-
Articles/Ads
Article ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. Page 1 of 3 Article ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
St. John The Baptist.
ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST .
An Address by Iiev . James Byron Murray , Grana Chaplain , before the Grand Royal Arch Chapter oj New York , 4 th February JSP J . ( Continued from page 91 . ) Saint John ' s conrse was marked by the courage oi
principle . What went ye out in the wilderness to see r A reed shaken by the wind ? " The prophet was no reed , fragile , unstable , moved by any and every force , however slight . A reed is a hollow thing . It is swayed by every breeze that blows . Its fruitfnlness is only the fruitage of
the leaf . It changes in looks as the weather changes . It is the emblem of inconsistency and weakness . Such an emblem could not shadow ont the greatness of a character like Saint John ' s . His life was strong , his life was noble , his life was intense ; it could not be swayed this way and
? hat by the breath or public opinion or popular applause . The message he came to deliver , the mission ho came to discharge , needed a man dowered with all the royalties of manhood . Ho was a witness for divine law , for morality , not outward in its effects , but inward , sacred ancl sniritnnl
The dignity of his calling forbade him to bo one thing to the great in station or authority and another thing to the weak or humble . In all things , by the unearthly nature of his work , ho was consistent , harmonious witb the spirit of his life and the majestic ideal of his commission . The
oak of the forest , not the reed in the morass , was the true emblem of such a man . Nofc to denounce tho soldiers of the empire as the destroyers of the liberty of tho chosen nation , and call into seething flamo the passions of a subjugated people only , and excuse the self-indulgenco of ono
class , and praise the selt-ri ghteousness of another , wan the work ho came out from the desert to perform . It was a higher work than that ; it was to proclaim mercy and justice , the very bonds of national life ; to cause the soldier
of Romo to givo up his violence , the tax gatherer his injustice , tho formal believer to pass into a more spiritual life , tho unbeliever to a faith in God , and to stir and quicken the conscience until mon came back to tho strength and purity of manhood .
Courage , bravery , the activity of principle , were needed for a courso like his . He had the chivalry that grows out of and is fashioned out of a faith in the right and just . It is a more august thing than force . It is a grander thing than courage . Danger , suffering , opposition , bring no fear into
a life rooted and grounded on such a principle . Difficulty is only inspiration , a stimulus to energy , and leaves no empty spaces of work undone , of battles unfought , of surrender to the enemy , however strong and disci plined his hosts may be . Face to face , liaud to hand in all toil
and conflict , is the supreme law of such a being . The man in tho fullness of his manhood is always in his mission , carrying it onward in the integrity and the unfaltering devotion which mark himself . His followers deserted him , but ho stood firmly in the strength of the Lord , whose
charge be was fulfilling . He spoke his message to man , though the axe of the headsman glittered above him and its brightness promised death . Where mere personal bravery might waver and fall back , John , clad in tbe heroism of principle , was transformed into more than
soldierly courage . It is this which conquers , whether its possessor falls in the morning of the conflict or brings ont from the heaps of the slain the flag which symbolized his righteous principle , rent and torn , but bearing on its folds marks of imperishable victory . Truth to be fruitful
must so pervade the life that every act is the manifestation of principle , and , consciously or unconsciously , a more than soldierly heroism . And the prophet had ri ghteous principle
so sot mtae very centre of his being , like a diamond clear in its shining , that it cast a light on his path whichever way he turned . He was the living embodiment of imperial Shakespeare ' s words :
" Tin ' s above all . To thine own self be trne . " Distinctive among the moral features of the prophet ' s character were reverence and faith . And these things , so manifest in his life , are needed no less to-day than they
wero m the decaying morality ot his own age . They are features as beautiful in man as in the world he sees and touches , and which obeys its Creator as if it were a living thing . They have in them the essence of fire , the energy of will that overcomes . The age needs them ; for man in
his social and personal relations has wandered largely into
St. John The Baptist.
irreverence and doubt , and that unstedfastness of principle which has strewn the wayside with disaster and wrecks of morality . The people and tho individual are fullest of power , of the energy which triumphs , of the greatness
which excels , when law , divine law , the supremo authority of God , are hold sacred , and they themselves pass out as from the holy place , tho brow luminous with the presence before which they stood , and the conscience responsive to what has been revealed .
Nothing so marks the upway and advance of the person and tbo nation as loyalty to the ideals of justice and law , and nothing so marks their downway and degeneracy as the decay of fealty to the ideals on which the nation was shaped . Reverence and faith move side by side to hold
up the hands of the worker and give abidingness to his endeavours . They are not passing lights but enduring helps . The comet which streams across the heavens with vaporous air and flames the night into lustre may delight the vision , but works no special end . Tho steady shining
of the sun , pouring down its rays on all times , transforms the earth into worlds of fruits and flowers and contributes to life itself . The work which remains , tho labour which lasts , are wrought out by faith and reverence , and assert themselves as distinctly as a temple or cathedral to
influence and educate the ages . Not attractive , perhaps , at first , like the flamo point of tho comet , but strong , stedfast as the sun , they come into view at last as manifestations of nower . Restiner in faith , inspired by reverence , thoy
throw themselves up in tho passing of years , ' into heights , as the unseen rock pushes itself into peaks and mountains , and bastions with strength or greatness tho plains nnd valleys which rest beneath them .
Saint John was a voice : " I am tho voico of ono crying in the wilderness . " But a voico is an achieving power . Voice utters words , and words aro the treasure-house of thought , tho visible structure of the mind . Thoy shadow out and cfive in seen form tho noble , the groat , tho
overlasting . They represent ideas , thoy formulate principle , they spread light , tbey generate heat , and are the makers of companions . In their highest use , of which vyo now speak , they are roadways and avenues of friendships and communication with tho best and truest and what is
divinest in men . Words are marvellous instruments to picture the mental image . The mind gives to them its own inner flame , and fuses them with the lig ht that burns as behind the veil of tho Temple and transfigures them with
spiritual meaning . They type all tho feeling , all the riches , all the yearnings for expression which are enshrined in that marvellous sanctuary , tho human heart . They are the outward embodiment of the inner man .
The vast changes which have been wrought in the material world ; the forms whioh have been called from tho clay and iron , from the tree and stone , into uso or ornament by the worker and artist are wondrous and worthy of all consideration . But these changes are , after
all , only the product of human reasonings . The libraries that hold the creations of mind , these noblest writings of the intellect , these visible shapes of the human faculties , are more wondrous still . They are the magnificent issues of spirit and conscience ; not the likeness only of material
beauty , bnt principles of life set forth in words , spoken ont , written out to attest the dignity of thonght and the splendour of human intelligence . Saint John ' s voice was the uttering of truth incarnate in visible form . It was therefore a conquering voice , for
truth spoken by lips consecrated to speak it , is everlasting in its power . Such a voice passes in its sound into all ages , by a law as irresistible as the march of the electric
forces of the heavens . The voice of the prophet winch rang out in the wilderness was the proclamation of a better life for man , the triumphal song of moral and spiritual freedom . Voice then is commanding . Voice is power .
Voice is immortal . The prophet ' s life was a life so marked in character that it stands ont in special prominence among the noble army of martyr heroes . It was not the work he had to perform ,
not the ministry of righteousness which was given into ins bands ; it was not the herald call to turn men from evil to the good , but the one prolonged sacrifice which made him an offering for others . This passed out beyond all thought tne
of self ; it bore him on in its full flood-tide to ena . That earnestness of principle , that splendid sense of doty , that majestic bravery , that loyalty to tho ideal of life , that intense yearning for man ' s moral welfare set his being and purpose into the whito flame of a pure passion ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
St. John The Baptist.
ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST .
An Address by Iiev . James Byron Murray , Grana Chaplain , before the Grand Royal Arch Chapter oj New York , 4 th February JSP J . ( Continued from page 91 . ) Saint John ' s conrse was marked by the courage oi
principle . What went ye out in the wilderness to see r A reed shaken by the wind ? " The prophet was no reed , fragile , unstable , moved by any and every force , however slight . A reed is a hollow thing . It is swayed by every breeze that blows . Its fruitfnlness is only the fruitage of
the leaf . It changes in looks as the weather changes . It is the emblem of inconsistency and weakness . Such an emblem could not shadow ont the greatness of a character like Saint John ' s . His life was strong , his life was noble , his life was intense ; it could not be swayed this way and
? hat by the breath or public opinion or popular applause . The message he came to deliver , the mission ho came to discharge , needed a man dowered with all the royalties of manhood . Ho was a witness for divine law , for morality , not outward in its effects , but inward , sacred ancl sniritnnl
The dignity of his calling forbade him to bo one thing to the great in station or authority and another thing to the weak or humble . In all things , by the unearthly nature of his work , ho was consistent , harmonious witb the spirit of his life and the majestic ideal of his commission . The
oak of the forest , not the reed in the morass , was the true emblem of such a man . Nofc to denounce tho soldiers of the empire as the destroyers of the liberty of tho chosen nation , and call into seething flamo the passions of a subjugated people only , and excuse the self-indulgenco of ono
class , and praise the selt-ri ghteousness of another , wan the work ho came out from the desert to perform . It was a higher work than that ; it was to proclaim mercy and justice , the very bonds of national life ; to cause the soldier
of Romo to givo up his violence , the tax gatherer his injustice , tho formal believer to pass into a more spiritual life , tho unbeliever to a faith in God , and to stir and quicken the conscience until mon came back to tho strength and purity of manhood .
Courage , bravery , the activity of principle , were needed for a courso like his . He had the chivalry that grows out of and is fashioned out of a faith in the right and just . It is a more august thing than force . It is a grander thing than courage . Danger , suffering , opposition , bring no fear into
a life rooted and grounded on such a principle . Difficulty is only inspiration , a stimulus to energy , and leaves no empty spaces of work undone , of battles unfought , of surrender to the enemy , however strong and disci plined his hosts may be . Face to face , liaud to hand in all toil
and conflict , is the supreme law of such a being . The man in tho fullness of his manhood is always in his mission , carrying it onward in the integrity and the unfaltering devotion which mark himself . His followers deserted him , but ho stood firmly in the strength of the Lord , whose
charge be was fulfilling . He spoke his message to man , though the axe of the headsman glittered above him and its brightness promised death . Where mere personal bravery might waver and fall back , John , clad in tbe heroism of principle , was transformed into more than
soldierly courage . It is this which conquers , whether its possessor falls in the morning of the conflict or brings ont from the heaps of the slain the flag which symbolized his righteous principle , rent and torn , but bearing on its folds marks of imperishable victory . Truth to be fruitful
must so pervade the life that every act is the manifestation of principle , and , consciously or unconsciously , a more than soldierly heroism . And the prophet had ri ghteous principle
so sot mtae very centre of his being , like a diamond clear in its shining , that it cast a light on his path whichever way he turned . He was the living embodiment of imperial Shakespeare ' s words :
" Tin ' s above all . To thine own self be trne . " Distinctive among the moral features of the prophet ' s character were reverence and faith . And these things , so manifest in his life , are needed no less to-day than they
wero m the decaying morality ot his own age . They are features as beautiful in man as in the world he sees and touches , and which obeys its Creator as if it were a living thing . They have in them the essence of fire , the energy of will that overcomes . The age needs them ; for man in
his social and personal relations has wandered largely into
St. John The Baptist.
irreverence and doubt , and that unstedfastness of principle which has strewn the wayside with disaster and wrecks of morality . The people and tho individual are fullest of power , of the energy which triumphs , of the greatness
which excels , when law , divine law , the supremo authority of God , are hold sacred , and they themselves pass out as from the holy place , tho brow luminous with the presence before which they stood , and the conscience responsive to what has been revealed .
Nothing so marks the upway and advance of the person and tbo nation as loyalty to the ideals of justice and law , and nothing so marks their downway and degeneracy as the decay of fealty to the ideals on which the nation was shaped . Reverence and faith move side by side to hold
up the hands of the worker and give abidingness to his endeavours . They are not passing lights but enduring helps . The comet which streams across the heavens with vaporous air and flames the night into lustre may delight the vision , but works no special end . Tho steady shining
of the sun , pouring down its rays on all times , transforms the earth into worlds of fruits and flowers and contributes to life itself . The work which remains , tho labour which lasts , are wrought out by faith and reverence , and assert themselves as distinctly as a temple or cathedral to
influence and educate the ages . Not attractive , perhaps , at first , like the flamo point of tho comet , but strong , stedfast as the sun , they come into view at last as manifestations of nower . Restiner in faith , inspired by reverence , thoy
throw themselves up in tho passing of years , ' into heights , as the unseen rock pushes itself into peaks and mountains , and bastions with strength or greatness tho plains nnd valleys which rest beneath them .
Saint John was a voice : " I am tho voico of ono crying in the wilderness . " But a voico is an achieving power . Voice utters words , and words aro the treasure-house of thought , tho visible structure of the mind . Thoy shadow out and cfive in seen form tho noble , the groat , tho
overlasting . They represent ideas , thoy formulate principle , they spread light , tbey generate heat , and are the makers of companions . In their highest use , of which vyo now speak , they are roadways and avenues of friendships and communication with tho best and truest and what is
divinest in men . Words are marvellous instruments to picture the mental image . The mind gives to them its own inner flame , and fuses them with the lig ht that burns as behind the veil of tho Temple and transfigures them with
spiritual meaning . They type all tho feeling , all the riches , all the yearnings for expression which are enshrined in that marvellous sanctuary , tho human heart . They are the outward embodiment of the inner man .
The vast changes which have been wrought in the material world ; the forms whioh have been called from tho clay and iron , from the tree and stone , into uso or ornament by the worker and artist are wondrous and worthy of all consideration . But these changes are , after
all , only the product of human reasonings . The libraries that hold the creations of mind , these noblest writings of the intellect , these visible shapes of the human faculties , are more wondrous still . They are the magnificent issues of spirit and conscience ; not the likeness only of material
beauty , bnt principles of life set forth in words , spoken ont , written out to attest the dignity of thonght and the splendour of human intelligence . Saint John ' s voice was the uttering of truth incarnate in visible form . It was therefore a conquering voice , for
truth spoken by lips consecrated to speak it , is everlasting in its power . Such a voice passes in its sound into all ages , by a law as irresistible as the march of the electric
forces of the heavens . The voice of the prophet winch rang out in the wilderness was the proclamation of a better life for man , the triumphal song of moral and spiritual freedom . Voice then is commanding . Voice is power .
Voice is immortal . The prophet ' s life was a life so marked in character that it stands ont in special prominence among the noble army of martyr heroes . It was not the work he had to perform ,
not the ministry of righteousness which was given into ins bands ; it was not the herald call to turn men from evil to the good , but the one prolonged sacrifice which made him an offering for others . This passed out beyond all thought tne
of self ; it bore him on in its full flood-tide to ena . That earnestness of principle , that splendid sense of doty , that majestic bravery , that loyalty to tho ideal of life , that intense yearning for man ' s moral welfare set his being and purpose into the whito flame of a pure passion ,