like the universal sky...

Summer seems a good time to refresh and renew one's view of what church is.  For many of us, we are such church lovers that we rarely pause to consider why.  Here is part one of Samuel Longfellow on:

"A SPIRITUAL AND WORKING CHURCH

The household of God ... an habitation of God, through the Spirit. — Ephesians ii. 19, 22.

The whole body, fitly joined together, according to the effectual working, in its measure, of every part. — Ephesians iv. 16.

"The original meaning of the word church is convocation or assembly. The very term implies some common idea or purpose. It represents something more than a mere aggregate of persons such as individual and separate errands may bring together at any hour in the crowded streets of a city. It implies, I say, a common, uniting thought or feeling or aim ; and if this be permanent, there results a common spirit and life which form an organic whole. We limit, however, the word church to that unity whose central idea is a religious one, — the idea of God. The Mohammedan church, the Parsee Church, the Buddhist Church, the Christian Church, are each that society whose common life is in those forms of the religious idea which each derives from him whom it regards as its founder, and whose thought and influence it perpetuates. Through and above all these churches exists that universal Church of the race — man in his religious relations — which is founded on the ground-idea of God that lies at the root of all the various conceptions of God ; whose common life is in that mysterious disposition, that irrepressible tendency toward the invisible and the infinite, that universal sentiment of dependence upon a superior Will, that consciousness of God, which make man to be, by force of his nature, in all place and time, a religious being. Overarching all, like the universal sky; encompassing and inspiring all, like the universal air ; vitalizing and informing all, like the universal electric force, this idea of God, this religious consciousness, unites earth's millions in the attitude of prayer. Whenever it becomes vital in any human soul, it invests a citizen of the spiritual world, it initiates a member of the heavenly society. Every heart-throb of aspiration and devout reverence, every struggle to surmount the limits of the actual and the material, every sacrifice and martyrdom for the eternal and invisible, for right, truth, and good, — these attest the common life, and are the sign of the spiritual brotherhood. The oldest books and the most foreign tongues record my personal experience of this hour, and my inmost emotion comes to me matched in traditions beyond the circle of books.

Modern philosophers have invented the term solidarity to express the idea of a common life of the human race, distinct from the life of its individuals. To this common life all individual lives are contributors. No life is isolated ; but each is influenced by, bound to, dependent on, each other. So the race grows as the individuals and generations pass away. So each age inherits the thought, attainment, culture of the previous one, and transmits its own to its successor. So the past survives in the present, and the present prepares and makes possible the more perfect future. So are all human souls and destinies bound into one.

The same idea in the religious sphere is expressed by the unity of the Church"

Blessings

repulsive powers of selfishness...

This on family values from the "Collections' section of "The Christian Examiner and Theological Review" 1824. 

"Domestick Society"

' Domestick society is the seminary of social affections, the cradle of sensibility, where the first elements are acquired of that tenderness and humanity, which cement mankind together, and which, were they entirely extinguished, the whole fabrick of social institutions would be dissolved. Families are so many centres of attraction, which preserve mankind from being scattered and dissipated, by the repulsive powers of selfishness.'—Robert Hall.

Blessings

a becoming creator...

This weekend was for me a true celebration of independence (and the deeper reality of unity found in true independence.)  My wonderful and tolerant family takes me to Concord each year on my birthday (July 3) and, as always, we visit Emerson's Study at the museum first.  This year that was followed by Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Author's Ridge where we communed with the spirits of Ralph Waldo, Henry David, and Amos Bronson (and families.)  Then a picnic lunch at the Old North Bridge and finally a canoe trip on the Sudbury.
   This morning I re-read, for the first time in years, Emerson's "American Scholar."  As I have gotten older I have tended towards the later essays and reading "Scholar" was a shock to my system-which is, of course, the point.  An excerpt:

 "To the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. By and by, it finds how to join two things, and see in them one nature; then three, then three thousand; and so, tyrannized over by its own unifying instinct, it goes on tying things together, diminishing anomalies, discovering roots running under ground, whereby contrary and remote things cohere, and flower out from one stem. It presently learns, that, since the dawn of history, there has been a constant accumulation and classifying of facts. But what is classification but the perceiving that these objects are not chaotic, and are not foreign, but have a law which is also a law of the human mind? The astronomer discovers that geometry, a pure abstraction of the human mind, is the measure of planetary motion. The chemist finds proportions and intelligible method throughout matter; and science is nothing but the finding of analogy, identity, in the most remote parts. The ambitious soul sits down before each refractory fact; one after another, reduces all strange constitutions, all new powers, to their class and their law, and goes on for ever to animate the last fibre of organization, the outskirts of nature, by insight.

Thus to him, to this school-boy under the bending dome of day, is suggested, that he and it proceed from one root; one is leaf and one is flower; relation, sympathy, stirring in every vein. And what is that Root? Is not that the soul of his soul? -- A thought too bold, -- a dream too wild. Yet when this spiritual light shall have revealed the law of more earthly natures, -- when he has learned to worship the soul, and to see that the natural philosophy that now is, is only the first gropings of its gigantic hand, he shall look forward to an ever expanding knowledge as to a becoming creator."

Blessings
(photo: at Emerson's grave)

all its glory-Christian Patriotism concluded...

Happy Independence Day.  John Adams, a vital part of that independence, is remembered by Nathaniel Frothingham in this third and concluding part of the sermon, "Christian Patriotism" given on the occasion of the death of Adams.

"That metaphysical benevolence, which professes a general interest in God's creatures, and yet passes over the most natural objects of regard, and makes no account of the obvious relations of society, is either a dream, or a deception. There has never been so much heard of it as during the triumphs of a cold-hearted philosophy, and, in those wild times of political fanaticism, when the sweetest charities of life were trodden under foot.

We must advance from particulars to a great result. That which is the most perfect is the last to be produced. The good man must first win the qualities of a good son, a good friend, a good citizen, and these will lead him up to be worthy of that higher name. It is an inconceivable abuse of language to speak of the philanthropy of one, who is held by no moral ties to his brethren, and the community to which he belongs.

I have been led to speak on this topic by the death of an illustrious patriot, who joined to the noblest endowments of that character, the virtues that adorn common life. A champion of his country,  a student of religious truth and a devout friend of our religious institutions,— more than a patriarch to the tribes of our Israel,—we have " buried him with his fathers." It is little to say that his memory is fresh in all our minds to-day. The great nation is doing it honour, as fast as the tidings can be conveyed that he has ceased from among us. A long posterity will treasure it up, and call it blessed. Such a wide-spread sensation, as is now making its way from border to border of our continent, has seldom attended the death of a private individual, retired long from the cares of state and the busy parade of life, with no titles but his services, no opulence but his worth, no power but his fame, and no honours to crown his head but those which ninety useful years had scattered upon it. We have no occasion to say one to another, with David at the funeral of Abner,— " Know ye not that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel ?" Every one acknowledges it.— Every one feels that he had the nobility of desert, and that he was great among the sons of men, alike by what he achieved at first, and by the signal blessings that followed him to the day of his death like a reward and a manifest testimony from heaven. He is gathered to his people,—one of the last of a noble band, among whom he was a leader. There is no one left, to whose exertions this land is so deeply indebted for its independence. We look round on its free institutions, its growing strength, its multiplied resources, its all but miraculous spread and prosperity, and his venerable name is associated with all its glory.

Happy man ! to have been permitted to take a chief part in events that will never be forgotten. Happy ! to have been spared so long beyond the natural term of human life, that he might see the consequences of what he had accomplished, and hear the gratitude of millions breathing through the shades of his retirement. Happy ! to have retained to the end the strong faculties of his mind, instead of exhibiting that most humiliating of spectacles, an imbecile and doting age settling down on a high spirit, as if in derision of a life of renown. Happy ! after the days of his political influence were long past, to look upon his own son at the head of the counsels of this mighty confederacy. Happy to his last breath ! to have given it up on the anniversary of his greatest work and triumph, the day of a whole nation's jubilee ;—to have given it up in such an hour, as if it had waited to be borne off on the acclamations of the people, and the festival fires of liberty.

His eulogy is in the hearts of his countrymen. I have no further tribute to pay to his memory, but that of silent admiration at his character, his actions, and his fortune."

Blessings

a moral obligation-Christian Patriotism cont...

It is Independence Day eve (and BU's birthday)...Nathaniel Frothingham's sermon on the occasion of the passing of John Adams, continued...

"But there is a species of patriotism,—the true, —which finds itself nourished by the instructions, protected by the beneficent genius of the faith we profess. That faith commands us to think and act for the general welfare ; to do good to all, but especially to those who are the nearest; to be interested in whatever concerns the improvement and happiness of man, but chiefly in the scenes that surround us, in the objects on which we can most readily act, in the persons with whom we stand anywise connected ; not to be disheartened at dangers, nor reluctant at sacrifices, nor slow in endeavours, but to fulfil all the duties of the social state with a zealous devotedness, and at whatever cost. Does it not thus lay the foundation principles of genuine patriotism ? It would have us susceptible, grateful, thoughtful of times past, venerating the memory of the worthy men who rendered services to the community in former generations, and alive to its best interests in the generations that are to come after. Are not these the very affections, that kindle and keep alive the love of one's country ? When it enjoins the duties of the citizen and encourages the worthiest sentiments of the man, does it not imply all that is needed to form the virtue of which I am speaking ? It does, or we are only disputing about a name. For what is it to be patriotic ? It is not to conceit that " we are the people," and there are none like us. It is not to give vent to a foolish exultation, as if no others have ever been so great, so enlightened, so free, so happy. It is not to be clamorous on political high days. It is not to canvass with swelling words for a vulgar popularity. It is not to abuse or despise the institutions of foreign countries, to cavil at their peculiarities, to turn over with satisfaction the darker leaves of their annals, and to eye their movements and manners with a jealous dislike. If it were this vapouring, turbulent propensity, nothing need be said to recommend it. Nothing could recommend it. It is as far below the standard of good morals and an intelligent mind, as it is of the Christian faith. We might leave the defence of it, with its practice, to the violent, the uninformed and the designing. But it is in truth an entirely different thing. It is a rational love of the land, in which God has marked out the lot of our habitation, in which we first saw the light, by whose usages we have been formed, at whose bosom we have been nourished,—where our kindred and friends dwell, and where are the low dwellings of our fathers ;—a rational love of this land, not a blind partiality, or a heated fancy, or a proud pretension. It is a principle of attachment to it as our own. It is the feeling of well-wishers towards it, and the resolve to do the little that we can for its service,—by obeying its laws, by aiding its good establishments, by seeking, in all the ways by which we can contribute to them, its advancement and peace. Country is a relation, in which the Almighty Providence places us ;—as truly so as family, occupation, friendship. Patriotism is faithfulness to that relation in heart and deed.— It can be no more than this. It can be no other than this. It is then a duty, as plain as the rest. It is not of a visionary character; it is not a mere political excellence, but a moral obligation, under which a man is laid by the necessity of circumstances and the spirit that is in him.

Shall we be told, then, that this sentiment is not akin to the precepts of Christianity ? We might answer that the charge lies only against its counterfeits and abuses. Or shall we be told that it tends to narrow the compass of human benevolence, to thwart the gloriously Christian project of universal philanthropy ? We might answer, that it will rather serve to promote that great design, for it will expand instead of checking all the kind affections. Those affections do, in the course of nature, spread from parts to the whole. It is through parts that they are exercised ; and their action must begin with what is palpable and near, and gradually reach out to what is abstract and distant.

" Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake ;
The centre moved, a circle strait succeeds,
Another still and still another spreads ;
Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race ;
Wide and more wide, the o'erflowings of the mind
Take every creature in, of every kind."

Blessings

Christian Patriotism...

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson famously died on July 4th 1826, fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  This sermon was delivered in Boston on the death of Adams by Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, the very model of  "Boston Unitarianism."  Excerpts over the next three days... 

"Christian Patriotism"

GENESIS XLIX. 29. BURY ME WITH MY FATHERS.

The old patriarch Jacob, who had spent many of the best days of his life in exile, and was now finishing the poor remnant of it in a foreign country, turned his last thoughts towards the place of his birth. Circumstances had long ago made him a pilgrim to other lands, and a stranger in his own. He was now dying, of extreme age in one of the pleasantest provinces of Egypt, but he was unwilling that his bones should rest in that distant spot. It might seem nothing to him whether the Nile or the Jordan was flowing before the eyes that would close in a few hours upon all earthly objects. Here he had every thing that could comfort his decline, and do honour to his grey hairs. Joseph, the royal favourite, was his son, and all his children were about him. But his heart went back to the past, to the scenes of his first love, to the home of a thousand* endearing recollections, to the north country of Judea. The text is a part of his dying injunction to those whom he left behind. "lam to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah. There they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife ; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife ; and there / buried Leah."

"Bury me with my fathers." The feeling that dictated these words enters largely into the sentiment which we call patriotism. That sentiment is mainly dependent on early remembrances and habits ; it dwells on the hallowed names and services of individuals ; it is drawn towards our fathers' deeds and sepulchres. Thus, the love of one's country has its foundation in some of the first principles of human nature. It is connected with many of the secret, but ineffaceable impressions of the human heart. The Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament abound with fine examples of its spirit ; and though they nowhere enjoin it, they yet contain frequent indirect testimonies in its praise. The old prophets were the patriots of their times. The great prophet himself declared that he was sent peculiarly to the house of Israel, and he wept when he thought of its coming desolation. The sacred songs of the Hebrews are eminently national. The fragments of their history offer us here and there the most beautiful expressions of attachment to the places in which they first drew their breath. Where, indeed, has there ever been a people of any cultivation, whose gifted men have not thrown out in eloquence and song those sentiments of this kind, which were felt and responded to by the humblest of their countrymen ? Where was ever a generous and susceptible mind, that did not number among its warmest affections a fondness for its native land, cherishing many tender and sacred associations with the thought of it, and interested personally in its well-being ?

There have been some, however, to deny that patriotism has any thing morally estimable in it. It ought not, they say, to be encouraged ; because it is a partial and narrow principle; because it counteracts that spirit of universal benevolence which we should endeavour to excite in men's hearts. It has even been mentioned among the high recommendations of the Christian religion, and as an evidence of its divine origin, that it neither inculcates nor countenances a fictitious virtue, which is said to come of pride, to engender rivalries and hate, and to disunite by one strong passion more the different tribes of the earth. But fortunately we have here but a description of false patriotism ; the lessons of our holy faith are most at variance with this, while they recognize and sanction that which is true.

It is one of the glories of the gospel, one of the signs of its divine character, the proofs of its divine source, that it does not favour, but plainly opposes that exclusive and party feeling, which passes so freely in the world under the name of love of country ...which makes men boastful, and keeps them prejudiced;—which spirits up unfriendly dispositions towards those who live under different institutions, or use a different speech ;— which perpetuates hostility between one people and another, and, because a mountain intervenes, or a river or a sea separates them, alienates them from good will and good offices. Christianity has come, not to loosen in any respect, but to strengthen in all, the bands of brotherly kindness, not to contract but to expand every generous sympathy of our nature. It does not present itself as the privilege of a nation or a class, but as the common friend of mankind. It does not found its promised happiness on social advantages or public prosperity, but on truth and holiness. It has in view no political reforms, but only those of personal character ; no civil establishments, but the universal kingdom of God. If this were not its temper and scope, it manifestly could not have come down from the Father of all. The legislator, the teacher, the reformer, the Saviour of a race, could have had little to do with geographical lines, and national distinctions. Though he devoted his whole ministry "to his own, who received him not," he yet lived and spoke for all. It was for him to dispense, with impartial hands, his light and his joy, the whole fulness of his blessings...(more tomorrow)

Blessings

gymnastic training...

This blog has before discussed a kind of physical asceticism lived by certain of the Boston Unitarians (Henry Ware Jr., William Ellery Channing etc...) much to the detriment of their own health.  I came across this mention in A.P. Preston's memoir of James Freeman Clarke.  The fascinating Charles Follen tried to do something about this tendency during his time at Harvard...

"Dr. Follen had then recently taken his place in the corps of teachers (when Clarke arrived in 1825), and had introduced the study of the German language and literature, which till his time had no place in the college curriculum. He had also made the first breaches in the barrier which had precluded the students from intimate relations with the Faculty. He had, moreover, introduced a system of gymnastic training, which was made availing by all who were not physically incapacitated for it, and to which not a few of the students—probably Clarke among the number — were largely indebted for lifelong power of labor and endurance."

Blessings