SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 30, 28 September 1912, Page 7

SUNDAY COLUMN.

"Moses wist not that his face shone —Ex. 31:29.

(Meditation by Rev. J. Dinwoodie.) Moses had gone up alone to: the top of the mount, had there met with God, and had received from Him the Law. Through solitary communion with God, he had made the grand discovery of those laws of righteousness by which the world of men is ruled, and by which the heart and the whole life of man will be tried., No wonder that the face of Moses shone when he received this great revelation, and made this great discovery of the principles which govern human life. His face shon'e because of the gladness of his heart. It,was the blush of beauty within him that spread outward till it transfigured his countenance. It js within that we must go, into the depths of spiritual experience, if we would know what really had happened and the reason for it.

1. Lot us take some thoughts en spiritual beauty. Jn what does tl I*4 beauty lie? We <uid it e\ pressed i.i the physical form and nature of man. The beauty of the doll may satisfy the child; but when we come to manhood wo put away childish things and conceptions, and look for more in beavity than the child finds in it. Without the light that gives to the face the look of intelligence and kindliness, and strength, what we call-physical beauty is apt to lie like the beauty of the doll With this light, even though the. (features bo marred and the colour' be wanting, beauty remains. There nre 'faces like Charles Kingsley's rugged and tempest-beaten, which are supremely beautiful, for the light is there that speaks of knowledge and love and power. So must the face of Christ have been—more marred than any man's, and yet altogether lovely. That light, which makes the plainest face to shine, is spiritual beauty. The light radiates from the soul. It speaks of the fund of beauty within, beauty of heart and mind. v

This spiritual. beauty manifests itself outwardly in the beauty of the strong, true, kindly face, and not in it alone, in the loveliness of perfect deeds also. .Emerson said the truth when he said: "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it riot."

This is the beauty which time will never mar. If we bestow most of our ■attention upon the outward man, we are working for time, and time will dispose of our work. If we spend our strength upon' the care of the inner man, we are working for eternity, and eternity will preserve our work. It is said that many of the magnificent pictures of Munkacsy and Dore are rapidly becoming an indistinguishable black, because the artists mixed their colours badly, caring more for » brib: liant effect than for permanence. Let us paint for,eternity and not for time only. Let us live not for the moment only, but for the great forever. 2. Let ns take notice how spiritual beauty is best possessed. In other words, in which way is it best to'be true and good? There are wrong ways and there are right ways. Moses had the right way: he wist riot that his face shone. He was unconscious; of his beauty. > That is. how best to ;>e possessed of Spiritual beauty. Goodness is loveliest so.

Virtue, of 'which we are conscious, is like beauty which knows itself to Be there. It is apt to patronise the looking-glass too often. , Take humility, for example. It is one of the elements of spiritual besiuty : it is one of the colours that blend to give us a very lovely character. But sometimes Moses knows that he is humble. The look into the glass makes possible a strange companionship with pride. It is possible for humility to adorn itself with gaudy ornaments, and pride may take voluntarily the lowest seat. , Principal Cairns was a man -of mighty mould, and he was the humblest o,f men., When going with others, mostly lesser men, to public platforms, ho would stand aside and say to' the least,: "You. go first," a word, characteristic of his attitude toV his fellows always. But men ,may say the same without having Principal Cairns' unconscious humility. Of all our good deeds, this is what''Christ says: "Let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth." It is a warning against self consciousness. That charity is best and loveliest, which we have practised, and then consigned to oblivion. The face shines most when we are least aware of it. Spiritual beauty is ripest when we never dream of it.

3. The secret of spiritual beauty unconsciously possessed is-—more of Gal and less of self. Christ is the way that leads to God. If we trust our life to Christ, to the guidance of His word and of His'spirit, it will be hid with Him in God. To do this is to have the experience of Moss, when he felt the glory of the Lord round about him, and knew the knowledge of the Lord to be penetrating his soul. Prayer is a means of receiving and cultivating spiritual beauty, for "prayer is like opening a sluice between the great ocean and our little channels, when the great, sea gathers itself together and flows in at full tide." , Thought, thinking much about what is said to us in the Word, is another way of securing an answer to the prayer. "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."

Prayer by Dr. J. Parker.

We bless Thee, Thou Father in heaven, for everything that enlarges our life and brightens our outlook and makes us more what Thou didst intend us to be. For worship and song, high thought and deep devotion, we thank Thee. We live in the "much more" of Thy redeeming lovo. Thou didst not mean us to dig graves in the earth, but our sin has dug them; we dig the graves but Thou dost cause the flowers to bloom. God is love; we will say so with all the houses of history, all the great tabernacles of

testimony; with them of old will we unite our voices .and say, though mayhap with sobbing hearts, His mercy endureth for ever. Amen.