destined to wisdom and virtue...

William Ellery Channing spoke yesterday of why we can trust in God and today he tells what we may trust for.  His passionate call for living an eternal kind of life right now is something to think deeply about...trust me.  His sermon "Trust in the Living God" continued:

"II.—Thus are we led to the second question that I proposed to consider: What is the Good for which, as Individual Persons, we may trust in God ?...I reply, that we may trust unhesitatingly, and without a moment's wavering, that God desires the Perfection of our Nature, and that He will always afford such ways and means to this great End, as to His Omniscience seem most in harmony with man's moral freedom. There is but one True Good for a spiritual being, and this is found in its Perfection...

Such I say is the Good for which we may confide in God, the only Good for which we are authorized to trust in Him. The Perfection of our Nature—God promises nothing else or less. We cannot confide in Him for prosperity, do what we will for success; for often He disappoints the most strenuous labours, and suddenly prostrates the proudest power. We cannot confide in Him for health, friends, honour, outward repose. Not a single worldly blessing is pledged to us. And this is well. God's outward gifts—mere shadows as they are of Happiness— soon pass away; and their transitoriness reveals, by contrast, the only True Good. Reason and conscience, if we will but hear their voice, assure us that all outward elevation, separate from inward nobleness, is a vain show; that the most prosperous career, without growing health of soul, is but a prolonged disease, a fitful fever of desire and passion, and rather death than life; that there is no stability of power, no steadfast peace, but in immovable principles of right; that there is no true royalty but in the rule of our own spirits; no real freedom but in unbounded disinterested love ; and no fulness of joy but in being alive to that Infinite Presence, Majesty, Goodness, in which we live and move and have our being...


This Good of Perfection, if we will seek it, is as Sure as God's own Being. Here I fix my Confidence. When I look round me, I see nothing to trust in. On all sides are the surges of a restless ocean, and everywhere the traces of decay. But amidst this world of fugitive existence, abides One Immortal Nature. It is the Human Soul—your soul —my soul—the soul of every human being. Entirely I trust that this is Immortal, because allied by god-like powers to the Father. This Soul He created, as I believe, to become a glorious Image of Himself—to contend with and overcome all evil, to seek and receive evermore all good, to obey the eternal Law of Bight, to which God's own Will conforms. In God I trust for this Infinite Good. I know no other Good for which to trust Him. Take away this, and I have nothing, you have nothing, worth living for. Henceforth our existence is without an End; and the Universe itself seems to be but a waste of power.

Human nature is indeed at present in a very imperfect stage of its development. But I do not therefore distrust that Perfection is its End. For an end, from its very nature, is something to be attained through inferior degrees. We cannot begin with the end. We cannot argue that a being is not destined for a good, because ho does not instantly reach it. We begin as children, and yet are created for maturity. So we begin life imperfect in our intellectual and moral powers, and yet are destined to wisdom and virtue.

What a sublime doctrine it is, that Goodness cherished now is Eternal Life already entered on!... These assurances of Trust are no dreams. They are sublime truths, manifested in our Nature, written in God's Word, shining out in the character of the Beloved Son. No! They are not dreams. To each and all of us they may become glorious Realities. This is not a Confidence to be cherished by a select few. Each and all of us are invited to cherish such a Trust, and authorized by Our Father to regard this unutterable good as the End of our being!"

Blessings

A Wonderful Epoch...

I have started a new blog to celebrate the lives of Margaret Fuller and James Freeman Clarke as we prepare for the bicentennial of their births.  It can be found here.

   They had a truly amazing friendship and I hope all will find the blog of interest!  Many blessings

the elements of angelic glory and happiness...

When all else fails, sometimes all that remains is trust.  William Ellery Channing on religious trust from his sermon, "Trust in the Living God"

"RELIGIOUS Trust is the subject of the present discourse. I shall consider first its Principle, and secondly the Good which it is authorized to propose as an End. And my aim will be to quicken this germ of Divine Life in every soul....Trust—Confidence—is an essential element of human nature...We were born for confidence in other beings; and woe to him that cannot trust! Still confidence brings with it suffering; for all are imperfect and too many are false. There are none who do not sometimes disappoint us.
 
I.—In answering the first of these questions, I would observe, that Religious Confidence rests on God's Parental Interest in Individual Peesons. To apprehend and believe this truth, is to plant the germ of Trust in God. This truth is not easily brought home to the heart, as a reality...
 
... every individual mind is essentially greater than it shows itself to be. No mind brings itself fully out in expression or action. On the contrary, what it says and does is but giving a sign of its inward power... Under new excitements every mind puts forth new faculties, not only undreamed of by others, but unknown to itself.

Now if this is true of each human mind, how can we believe that it is less true of the Divine Mind ? Who, that beholds this immense Universe, can imagine that the Intelligence, which gave it birth, is spent, and that nothing is to be looked for from it, but effects precisely similar to those which we now see?

There is a wonderful passion, if I may so speak, in human nature for the Immutable and Unchangeable, that gives no slight indication of its own Immortality. Surrounded with constantly varying forms, the mind is always labouring to find, behind these transitory types, a fixed Beauty, upon which it can rely. Amidst the incessant changes of Nature, it longs to discover some settled Law, to which all movements are subject, and which can never change. Indeed the great work of science is amidst mutation to find this immutable, universal, and invariable Law. And what deep joy fills the mind of the philosopher, when, throughout apparently inextricable confusion, he can trace some great Principle, that governs all events, and that they all show forth ? Man loves the Universal, the Unchangeable, the Unitary. He meets bounds on every side; but these provoke, as it were, an inward energy, by which he scales and overleaps them. His physical frame fills but a few feet of space; and yet in thought he reaches forth to grasp and measure Immensity. He lives in moments, in mere wavelets of time; and yet he looks backwards and forwards into Eternity. Thus the very narrowness of his existence excites in him a thought of boundless and endless life...
 
It is not then to be inferred, from what we see, that God does not take an interest in the Individual, and that He may not be trusted as designing great good for each particular Person. In every human mind He sees powers kindred to His own—the elements of angelic glory and happiness. These bind the Heavenly Father's love indissolubly to every Single Soul. And these divine elements authorize a Trust utterly unlike that which springs from superficial views of man's transitory existence."
 
Blessings

a brighter perception...

If, as William Ellery Channing would have us believe, we are all known by God and are parts of his great unity, why do we often feel so disconnected?  How can we feel that intimate connection?  This is WEC's subject in the second part of his sermon, "The Father's Love for Persons..."  (note: if you are just checking in with this blog, this post is part of an Advent series all of which can be seen by clicking on the label The Perfect Life)

"II.—Thus having seen how consistent is the doctrine of God's care for the whole with the doctrine that He watches minutely over every Individual, let me now ask you to look at this doctrine more closely, in its practical applications. Consider what affecting ideas it involves! According to this truth, we are, each one of us, present to the mind of God. We are penetrated, each one of us, instant by instant, by His all-seeing eye; we are known, every single person of us, more interiorly by Him, than we are known to ourselves...

My hearers, I have thus turned your attention to this sublimely affecting subject of our vital connexion with God, not for the purpose of wakening temporary fervour, but that we may feel the urgent duty of cherishing these convictions. If this truth becomes a reality to us, we shall be conscious of having received a New Principle Of Life...

III.—How then can we attain to an abiding consciousness of living relationship with the Living God ? How can we reach the constant feeling that He is always with us, offering every aid consistent with our freedom, guiding us on to heavenly happiness, welcoming us into the immediate knowledge of His perfection, into a loving fellowship with Himself? Some one may say : "I am conscious of having thus far lived very much as if there were no God. My mind is dull, my heart is cold. How shall I awake to perceive, to feel, to love, to serve, to enjoy this Living God of whom you speak ? " There is time for but a brief reply; and I shall confine myself to what seems to be essential, as the first step, in this approach to true Communion with the Father of Spirits...

My belief is, that one chief means of acquiring a vivid sense of God's Presence is to resist, instantly and resolutely, whatever we feel to be evil in our hearts and lives, and at once to begin in earnest to obey the Divine Will as it speaks in conscience. You say that you desire a new and nearer knowledge of your Creator. Let this thirst for a higher consciousness of the Infinite Being lead you to oppose whatever you feel to be at war with God's Purity, God's Truth, and God's Righteousness. Just in proportion as you gain a victory over the evil of which you have become aware in yourself, will your spiritual eye be purged for a brighter perception of the Holy One...

For God, as the All-Good, can be known only through our own growing goodness. No man living in deliberate violation of his duty, in wilful disobedience to God's commands as taught by conscience, can possibly make progress in acquaintance with the Supreme Being. Vain are all acts of worship in church or in secret, vain are religious reading and conversation, without this instant fidelity. Unless you are willing to withstand the desire which the inward monitor, enlightened as it always is by this Divine Spirit, condemns, you must, you will, remain a stranger to your Heavenly Father. Evil passions and sensual impulses darken the intellect and sear the heart. Especially important is it—indispensable indeed—that self-indulgence and self-will shall be determinedly withstood. While these enthrall us, never can we comprehend the true glory of God. For His glory is Perfect Love. If we would have our souls become the temples of the Supreme Being, filled with His light and joy and peace, we must utterly cast out the foul spirits which are at enmity with the Divine purity and disinterestedness...


Would you really know your Creator, would you become truly penetrated with the consciousness of His Presence, would you become indeed alive to His Goodness, then show your sincerity by beginning at once an unflagging warfare with that habit, that passion, that affection, be it what it may, which conscience this moment assures you is hostile to God's Will. You need not go far to learn how you may gain more vivid views of God. The sin that now rises to memory as your bosom sin, let this first of all be withstood and mastered....

My friends, in this discourse I have spoken to you of the great Truth, that the Infinite God is for ever around and within each one of you; that our Heavenly Father is interested personally in each one of you; that the Author of the Universe is as near to you as your very life; that the Giver of all good is incessantly doing you good. By comprehending this Truth you can gain the means of a happiness, such as the whole world cannot give, and which no change in existence can take away : incorporate it with character. Let it call forth your love and trust in their intensest energy. And you will have found a resource, refuge, treasure, a fount of strength, courage, hope, and joy truly inexhaustible...Let the Living God be supreme in your thoughts and hearts, as He is supreme in the universe. Consecrate to Him unreservedly the Spirits which He called into being, that He might make them perfectly one with Himself."
 
Blessings

the perfection of wisdom...

From the Universal Father to the father of  the individual...William Ellery Channing's vision continues this morning with an early take on the "interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."  The first part of his sermon:

"THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR PERSONS.

Luke xii. 7 : " Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

"HOW ought we to live with our Creator—as strangers or as children?  How are we to worship Him—as a distant being or as near to us ? What is His relation to us—that of a remote Sovereign, who takes no immediate and special care of individuals, or that of a Parent, who, whilst provident of his whole family, watches over every particular child ?

These are great questions, and happily our Religion answers them full... as Christians we are assured that God in His government of the whole does not forget the parts, that He is the Father of each, as well as of All intelligent beings.

It is the Perfection of Wisdom—the distinction of an All-comprehensive Mind—to embrace at once the concerns of a vast community of beings and the interest of every single member, to conjoin the enlarged views of a Universal Sovereign with the minute inspection and tender care of a Father. And such is our God. He is the God of All, and yet He is my God.
 
 I...there is no inconsistency in at once believing in God's Particular Providence and in His Universal Providence. He may watch over All, and yet watch over Each, as if Each were All. There is a simple truth, which may help us to understand, that God does not intermit His attention to Individuals in consequence of His inspection of the Infinite Whole. It is this. The individual is a living part of this living whole,—vitally connected with it, —acting upon it and reacted upon by it,—receiving good, and communicating good in return, in proportion to his growth and power. From this constitution of the Universe it follows, that the whole is preserved and perfected by the care of its parts. The General good is bound up in the Individual good....
 
I ought not then to imagine that God's interest in me is diminished, because His interest is extended to endless hosts of Spirits. On the contrary, God must be more interested in me on this very account, because I influence others as well as myself. I am a living member of the great Family of All Souls; and I cannot improve or suffer myself, without diffusing good or evil around me through an ever-enlarging sphere. My hearer, you are not to think of yourself as neglected, because God has an innumerable company of children to care for. One of the methods, by which He cares for these various children, is to make provision for your progress. The interests of others, as well as your own interests, require that the Universal Father should watch over your progress. For just so far as you are wise, disinterested, and happy, you will become a universal blessing....
 
We may well believe that so close and vital are the connexions throughout God's Universe—between this world of ours and other worlds—that the Human Race is benefited by the progress of all other Orders of Beings. So that the Creator is providing for your happiness and virtue, in the care which he extends over the diverse systems of worlds around, and over the higher ranks of Spirits in the Heavens. This happiness we may, indeed we do, lose by vice—by a spirit of self-love—hostile alike to the Creator and to his creatures. But this will be our self-imposed doom. Such isolation will not come from neglect on the part of our Heavenly Father. For He designs to make us all blessed beings together, in a blessed universe."
 
Blessings

heralds of this Better Day...

On this Sabbath Morning (we have our first snow today) William Ellery Channing applies the doctrine of the Universal Father (see yesterday's post) to the present day.  How well do we really do in bringing on "this better day?" I for one have some work to do...

"III.—Having briefly considered these plain but decisive proofs of God's Impartial and Universal Love, I proceed to make an application of this Principle to ourselves. We do not need the doctrine for the particular purpose for which Paul used it. But other distinctions between men remain, distinctions of outward rank and condition, of nation and colour, of character and culture, on the ground of which men separate themselves from one another. What a strangeness, coldness, reserve, and hardness of heart, what self-exaltation and exclusiveness, grow out of trifling differences, which are designed by God to create mutual dependence, and to bind us more closely to one another! Time will permit me to dwell upon two only of these illustrations now.

1. Let me first ask, is God the Father of the rich only ? Is He hot also The Father of the poor? How incredibly we exaggerate the distinctions of outward condition. The prosperous are prone to feel as if they are of a different race from the destitute. But to the Possessor of Heaven and Earth, to whom the treasures of all worlds belong, how petty must be the highest magnificence and affluence ! Does the Infinite Spirit select as His special abode the palace with its splendid saloons, rich tapestries, loaded tables, and blazing lamps ? Does He fly from the hut with its rugged walls and earthen floor, its cry of half famished childhood, its wearing cares, and ill-requited toil? On the contrary, if God has a chosen spot on earth, is it not the humble dwelling of patient, unrepining, trustful, virtuous poverty ?

2. Once more I ask, is God the.God of the good only, or is He not also the God of the wicked ?  God indeed looks, we may believe, with peculiar approval on the holy, upright, and disinterested. But He does not desire spiritual perfection and eternal happiness for them more than He does for the most depraved. The Scriptures even seem to represent God as peculiarly interested in the evil. Jesus illustrates God's love to the fallen by the parable of the shepherd, who, having a hundred sheep and losing one, leaves the ninety and nine to go after that which is lost, and he adds: " There is more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety-nine just persons that need no repentance." The good do not and ought not to absorb God's love. For the evil have within them equal capacities of goodness. In all men lies, however hidden, an infinitely precious germ of love and holiness waiting to be quickened. And to the all-seeing eye this is never lost. It calls forth unutterable love. Yes! God loves the most evil. We in our conceited purity may withdraw from them, may think it pollution to touch them, may say: " Stand off." But God says to His outcast child : " Come near."...

This spirit of Universal Humanity is the very soul of our religion. As yet its heavenly power is scarcely felt. Therefore it is that so few of the blessings of Christianity appear in Christendom. Alas, we lack humanity. We talk of it, we profess it, but we contradict its essential principles in character and in life. We rear partition walls of distinction between ourselves and fellow-beings. We exaggerate petty differences...Until men's eyes shall be purged to discern in one another, even in the most degraded and fallen, a ray of the Divinity, a reflection of God's image, a moral and a spiritual nature within which God works, and to which he proffers heavenly grace and immortal life; until they shall thus recognize and reverence the Eternal Father in all His human Children, the true bond of Communion will be wanting between man and man, and between man and God. Till then, under all forms of law and courtesy, will lurk distrust and discord, infusing pride, jealousy, and hate into the individual heart, into domestic life, into the intercourse of neighbourhoods, into the policy of nations, and turning this fair earth into the likeness of hell. But a Better Day is coming. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. A purer Christianity, however slowly, is to take the place of that which bears but its name. Cannot we become the heralds of this Better Day ? Let our hearts bid it welcome ! Let our lives reveal its beauty and its power."

Blessings

impartial and universal love...

"The Perfect Life," a series of sermons by William Ellery Channing, continues with "The Universal Father."  The central message of the Apostle Paul, so often caricatured and twisted, is revived...

"THE writings of the Apostle Paul have met with a singular fate. They were intended to reveal the Father's universal and impartial love ; and they have been used to represent Him as an exclusive and arbitrary Sovereign. They were designed to open the Kingdom of God to all men; and they have been so distorted as to shut it on the many and confine it to the few. They breathe the most liberal spirit; and yet from them have been drawn the main arguments for intolerant bigotry. Nothing stranger ever happened in the history of human thought...From the history of Paul's Epistles, we learn how fatal it is to substitute the letter for the spirit of Divine Revelation, and how dangerous it is to read the Scriptures, without carrying into their interpretation our Reason, and the light of Conscience...

The great design of Paul's Epistles was to vindicate the spiritual right of the Human Race...to manifest God as the Father of all... " to gather together in One" the whole Human Family under Jesus Christ, to break down all divisions between nations and classes, and to unite men of every kindred and condition in one Spiritual Worship of the Universal Father. Take with you this great truth, and you have the key to Paul's writings. Without it, the rich treasures of that noble teacher will be a sealed book...

We read scripture to little profit, if in passages relating to local or temporary events, we do not discover Universal Truths, equally applicable to all places and times. The language of the text admits of a spiritual translation. It contains an immutable truth for all ages. This truth is that God loves equally all human beings, of all ranks, nations, conditions and characters ; that the Father has no favourites and makes no selections; that, in His very being,.He is Impartial and Universal Love. This is the fundamental Truth of the Christian Religion, entering into and glorifying all its other truths."

Blessings