CHANGE AND DECAY—A Deep Spiritual Need

Northern Advocate, 11 July 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHANGE AND DECAY— A Deep Spiritual Need

The following opportune sermon is reported in “The Times”: ONE of the deepest needs of the spirit of man is for something fixed and steadfast, upon which he can base his mind, and which will assure him of tranquillity as he passes through this world to that which is beyond. This longing is expressed in the solemn words of the Burial Service in the Book of Common Prayer; “Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery. He fleeth as it were a shadow and never continueth in one stay.” So man’s heart is troubled and he looks around for some relief from the disturbing sense that nothing stands firm. On what shall he rest?

Many think to find permanence in human love; in the passionate giving of themselves to some adored person, whose love shall make a sure foundation and shall give peace of mind with satisfaction. But the more satisfying such a friendship—such a marriage—may be, the more desolating is the grief when the end comes, unless there be some consolation beyond it. Others, hope to gain fulfilment in ambition. The making of a career is by no means so base as it is sometimes considered to be. But even if for a time—a long time —this “last infirmity of noble mind” be attained, he who has gained it is apt quickly to .grow tired of the eminence he has reached by so much trouble. Or he may have to retire just when he is beginning to feel sure of his ground and when other activities are beyond his compass. It is too late for him to start again on fresh lines.

Music, painting, mechanism, these and many other good things satisfy for a time the desires of noble spirits. The mind attains just proportion, a happy balance; there are fresh achievements always beyond those which have been gained.. But these, too, are incomplete; they are enjoyed and they pass. Even the loveliness of the world which was before we were born, and 'will be when we are gone, is.not enough for us. To many sensitive souls this is the surest of all places of rest. But there is another side to Nature; the haunting sense of pain, of mystery, : of incompleteness which makes it impossible for clear thinkers to find lasting certainty there. The beauty may indeed lead to God, Who reveals Himself in the abiding glory of it all. Yet some have found here a disillusionment more painful than elsewhere. Many are tacitly content, with the contingent and passing show. Day af-

The Sabbath Hour

ter day, morning and evening, work and recreation and sport; that seems to be all they need, together with family life and some few friendships. Such a way of living does appear to bring about some kind of equilibrium; but it is at the cost of ignoring most of the higher faculties possessed by humanity.

And then we turn to the eternity of God. The Bible is full of the idea of His changlessness. “Lord, thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another; before the mountains were brought forth or ever the earth and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting and world without end.” So says the Psalmist. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews has fortified innumerable fainting hearts by proclaiming that Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and for ever.” St. James, too, says that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom

is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” Here at last is the fulfilment of man’s longing for something which stands firm. It is no pretty theory that in God alone men and women find rest in their souls; it is a plain fact of everyday life. This mourner, bereaved of the one upon whom almost all was centred, finds consolar tion. That man of affairs whose right ambition has been thwarted when success was within his grasp is resigned to God’s will. The sensitive spirit who has looked for rest in art or Nature and has found change and decay in all around has reached a safe abiding place in the everlastingness of God.

These have found many persons, things, and ideas good and beautiful, and have themselves given generously in return. But none of these has been enough. Now they have learned, amidst the changes and chances of this fleeting world, to repose' upon God’s eternal changelessness. Among the sundry and manifold changes of the world their hearts are surely set where true joys are to be found.