THE KING’S BUSINESS
503
A n d h as G od gone because philosophy h as com e? D o H is'fo o tste p s ig n om in io u sly re tre a t w ith th e d aw n in g o f th e d ay ? T h en b e tte r give u s b ack th e n ig h t w ith its .th ro b b in g sta rs a n d th e b eam in g o f G od’s face th ro u g h th e d a rk n ess a n d th e w h isp ers of G od’s love. B u t G od is n o t gone.. H e is still a v ery p re se n t help in tro u b le. H is w o rd is all ab laze w ith ex ceed in g g re a t an d p recio u s p rom ises, a n d n o n e sh all find H is p rom ises fail. S u ch is th e teach in g of re v elatio n , an d th e h ig h est reaso n ever-, m o re com es Sbs.ck in to acco rd w ith th e S c rip tu ra l rev elatio n . E v e r an d an o n it looks, indeed, as if m an ’s reaso n w ere sw in g in g aw ay to th e fa rth e st e x tre m ity of o p p o sitio n to th e W o rd o f G od. B u t only w ait—-the fo u n d a tio n o f G od sta n d eth su re — an d w e h av e only to appeal from P h ilip d ru n k to P h ilip sab er— p o o r m an, in to x i cated w ith a little k n ow led g e, to m an g row n c le a r a n d calm by w id e r kn ow led g e an d p ro fo u n d e r th o u g h t. W ell h as th e poet w r itte n : “A little k n ow led g e is a d a n g ero u s th in g , D rin k deep o r ta ste n o t th e P ie ria n s p rin g ; F o r sh allow d ra u g h ts in to x ic ate th e b rain , W h ile d rin k in g d eep er so b ers u s again,” T h e little child, sta n d in g b en eath the h eav en ’s cope a n d lo o k in g up a t its celestial sp len d o rs, w ith eyes d ilated w ith la rg e w o n d e r c r ie s : B y an d by th e ch ild h as g ro w n to be a y o u n g collegian, fu ll o f u n d ig ested k n ow l edge, an d fu lle r still o f in su fferab le con ceit. H e k n ow s ab o u t th e stars. H e can c o n fo u n d you w ith h is learn ed disco u rse ab o u t G alileo, a n d K epler, an d G ran h ab er, an d th e S p ectrum . H e k n ow s it all. H e h as p lucked o u t th e h e a rt o f th e ste lla r m y steries. B u t by a n d by w h en h e is o ld er g ro w n ,and h as becom e a p h ilo so p h er w o rth y o f th e nam e, he com es back to th e S tartin g p o in t o f w o n d er, a n d aw e, a n d rev “T w in k le, tw in k le, little star, H o w I w o n d e r w h a t yo u a re U p above th e w o rld so high, L ik e a d iam o n d in th e sk y ”
erence, a n d co n scio u s ig n o ra n c e ; an d again, a s he sta n d s b en eath th e open h eav en s, I h e a r h im w h isp erin g as in ch ild h o o d ’s u n so p h isticated h o u rs,
“T w in k le, tw in k le, little star, H o w I w o n d er w h a t yo u a re .”
S o w e begin life w ith sim p le-h earted fa ith in p ray er. In o u r ch ild ish ig n o ran ce w e suppose th a t th e th in g to do is to go to G od as to a lo v in g an d A lm ig h ty F a th e r, an d th a t H e w ill g racio u sly h e a r us, a n d do fo r us p recisely th e th in g s th a t w e d esire. L ater, w h en w e h av e a tta in e d t o 'a sm a t te rin g o f philosophy, a n d h av e o b tain ed so m e-g lim p ses o f th e law s o f n a tu re , w e com e to th in k th a t even G od is h eld in leash an d th a t p ra y e r is a th in g o f no avail. B u t w hen w e h av e really lau n ch ed o u t in to th e depths, an d h av e com e to k n ow how lit tle w e know , a n d to realize som eth in g o f th e infinite m aje sty o f th a t aw fu l p re s ence w hich is in n a tu re , an d u n d e r n a tu re , an d o v er n a tu re— even th e p resen ce o f H im w h o is G od o v er all b lessed fo rev erm o re— th en w e re tu rn to c h ild h o o d ’s sim ple an d b eau tifu l faith , a n d feel th a t th e th in g to do is to go to H im in hum b le p ray er, an d sp read o u r w an ts b e fo re H im , an d ex p ect th a t H e w ill do fo r u s “ex ceed in g ab u n d an tly ,” a cco rd in g to th e g re atn ess o f th e w o rk s o f H is grace. JO Y O U S P R IV IL E G E . In conclusion, I b eg y o u r a tte n tio n to a few th o u g h ts re la tin g to Prayer as a Priv ilege. W e a re tire d o f h e arin g th e changes ru n g fo rev erm o re on duty. D u ty is all w ell enough in its w ay. I t is a so rt o f fly w heel, w ith a re se rv o ir o f p o w er in it to c a rry u s p a st th e d ead p o in ts w h en th e stim u lu s o f m o tio n fails u s ; b u t fo r all th a t it is a cold, h a rd , jo y less, loveless th in g . T h e re a re th in g s th a t o n ly a ste rn sense of d u ty w o u ld e v er p rom p t u s to do. T o re p ro v e th e fau lts o f a frien d is n o t a p leas a n t ta sk , a t least n o t fo r a noble an d sen si tiv e soul. T o p reach o f h ell is n o t a th in g to tak e d elig h t in, th o u g h th e re be som e w ho p reach as if it w ere. N o tru e m in iste r
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