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8 THE PRESBYTER] Devotional and Selections OPEN THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART. Onon tlio rlnnr r\f vnn?? hoorf ? ??" To the angels of love and truth; When the world Is full of unnumbered joys, In the beautiful dawn of youth. Casting aside all tilings that mar, Saying to wrong, "Depart!" To the voices of hope that are calling you Open tne door of your heart. Open the door of your heart, my lass, To the things that shall abide, To the holy thoughts that lift your soul Like the stars at eventide. All of the fadeless flowers that bloom In the realms of song and art Are yours, if you'll only give them room, Open the door of your heart. Open the door of your heart, my friend, Heedless of class or creed. When you hear the cry of a brother's voice, The sob of a child in need. To the shining heeven that o'er you bends You need no map or chart, But only the love the Master gave, Open the door of your heart. ?Edward Everett Hale. THE REV. J. H. JOWET.T AT NORTHFIELD. The Conference of Christian Workers, at East Northfield, Mass., a special conference of ministers, on the problems and difficulties of the preacher and pastor, was a new and inspiring feature. T* 1 i J _ < r\ T ... mi ? ? x ne auuress 01 ur. jowett win remain long in the memory of those who heard it. The spirit in which the address was given disarmed criticism, and placed speaker and hearers on a common level. Dr. Jowett spoke in part as follows: "No address that I have made in this country have f approached with so much hesitation as this. For what am I, my brethren, that I should speak to you? Most of my remarks today will take their color from this statement. We don't live near enough to God, and therefore we don't get close enough to men. Emerson says, Tt is sometimes a good thing to nerve ourselves with an affirmative.' Mv brethren let me say that it is our privilege, as ministers of the gospel, to live near to God. Then why don't we live near to God? "There are three things that draw us from God: First, the gravity of the world; we are drawn away to the world's manner and thought and feeling and to the world's purposes and ends. We ministers are prone to become worldly men. Second, we are apt to be drawn by the fascination of the glittering. In the temptation of Christ the devil said, 'All these things will I give you if you will belittle yourself.' The fascination of the p-litterinp-. I have snrmmheH O O ? ~ to that temptation, my brethren. For instance, I have been tempted by the praise of men to forget the honor of God. I have been tempted to think more of full pews than of redeemed-souls. I have been again and again tempted to prefer eloquence to real power. Third; we are drawn away from God by [AN OF THE SOUTH. Sept.'22, 1909. what I will call the stupefactions of the priestly office. Truth itself can be so dealt with, as to become a drug. We can so busy ourselves with truths as that they will become opiates. At the perfume distilleries in France, where vast quantities of rose leaves are OOPIItllnlltorl f lin /-?C ? 1 ? uwviuiuiaivu, iu\. mass ui iusc leaves causes a certain stupefying disease. No people see less of the Alps than those who live among them. I could wish that my memory might be erased till I might come to the Word seeing the truths instead of texts. "When we are drawn away from God and communion with God, certain things take place. First, our characters lack spirituality. We cannot define spirituality. I have been trying for days and have failed. It resists definition. When we live away from God, we lack the fragrance which lets people know that we have been much in the King's garden. We don't carry about with us what I call the heavenly air.. We lack the power to change atmospheres by our very presence. A Christian minister should be a maker and a changer of atmospheres. Tesus breathed upon His disciples. That was making an atmosphere. Just as sure as the Lord Jesus did this for those who represented Him, we may come into the presence of our fellow-worshipers to breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. "One of the things we have got to do is to bring mountain air into the valleys, into the churches, into our pulpits, into our homes. I am perfectly sure that when we go into our pulpits, before we have opened uui ups, uur pcopie win Know mat we nave been with God. Second, when we are drawn away from God .ve lack the luminousness of the pure heart. 'Ye were once darkness,' as black as the carbon coil before the electric energy goes through it. 'But now are ye light in the Lord.' We have become the diamond?the luminousness of the cleansed spirit. Here we shall have the transfigured life. But others see it while we do not. 'Moses wist not that his face shone.' We are made incandescent by the energy of the Holy Ghost. 'Among whom ye shine as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life-' First, the shining, then the speaking. We don't possess the luminousness of the cleansed spirit. We arc just as dull as men of the world. "Then, third, when we are away from God our speech lacks the mysterious impressiveness. We cannot define it. It is quite independent of academic learning. We say much, but we accomplish little. We do not move. The force of water is determined by the height from w.hich it flows, and the force of our message is determined bv the height at which we live. If we live with Paul 'in the heavenly places/ we will speak with the power of the Holy Ghost. But if we live just an inch above the world our words will have little power. "Fourth, when we live away from God our very enterprise becomes a pastime instead of a crusade. We were never so busy in England as we are today, but I sometimes think we were never so futile. If anyone would start a Christian Rest Meeting I would be the first member. "We don't count, and, therefore, the people don't count us, and, therefore, we are not counted. Lastly, when we -are drawn away from God, our leadings in