begin now...

Greetings from South Dakota.  My children and I arrived yesterday for a stay of nine days or so.  As always, it is a blessing to be home.  On the plane rides yesterday, I started reading the "Memoirs of Rufus Ellis" who has made several appearances in this space. The next few days will feature Rev. Ellis. Today, however, I post James Freeman Clarke's "Message of Faith Hope and Love" for July 20th.  As always, his mixture of practical common sense and true piety have deep appeal...

"LET us hold to all that we are able to see of spiritual realities, and so learn to believe and know more. If we cannot believe in the whole Bible, let us believe in a part of it. If we cannot believe in the miracles of Christ, let us believe in his goodness. If the sayings of Paul are dark, let us read the Sermon on the Mount and the parable of the Good Samaritan. If we cannot accept Christianity as a supernatural religion, let us hold fast to it as the best of all natural religions. If we cannot resist and conquer all the temptations that beset us, let us resist and deny all that we can. Begin now, begin to-day, with the determination to do all you can, to have all the faith and hope and love you can, and trust that your heavenly Father will give you help and power and strength to conquer at last all evil, and to gain all good. This is only common sense applied to religion. If I wish to climb Mount Shasta or the peak of Chimborazo, I do not satisfy myself by looking up, and saying, "What an inaccessible summit! " but I go up the mountain, step by step. So let us begin the long but grand ascent which leads to the love of God and love of man."


Blessings
(photo:  Mt. Shasta)