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spirit hath trod in glory and all were dumb.

But now,

as I look into thy beautiful face and see the love and divinity and immortality that kindle through its beauty, I am convinced that it can never perish. We shall meet again."

"Tell me, ye winged winds, that round my pathway roar, Do ye not know some spot where mortals weep no more. Some lone and pleasant dell, some valley in the west, Where, free from toil and pain, the weary soul may rest? The loud wind dwindled to a whisper low

And sighed for pity as it answered, 'No.'

Tell me thou mighty deep, whose billows round me play,
Knowst thou some favored spot, some island far away
Where weary man may find the bliss for which he sighs,
Where sorrow never lives and friendship never dies?
The loud waves, rolling in perpetual flow,
Stopped for awhile and sighed to answer 'No.'

And thou, serenest moon, that, with such lovely face,
Dost look upon the earth, asleep in night's embrace.
Tell me, in all thy round hast thou not seen some spot
Where miserable man might find a happier lot?
Behind a cloud the moon withdrew in woe

And a voice, sweet, but sad, responded, 'No.'

Tell me, my secret soul-oh, tell me, Hope and Faith,
Is there no happy spot where mortals may be blessed.
Where grief may find a balm and weariness a rest?
Faith, Hope and Love, best boons to mortals given
Waved their bright wings and whispered, 'Yes; in heaven'."

IS PRAYER REASONABLE?

If you, then, being imperfect, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.-Matt. 7:11.

PRAYER is the very heart of all religion. It is the one

fundamental doctrine which is common to all cults and creeds, and the one universal religious exercise in which all men, everywhere, engage, whether in Christian or heathen lands. The spirit which pervades it is the very soul of spirituality, and the motive which prompts it is the moving power which energizes the machinery of religious living. Tell me what a man's prayers are like, and I will tell you what is the character of his religion. Tell me how firm a man's faith in prayer is and I will tell you how firm is his grip upon christianity.

The question proposed for our study at this hour is not, do men believe in prayer. Were this our theme, the answer would not be far to seek; and in most cases it would be in the affirmative. The belief in prayer is almost universal, and its practice is conterminous with the human race. But the question is: Is prayer reasonable? It is difficult because it is philosophical, and it cannot be answered by gratuitous assumptions or assertions. Does God answer prayer, or is it a mere form of religious devotion which is based on a delusion? When we pray, do we speak into an empty void, from whence no response can come or is our prayer heard, and if heard, is it answered? Is it but an echo of our native instincts and a reaction in our religious emotions or is it an actual means of reaching ends and meeting human needs? These are questions which are asked by thinking men of every shade of religious opinion, and they cannot be ignored by anyone who will reflect intelligently upon the subject of prayer. Touching the reasonableness of prayer, Christ is our greatest authority. No where in his teaching do we find a ring of doubt, or any note of uncertainty about the reality

of this part of our religious curriculum. That He believed in prayer is evident from the fact that He not only commanded others to pray, but also prayed Himself, and thus attested its reasonableness both by precept and example. He said, men must ask if they would receive, seek if they would find, and knock if they would obtain the blessings which they need. He assured men that asking and seeking and knocking are but three aspects of one and the same process; and therefore, no man truly prays who does not follow out these directions. He expounds the doctrine of prayer by an argumentum ad hominem.

We answer the prayer of our children by granting such blessings as are consistent with the interest of the family, and which are most suitable to their needs. If a son asks for bread, we do not offer him a stone; or a fish, we do not give him a serpent, but answer him according to the intelligence of his request and the character of his need. If we then, argues Christ,-imperfect as we are, know how to give good gifts to our children, and are willing to grant reasonable requests, likewise our father in heaven can and will give good things to those who ask him. If prayer is natural in our children, and its answer reasonable in us, it is equally natural to the children of God, and is not less reasonable that our heavenly Father should answer those who pray.

I remark first: Prayer is more a process than a petition. The ways in which it brings results and the means by which it reaches ends are as natural as they are reasonable. It is most certainly something more than simply requesting things and getting them by request. The common view of prayer, however, is that it consists, chiefly, of petition. It is regarded by some as little more than a short cut to results. It is a sort of easy way to obtain gratutities without effort or outlay. It is looked on as a refined way of saving labor, and saving it by drawing on one's patrimony, instead of investing one's energies. It is a feeding on the bounty of our benefactor because it is easier to draw on our resources than to become producers ourselves. It is asking God to circumvent natural processes and contravene natural laws, to save us from outlay of mentality and muscle.

Heaven, in the judgment of some, is looked on as little more than a great dispensary. All needed blessings, in some mysterious way have been stored up and are ready

for distribution, upon request. God is a great benefactor and distributor, standing back in a great commissary department, with little more to do than pass out supplies. Men are all pensioners and beggars, devoting most of their time to asking for gifts, and not only asking for them, but receiving them directly and gratuitously. God's will is looked upon as something other and different from his laws. It is supposed he will empty heaven, if we ask him, and will upset the universal order to satisfy one or more individuals. There are some people who go so far as to believe almost any kind of results may be obtained through prayer. The natural order may be set aside for a whim, and the general interest of the universe ignored on demand. They suppose disease may be cured without treatment; a storm calmed by request; rain brought at the behest of only a few, and the weather changed to suit a single locality. Provisions may be had without work or worry. All one needs to do is to pray earnestly enough and material supplies will be handed out to meet any physical needs. If the exchequer be depleted, and the pantry be exhausted, all one needs to do is to offer up petition and a check will be forthcoming, and a barrel of flour will come rolling in the back door.

Passing from the realm of the physical into that of the moral and intellectual, they think character may be had for asking, and knowledge may be obtained without study.

This view of prayer is passing, and passing because it is unreasonable. It has vanished before the advance of intelligence and been relegated to the limbo of the obsolete by the diffusion of knowledge. Let no one conclude, however, that we have lost faith in prayer. We have only changed our view of its nature. Do not think we have stopped praying, but we have stopped expecting everything and anything, simply for asking. If prayer seems less omnipotent, it is certainly not less effectual because more intelligent. The modern mind no longer looks on it simply as a device for getting things quickly and easily.

If it be asked then, what is prayer, in the modern view, the answer is at hand. Prayer is more a process than a petition. It is more an act than an attitude. It is more knocking and seeking for things than asking for them. As a matter of fact, asking is but an incident in prayer. It is but the entrance upon a line of action, of which knocking and seeking form the chief part. It is but the

expression of the desire of the heart, and the readiness of the hands to co-operate with God in the manipulation of natural processes, the manipulation of which brings legitimate results. It is more than a mode of requesting things to be given outright. God and man are parties to a common process, which when rightfully manipulated, facilitates their mutual interests. God bestows blessings through law, not contrary to it. Man obtains blessings by going through natural processes, not by setting them aside. Prayer does not upset the order of the world, but facilitates it. It is not a supersession, nor a suspension of laws. To suppose it would remove a mountain, stop an earthquake, affect the weather or turn disease suddenly into health, is unreasonable. It does not set aside law, but reaches its ends through law. It does not ignore the ordinary processes of life, but works them and works through them. Prayer is not a draft on blessings made to hand. We pray for God's kingdom to come, but we do not expect it, simply in answer to a petition. It comes not as a result of asking, like snow falling from heaven, but under God, is produced through ordinary processes of life, by tireless working and Godly living.

Prayer is more a life than a litany. The man who plants seed, by that very act, is asking God, through the laws of nature, to give him a harvest. The man who enters school, by that very act asks God, through the laws of the mind, to give him knowledge. The man who enters business, by that very act, asks God through the laws of commerce, to give him profit. The man who starts a new life, by that very act asks God through the laws of right, to give him the results of right living.

I remark second: Christ explained the reasonableness of prayer on natural grounds, and illustrated and illumined his great idea by a most beautiful and familiar analogy. He said, God treats us much like we treat our children. Prayer is not an unnatural nor an unreasonable thing in the home, but is just what we might expect, and just what we actually find. Our children pray to us, and we answer their prayers. It is natural they should ask and reasonable that they should be answered. They do not always get what they ask for, but usually get what they need. Parents are imperfect and do not always answer wisely. Children are selfish and ignorant, and do not always ask for right things. If all their whims were answered it would upset

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