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January 31, 1912 ] THE]
it*, not to burn hearts nor scorch sensetive
feelings. Everybody went from her presence
feeling comfortable in spirit and with reasonably
satisfied hearts. She was a peacemaker
and a courage-strengthener. There are two
or three dozen such women in the world; and
when you find one, she will tell you that it is
almost impossible for her to get an evening
to herself, because so many dear, kind friends
are apt to drop in of an evening. And she
will add: "I am glad it is so, for I should not
be able to get through the day without the
prospect of these pleasant evenings. I wish
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ble that never crept beyond the limits of eight
to eleven."?Ram's Horn.
OBEYING THE HEAVENLY VISION.
BY REV. 0. B. HALLOCK, D. D.
. .Out on the road to Damascus Paul had a vision.
We know perfectly well what his vision was. It
was a sight of Christ. It was a glimpse of his
glory. It was a conception of his character. It
was a call to his service. It was of a commission
to open blind eyes, to turn men from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they might receive forgiveness of sins and
inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
"Whereupon," he says, "O King Agrippa, I was
not disobedient, unto tRo lioomnitr ?> ~n?i
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began at once to follow his vision; and he con*
tinued to follow it to the end of his days, and
we know where it led him. He is by common
consent called the Great Apostle; for "he labored
more abundantly than they all," and his life was
crowned with most abundant success.
Now that is what following a vision will do
for every one of lis. And we all have our visions,
This privilege is not one that came to Paul alone.
Our visions are given us also to draw us upward
to a higher life. The dreams of nobleness and
beauty that come to our souls are glimpses of the
heavenly life, granted to show us what we ought
to be. They are intimations, too, of the possibilities
of attainment that lie within us.
But let us not forget that our visions are not
given us merely to be gazed at in wonder or enjoyed
as a kind of rapture. They are to be
wrought out into life. That is what Paul did
with his vision. "Wherefore, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision."
Tie immediately began to try to copy the vision
into life. So with us?we should strive to realize
and make practical every glimpse we get of
spiritual loveliness. The trouble with too many
of us is that we allow the heavenly visions to
glow in our minds and thrill us with their beauty
for the moment, and then fade away, while we go
on in the old paths, doing the old things and
fnaking no effort toward working into realities
the glorious inspirations God sends. When Raphael
was once asked how he painted those wonderful
pictures, he answered, "I dream dreams,
and I see visions, and then I paint my dreams
and my visions." We, all of us, have our dreams
and our visions, but the trouble with us is that
too often we do not paint them anywhere. If
we would only seize them and put them into
form that can be kept and held, like Raphael did,
like Paul did, then their beauty would bless the
world. This, then, should be our aim, like Paul,
to follow our vision?to work it out into life.
What are the outlines of some of these visinno
that come to us? Very well, do you know what
they are like? One morning you opened your
Bible and began reverently to read its sacred
words, and suddenly you came upon these:
"Blessed are the pure in heart." And you had
a vision. It was of a fair and lovely soul without
the taint or blemish of any evil lust; and you
said to yourself: "I would like to be like that."
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
Did you begin to be obedient to your heavenly
vision? You were like Paul if you did.
Another time in the quiet of an evening hour
you read such words as these: "Blessed are
the poor in spirit;" "Blessed are the meek;"
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart;" "Be anxious for nothing;" "Seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" "Be
ye tender-hearted, forgiving one another;"
"Love your enemies." Again you had a vision.
It was of a soul in harmony with God; with his
purpose, his character, his spirit, and you said to
yourself: "I would like to live like that." Well,
did you begin to be obedient to the heavenly
vision ? You were like Paul if you did.
By and by you read the gospels through.. Indeed
you read them over and over again; and in
them you became acquainted with a character?
it was of One who said, "Come, unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden," who said,
"Come unto me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart," of One who was always kind and gentle
and approachable, who was loved of children,
who was listened to by the common people gladly,
who healed the sick and comforted the sorrowing,
who ever "went about doing good." Still again
you had a vision. You had a glimpse of spiritual
loveliness such as never greeted the eyes of your
soul before. Do you know it was the very same
vision Paul had out there on the way to Da9
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"Whereupon, 0 King Agrippa, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision." All the
usefulness and beauty of character and growth
in grace of that mighty man of God came from
following that vision. Are you following it today?
Many times you have had that vision freshened
up in your mind. Maybe it was at some hour
upon your knees in prayer. Maybe it was as you
entered God's house and had your soul wafted
toward heaven on the wings of some sweet song
or anthem of praise. Maybe it was as the spoken
word came from the voice of God's servant and
you saw new spiritual possibilities opening before
you and felt the thrill of holy aspiration.
Maybe it was as you sat at the table of the Lord
in sweet fellowship with him. Tt may have been
in the kind act you did for some sinning or
needy or troubled one of earth. Each time you
saw the vision anew. Are you following it today?
Tt is a transforming vision. Tt will gradually
make you over into the imaere of God Tt
will lift us each above the false and the frail. It
will help us live above the world while in the
world. It will polish and plume us for glory,
honor and immortality at God's right hand.
But perhaps among our readers are not a
few who will say, "Yes, very well do I know
what that vision is. I once had it, and it thrilled
my very being for a time. But I fear it has been
lost to me now. Time has defaced it and repeated
sins have disfigured it and it is a very dim
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there is any way of restoring my lost vision?"
Tn a parable we will answer.
In the gallery at Bergamo there is a fascinating
picture of the Virgin Mother and the Holy
Child by Raphael. That picture has a history.
When Napoleon the Great was conquering Italy
Milan fell before him, and with it Bergamo. Napolen
was taking all the rare and precious pictures
and sending them to adorn Paris. Lest
this picture should be seized and lost to Italy,
someone painted on its face a coarse and ugly
picture, wbich, of course, Napoleon, not knowing
of the treasure underneath, did not desire.
When he was dethroned the rifled pictures were
sent back to Bergamo. Among them hung this
treasure of Raphael; but, in the painter's hurry
there had been no mark left upon it and so it
could not be identified, and where it hung among
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the other great and beautiful pictures no one
could tell. At last, in the year 1868, the daub
began to scale away, and then reverent hands set
about to clean the picture, and at last the long
last treasure shone forth again. Yes, and glad
and happy fact is it that a lost vision can be
restored again. If over your life ideal crude disfigurements
have come, then let this brief article
urge that you immediately set about to restore
the original. Carefully remove the scales with
which your worldliness has encrusted it, freshen
up the spots time has defaced, catch as much as
you can of the hidden beauty while you work,
and. bv and bv. thus linnm-inc* it u
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oat clean and clear and shine forth upon your
soul anew. God will give you new grace as
you give him new consecration ; and as you aspire
to catch the vision again it will break upon you
and thrill you through and throu? i. Oh that
we might strive more and more to realize the
best that is possible for us, to work out into
Christ-like living the beautiful visions we have!
And what an inspiriation it is to know that
we may keep steadily before us an ever perfect
Ideal?that of Christ himself. "Let the same
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."
"He that abideth in him ought himself also to
walk even as he walked." As the younger
artists in the great galleries that are the glory
of Tifindnn Powio J T> ~ L- *
... ?uvtvu, i uiuo, mm Hume may oe seen toiling
day after day patiently reproducing copies of
the masterpieces there, putting forth their utmost
skill to imitate them in every line, every
color, every gradation of light and shade, not
content that their pictures shall be somewhat
like the original, but with tbe ambition to make
their copies so exact that none but the experienced
eye shall be able to tell which is tbe original
and which is the copy?thus should we place
ourselves before Christ, look at his character, so
perfect, so majestic, so tender, and determined
that henceforth the great business of our life
shall be to become like him. Thank God for a
perfect pattern. Thank God for one abiding
ideal. Thank God for the strength and the
cheer and the grace he gives us as we press
toward the mark, striving to come unto the
measure of the stature of perfect men and women
in Christ Jesus. Let us follow our vision.
Let us cherish our ideal. Let us copy our pattern.
So shall we all with upturned faces, re
fleeting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
be transformed into the same image from glory
to glory, from one degree of character to a
higher, until we become indeed like him. That
is our goal?to become like him. God grant that
this transforming work may go steadily forward
in every one of us as we strive to be obedient to
our heavenly visions.?Christian Intelligencer.
FELLOWSHIP AFTER WORSHIP.
We have attended churches where decorum,
that very important accompaniment of edifying
worship, seemed to be almost overdone, for its
effects lingered after the service was concluded,
in the form of apparently unnatural and painful
reserve. Worship must be reverent, hut worship
is a fellowship and the spirit of fellowship abides
after formal worship has ceased. The best evidence
of having enjoyed and been profited by the
services of the sanctuary is to be found in mutual
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will and fraternity on the part of worshippers.
Especially is this true of the reception accorded
strangers who may he in attendance on a
particular service. Such persons are usually encouraged
and gratified hv simple acts of cordiality
which, easily construed, mean the precepts
of the Gospel put into practice?the teachings
of the pulpit lived in the pews.
Live in a thankful spirit and von will find
more to be thankful for.?Brooke Herford.