reliance on the will and wisdom of Creative Deity.

Herbert Spencer's "persistency of matter and force" is but another expression of the reign of law. And as law is the result of an intelligent spiritual concept and impulse, the lawmaker of the universe must be a supreme, intelligent, spiritual personality.

And the reasoning, intelligent soul of man, by discovering the immutable laws of nature, which are the unchanging decrees of Deity, has learned the art of controlling the great powers of nature for the use and convenience of man.

But in the ultimate a.n.a.lysis it is G.o.d's spirit and will that control the universe, and man's spirit and will which evolve the art of controlling, and masters the great powers of nature.

Therefore, we must look to the powers of the mind to subdue all other powers. This it does by constructive reason and vitalizing faith. By constructive reason it builds bridges, tunnels mountains, operates engines, telegraphs and all the appliances of modern commerce. By vitalizing faith it renews and strengthens body and soul, and seems to work the miracles of G.o.d.

Prof. Osler says: "Faith is a most precious commodity. Faith is the great lever of life. Without it man can do nothing, with it all things are possible. Galen says: 'Confidence and hope do more good than physic.' Faith in the G.o.ds or the saints cures one, faith in little pills another, hypnotic suggestion a third, and faith in a plain, common doctor a fourth. In all ages the prayer of faith has healed the sick, and the mental att.i.tude of the suppliant seems to be of more consequence than the powers to which the prayer is addressed."

Miracles, says criticism, belong to an age of ignorance. With the dawn of knowledge they diminish. In its meridian light they disappear.

The Jews were eminently addicted to belief in miracles. With them there was satanic miracle as well as divine. They believed in persons being possessed by devils, and all efforts to disentangle them from the demoniac miracles and to resolve them into cures of lunacy by moral influence was vain.

Comte totally discards belief in G.o.d, but, feeling the need of a religion, subst.i.tuted the worship of humanity. Humanity is an abstraction by itself, but combined with the Christianity and the monotheism of the New Testament, it is the perfection of ethics and religion. They who preach the religion of humanity, morality and true socialism will find it more perfectly taught in the New Testament, with n.o.bler incentives and higher inspiration and spirituality, than elsewhere in human history. And it accords more perfectly with the book of truth, written in the reason and conscience of man.

Prof. C. F. Kent of Yale, says: "There is no conflict between science and religion. The Bible does not pretend to teach science, but does speak with authority with regard to questions of morality and religion.

"The pathetic fact is that the fundamental spiritual truths the Bible narratives seek to teach are lost sight of in the contention for historical accuracy, which was entirely secondary with the authors. The prophets used ancient narratives, the same as Jesus used parables, to ill.u.s.trate spiritual truths."

Dr. Beet, of Wesleyan College, England, denies that either "the endless suffering or the extinction of the wicked is taught in the Scriptures,"

and says: "Very few Wesleyans now adhere to Wesley's teachings concerning it."

The essential truths of the Bible are just as true without miracles as with them. Christ said a wicked and perverse generation seeketh a sign or miracle.

Truth is inherently true and needs no miracle to confirm it. And the tendency of all ancient writers, as well as those of the Bible, to exaggerate natural phenomena into wonders and miracles cause many to discard the great truths of revelation. I undertook to show how Joshua might have mistaken a luminous aurora borealis for the sun standing still. And I am inclined to think that a mistranslation is responsible for the story of Jonah and the big fish. Somewhere in ancient history I got the idea that the pirate boats in ancient times were called, "the big fish." If so Jonah might have been captured by the pirates after being thrown overboard, and put in the hole or belly of the boat, and after three days, seeing no prospect of a ransom, was thrown onto the land. G.o.d may have prepared the pirates and boat for this purpose and a miracle would be unnecessary. The writers of that day would say Jonah was swallowed by "the big fish," meaning the pirates captured him, and centuries afterwards the translators would make a great miracle out of it. Take many of our modern expressions, as, "the ship and sailors went to Davy Jones' locker;" if centuries hence our language should become obsolete, the translators would say, "the ship was in a great storm, and it and the sailors were all saved by running into David Jones' big chest." That would be a literal translation, but would not state the facts. Take another ill.u.s.tration. In the war, "a company was lost in the woods and was gobbled up by the enemy." A future translation would read, "a company of soldiers was lost in the woods and a ferocious turkey gobbled and eat them all up." Either of these would make a greater miracle than Jonah and the whale.

I mention this to show how easy it is to mistranslate an obsolete language, especially an Oriental language, always so full of figures of speech, hyperbole and parables.

There is the wonderful capture of the city of Jericho. When the Israelites, under Joshua, marched round it seven times, and blew seven long blasts on their ramshorns, the walls fell. Now, the spies may have reported to Joshua the weakness of the walls, and, by marching round them seven times, caused the people of the city to crowd onto the walls, and the vibrations of the horns caused them to fall.

We know that the vibrations of thunder or cannon or any loud noise has caused many a house to fall, and would endanger any weak building or wall. I believe that if every miracle in the Bible was disapproved or shown to be a natural event it would not destroy or affect a single important truth it teaches.

While I believe the brave and honest man will refuse happiness at the expense of truth, I must partly agree with Luckey, the historian, who says we owe more to our illusions than to our knowledge; that superst.i.tion appeals to our hopes as well as our fears, and often meets and gratifies the inmost longings of our heart. Imagination, which is altogether constructive, contributes more to our happiness than reason, which is mainly critical and destructive. He says: "The rude charm clasped by the savage, the sacred picture protecting the poor man's cottage, can bestow a more real consolation in the darkest hour of human suffering than the grandest theories of philosophy." This was more distinctly true in the early history of the human race, when ignorance and superst.i.tious wonder dominated all minds and all important events were deemed supernatural or miraculous.

Take the superst.i.tious worship of the Virgin Mary; its beneficence to the human race is beyond all human calculation. It helped to elevate and spiritualize woman and lift her offspring and the generations of men to a higher spiritual plane.

Romantic love between the s.e.xes was never known, so history teaches us, until the worship of the Virgin Mary became universal throughout Christendom. No such sentiment existed in Greece or Rome or any pagan country, and none exists now in any pagan or Mohammedan land. There women are still treated as chattels and denied a soul. We should remember that for man all religions were inst.i.tuted, all books written, all science formulated, all literature enn.o.bled, all progress inspired, and all art made beautiful.

Human reason, the perfection of the universe and the words of revelation all teach--

Man's soul is part of Deity, and as immortal as its Creative G.o.d.

Death is but a shadow across its path of destiny.

To the soul there is no grave; the tomb cannot grasp its viewless form; Earth is but its birthplace--the cradle of its infancy-- Where it drops its c.u.mbrous wrappings for the wings of immortality.

Time, the vestibule of eternity, is where it points its course and takes its leap Into the vast unknown toward the Infinite and Eternal, and sweeps Out upon its endless progression in knowledge and perfection through immensity of worlds.

CHAPTER XIII

LOVE IS THE ELECTRIC LAW OF LIFE: ALL THAT LIVE MUST COME FROM LOVING

G.o.d is love, and love is the law of life and the creative force of the universe. The love of G.o.d in the soul is the substance and life of all religion. The love of fellow-man in the heart is the foundation of all human kindness and social ethics. As Dante followed his beloved Beatrice from world to world until he found her at the gates of Paradise, so we must follow our loves and ideals through all the tragic incidents of existence until we find them as guardian angels at the gates of celestial glory and creative perfection.

A n.o.ble character, a worthy and useful life of service to others is the chief purpose and crowning glory of all earthly existence. Wealth and fame are mere incidents in the fleeting drama of human experience.

All true greatness is in the beauty and grandeur of the soul. It must come from within; external manifestations may shadow it forth, but cannot produce it.

All true gentleness and kindness are a reflex of the inner life of love and willing service. We live in the atmosphere that our thoughts and spirits breathe around us, and by opening the windows and doors of our soul to love we inhale the perfume from other souls, and the breath of life from Deity Himself.

Thoughts are forces, and through them we have creative power; but they must be winged with love to manifest divine energy. Every act is preceded and given birth to by a thought, the act repeated forms the habit, the habit determines the character, and character determines the life and destiny.

Everything in the material universe has its origin first in the spiritual concept or thought, and from this it takes its form. The spoken word and the mighty deed spring from the potency of living thought, and life is a tireless swimmer in an ocean of thought. Thought is the conscious energy of the soul, the subtle, invisible force of the reasoning, resistless mind, and, to be potent with life, must be winged with love. Thought is everywhere and surrounds us like the atmosphere we breathe. When we want a thought we should reach up into the air for it with the caressing hand of love, and it will come like an invisible messenger from spirit land. We should seek thought and wisdom in the intellectual zenith of our own minds, and not from mediums or clairvoyants, for they have never revealed any great truths.

Thus our great poets, sages and prophets have reached up into the spiritual alt.i.tudes and gathered wisdom and truth as the stars are gathered and sparkle in the glittering mirror of night's far off and measureless s.p.a.ces. They come with the speed of light from all suns and spheres in the jewelled crown of G.o.d's eternal expanse of love and life, they whisper wonderful things to the listening spirit in the silent chambers of the dreaming soul, and they come like angel faces in the visions of night and paint with the flaming finger of antic.i.p.ated joy the glorious beat.i.tudes of immortality and love. There is the science of thought which brings wisdom and success, and the science of love that brings peace and joy. It is a beautiful thing to live. Life is the fine art of the soul, the literature of the spirit, where it writes its hopes and achievements.

It is the theatre of all possibilities here and hereafter, but its atmosphere must be magnetic with love and faith where the spiritual forces may battle and exert their powers. We must first love all the world if we would have the world love us. Only what comes from the heart can reach the heart of the world, for mankind will care little for us unless we show we care for mankind. But what man earnestly desires and persistently wills and strives to accomplish through love will finally be attained. Love and goodness are all-powerful and will eventually conquer.

The first cause of all discontent, weariness, bitterness and vanity of life is selfishness. It is the corrosive element that rusts away all the pure gold of energy and aspiration. It is as amazing as sad that we burden ourselves with selfish strivings that are of no consequence, and miss the gladness and exhilaration of living. For no life is successful unless it is radiant with love and usefulness. Emerson says: "Life is an ecstasy and nothing else is really worth living. Happiness is not determined by a bank account or the flattering incense of praise, but is a mental and spiritual condition."

Ye who seek liberty know this; it can only be found in the liberty of your fellow men. Ye who seek happiness know this; ye can only find it in the happiness of others, and if you desire to be happy you must make others happy. This is G.o.d's eternal law of compensation--of altruism--love to others; what you do unto others you do unto yourself.

Look upon thy fellow man with wisdom and thou shalt have love. Feel for thy fellow man with love and thou shalt have wisdom, and, having wisdom and love, thou hast G.o.d and heaven in thy heart. These are the golden rules of the New Testament, written in the reason, conscience and experience of men, as G.o.d's living book of wisdom and truth.

Every action has its rebound or echo. Others will return your love or hate as the mountains return an echo, and by the same law. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The hate you send forth will return to you, the love you gave will come back to you, for it is an immortal part of you and a part of Omnipotent Deity.