RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 13 May 1944, Page 6

RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK

THE CAPTIVE SOUL A well-known advertisement, referring to a certain commercial product, declares "He won’t be happy till he gets it.” There is a good deal of worldly philosophy behind this remark. Most of us spend the greater part of our waking hours in seeking to acquire. And the world passes its judgment on those who have been successful in getting—wealth, or power, or popularity. It declares them to be successful. They have “got on.” They have achieved. They have made their mark. “But no,” says Jesus. It does not follow that in acquiring we have really achieved. “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” And when we enquire in the Gospel as to what n true life really means we are left without doubt that, according to Jesus’ way of looking at life, the important thing is not what you possess but what possesses you. Not what you can hold in your hands and say "This, all this, is mine”; but what has a strong hand on you, on your mind and will, so that you are captive to powers and ideals that dominate your life. From the Christian point of view, a man's kingdom consists not in what he has but in what he is. This runs so strongly in opposition to the accepted practical philosophy that it needs supporting from actual experience. In the passage from which Jesus’ words above are quoted He pictured a man who had been successful beyond his expectations, so much so that he was able to pat himself on the back, saying “thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take Ihirie ease; eat. drink, and be merry.” Selfcongratulation which may have satisfied the man—until God intervened: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” “Yes,” we say; “that does apply to a successful man who has clothed himself with a priceless garment de,signed and produced for this world but who has left himself devoid of the garment of Eternity.” He is clothed for Now, but naked for Eternity, and well deserves Jesus’ strictures. But does it not also apply to every man, rich or poor, famous or unknown? Is it not true that for every man the most important factor in his life is not what he holds but what holds him? Matthew Arnold has sonic lines which seem to apply here; when he speaks of the experience which can See all sights from pole to pole And glance, and nod, and bustle by; And never once possess our soul Before we die. There is a thrill in mastering, but it has a way of lading. There is also a thrill in being mastered, and if we are mastered by the right things the thrill becomes a permanent blessing. The youth who is captured by a vision, whether it be of truth or beauty or duty, knows a slavery in which lie discovers true freedom. The lover who is under thrall would not escape that thraldom if he could. This is the one form of tyranny we welcome with open arms. It is from this angle than men of gc*iius are apt to explain (so far as they can) their unusual achievements. They tell us that they are taken captive. It may be that Beauty holds them in its grip, or Melody, or Truth; and through that experience of being possessed they produce the picture, or the symphony, or the philosophy. Gainsborough is mastered by the lanes and trees he will afterwards depict; Turner by the unearthly beauty of the sunset; Beethoven by the sounds of river, field and forest. They are in bondage, and that very bondage sets them truly free. Mr F. S. Smythe, one of the most intrepid and successful of our mountaineers, tells in “The Spirit of the Hills,” something of the peculiar attraction I of the mountains for the climber. He knows that the pedestrian mind is apt to class mountaineering as foolish and foolhardy; but the climber knows that “the hills have a power for drawing out the best that is within us; on them we are given a full measure of a perfect happiness." What counts, finally, is not what you do to Mount Everest; it is what Mount Everest docs to you.

The apostle Paul scaled spiritual peak s of greater height and difficulty than any man of his generation. And of this superb spiritual adhievement he says two things, both of which illustrate the principle we are now expounding: "By the grace of God 1 am what I am.” “The love of Christ constraineth us.” Thd Christian religion, if we are to judge from those who have expressed it most fully, is a constraint. It i s something which grips you, as it gripped Saul on the road to Damascus; and Augustine in a garden in Milan; and a rich young man named Francis when he'sprang from his horse one day, gave all the money he ..ad with him to a poor leper, and kissed his hand; and countless others under many skies. The Christian man is the conquered man. He is conquered by Christ. There stand in direct antagonism two principles ol' life. The one was once expressed by the late Earl of Birkenhead when, in a Rectorial address at. Glasgow University, he said "The world continues to offer glittering prizes to those who have stout hearts and sharp swords.” The other was expressed by George Matheson in the hymn we sing: Make me a captive, Lord, And then I shall be free; Force me to render up my sword, And I shall conqueror be. I sink in life's alarms When by myself I stand; Imprison me within Thine arms And strong shall bo my hand. Earl Birkenhead’s “glittering prizes” tarnish, and finaly are seen to be as dull and worthless as the grave into which they sink. But the life possessed and dominated by the spirit of Christ has found a quality that will laugh at decay. It is the life Jesus described as “rich toward God.” —Dr. F. Townley Lord.