AN EXALTED THEME.
The doctor and I had not forgotten that Thorwald still held in store for
us a talk on the most important theme of all. We wondered why he did
not give it to us, as he had many opportunities in those days of quiet
pleasure. He seemed to take great delight in hearing from us everything
we chose to tell, asking numerous questions which showed a growing
knowledge of the earth and its inhabitants.
It was the doctor who finally inquired when we were going to hear what
he had promised us.
“I suppose I have been waiting,” answered Thorwald, “for you to ask for
it. I could listen to your talk a great deal longer with pleasure and
profit. It is astonishing how closely your history matches ours up to
your times. The period you have been describing to me as that in which
you live corresponds with a similar age here. It was a time of great
activity and rapid change, and one whose records make a deep impression
on many of our writers, judging from the attention they give to it. It
was an enviable time to live in, if you compare it with the previous
ages, but chiefly on account of the promise it contained of the glorious
day to come.
“Doctor, are you sure you desire to hear about the growth of
Christianity in this world and the blessings it has brought us?”
“Most certainly,” answered my companion. “I want to learn all I can of
your history and present condition, and, as religion seems to occupy
a chief place in both, anything you may say on the subject will be
listened to with delight.”
Perhaps Thorwald was a little disappointed because the doctor did not
give a more personal reason; but he failed to show it if he was, and,
after calling to Zenith to come and sit with us, he began:
“Fair shines the sun on this fair world. So shines the sun on other
fair worlds. Its piercing rays dart out in all directions from the
great glowing mass, and as they fly outward they lose in brilliancy
and intensity every second. In eight minutes some of these rays are
intercepted by the earth and find there an atmosphere well adapted to
receive them. In twelve minutes some strike this world, and although
they are less powerful than those that fall on the earth, the conditions
here are favorable for their reception. At varying distances from the
center other rays find other planets as ready to welcome them, no doubt,
as ours are.
“As the sun is in the physical universe, so is the Sun of righteousness
in the domain of the spirit. Infinite in power, wisdom, and love, he
comes wherever there are souls to save, shedding light in every dark
spot, bringing life and hope and comfort, and lifting men out of the
darkness of sin up to a condition of peace and happiness. Many ages ago
he came to this planet, and started into life those forces which have
brought us to our present state. Then he came to the earth, and you
are at this time beginning to feel more intensely the impulse of his
mission.”
“Your illustration is a forcible one,” said the doctor, as Thorwald
paused a moment, “and weakens my former position, which would make it
necessary for me to believe that all the rays of the sun, except the
few that fall on Mars and the earth, are lost. It seems to me now quite
reasonable that some do their beneficent work on other planets also.”
“Yes,” answered Thorwald, “whenever they are ready to receive them. And
now I hope to lead you to see that the same intelligence that made the
sun and gave to its rays such power has been present as a personal force
in this world, molding it to his use and raising up a people here for
his service and glory.
“In the perfect plan of that omniscient being the advent of the Savior
occurred at the most opportune moment. Deep in the heart of one nation,
firmly grounded in their nature by ages of discipline and suffering, lay
the belief in one only God. The other nations of the world, surfeited
with sinful pleasure and worn out with a vain pursuit of happiness, were
ready to abandon the gods of their imaginations. Some lofty souls among
them, following intently every prompting of their better nature, had
developed high characters, while of God’s peculiar people many pure
hearts waited, with joyful expectancy, the coming of the promised
Savior.
“He came, the lowly, patient one, and, although the world was made by
him, it knew him not. The greatest event in the history of the globe
passed almost without notice; but the seed was planted, and in God’s own
time the growth began, which has filled our happy world with the perfect
flower of Christianity.
“The religion which Jesus taught aimed to save the race. It was
universal, not only as adapted to all nations, but as fitted to
regenerate and perfect the whole nature of man--body, mind, and soul. It
would take me too long to tell all the changes it wrought. It found the
heart hard and unfeeling, and made it tender and loving. It found men
filled with every evil passion and almost without a desire to be better,
and it gave them a longing to be free from sin and pure in heart. It
found the race in darkness and despair, and brought them hope and light
and comfort. Above all, it attacked the demon of selfishness and gave
men the promise that in time they should be entirely free from its
power.
“Slowly the truths of Christianity spread. The missionary spirit was
born and the gospel was carried to remote lands. It was ever God’s way
to work through the agency of his creatures, whether these be brute
forces or intelligent beings. And so through imperfect men the perfect
rule of life made feeble progress. But as it was the work of the Spirit,
there was never any danger, even in the darkest ages, that the gospel
would not triumph over all the sin and degradation of the world, and
lift men to a higher plane.
“For a long period the truth lay buried beneath ignorance and
superstition. Then came an awakening, and men, with their minds more
enlightened and their consciences quickened, began to catch something of
the true spirit of the gospel. Christianity now became a dominant power.
Under its benign sway civilization advanced, intelligence spread, and
Christian nations outstripped all others and extended their power to
every part of the globe.
“Soon the ameliorating influences of the gospel were felt on every hand.
Government began to be administered with more regard for the interest of
the governed, and men came to receive consideration simply because
they were men. All the aggravated forms of oppression ceased under the
newborn spirit of human brotherhood, a sentiment brought into the world
by the founder of Christianity.
“This brings us, my friends, up to that intense age of which I have
spoken before, and which you say you recognize as that corresponding
with the time in which you are living on the earth. Let me state briefly
the condition of some of our affairs of that period.
“The industrial world was in a ferment, as we have seen, and it was only
in a general and impersonal way that the Christian religion shed its
influence on the majority of the actors in that drama. Individuals,
among both employers and workmen, had good impulses and indulged them
as much as they could, and I am inclined to think this class was larger
than most of our writers admit. But we read that the greater part were
moved chiefly by motives of self-interest. Still, Christianity was
a growing force among them, and they could not entirely escape its
influence. They were born under its elevating power, and, even if they
did not acknowledge its sway, they were quite different men from those
who lived before Jesus began to preach the law of love. This remark will
apply to all the people of that day who were born under Christian skies,
and yet acknowledged no personal allegiance to the Savior. They were the
unconscious heirs of a priceless inheritance.”
“I just want to say, Thorwald,” the doctor interrupted, “that I can
accept that idea fully now, with respect to the people of the earth,
though at one time I should not have been willing to do so.”
Thorwald smiled his answer, and without further reply continued:
“Let us look at the business situation. National and local governments
had begun to extend their powers beyond what had before been considered
legitimate. With one excuse or another they had taken out of private
hands many branches of business, and there was a strong tendency toward
a continuance of the policy. There was no difference in principle
between carrying the mails and carrying freight and passengers, or
between giving the people cheap water in their houses and furnishing
them with cheap coal.
“It was acknowledged that there were certain things which the city or
state could do better than private enterprise, and the difficulty was
to decide where to draw the line. While this uncertainty existed in the
minds of most people, there was a small but aggressive party who were in
favor of not drawing the line at all, but of putting everything into
the hands of the government. They would have had the people, in their
corporate capacity as a nation, raise and distribute the products of the
soil, do all the manufacturing and dispose of the goods to consumers,
conduct all the trades and professions, and, in fact, carry on every
kind of business necessary to the well-being of society.”
Of course, this woke up the doctor, whose practical mind could see
nothing attractive in such an arrangement as that, and he was moved to
say:
“I trust, Thorwald, that your ancestors did not adopt that crazy scheme
as an experimental step in their development. But I beg your pardon for
using such vigorous language without knowing whether they did or not.”
Thorwald smiled, as he answered:
“You are safe, Doctor. From actual experience we cannot tell what the
result of such a trial would be, for the vast majority of the writers,
and the people too, of the period were opposed to the plan, and no doubt
with good reason.
“But I do not wonder that this idea had a fascination for some
right-minded people, in the promise it gave of doing away with the evils
arising from competition, to which I have before referred.”
Thorwald paused here, as if to invite one of us to speak, if he wanted
to do so. I accepted, by saying:
“I wish you would tell us a little more on that subject. Competition is
said to be the life of trade with us, an accepted principle of honest
business. And yet you speak of it as something that should be done away
with.”
“If you could know,” answered Thorwald, “how repugnant the idea is to
us of the present day, you would understand how truly you have voiced my
feelings.”
“I have no doubt,” I said, “that your experience has taught you much on
the subject that we do not know, but this is the way it looks from our
standpoint: There is born in us a passion for getting that which belongs
to others, or that which others are trying to get. In some of us this
instinct is developed more than in others, and some are unprincipled
enough to indulge it unjustly; but let me ask you if it is wrong to
follow the leadings of such a desire if we are strictly honest in all
our dealings.”
“We might differ over the meaning of the phrase ‘strictly honest,’ but I
will answer your question by saying it is certainly wrong.”
“But it seems to be a part of our very nature.”
“Do you offer that as a reason for its being right? I never heard you
claim that human nature was perfect,” said Thorwald.
“Then,” I returned, “in our present state, with which you are now
pretty well acquainted, is it not possible to carry the principles of
Christianity into business?”
“To answer that as I should be obliged to do would make me appear to you
too arbitrary, and so perhaps I had better let you find your own answer
in the questions which I will ask you. Is not unselfishness one of the
first principles of Christianity? Now, the very essence of competition
is a regard for self-interest, with no room for thought about the
interests of others. In an ideal state of society the rules of life
given by Jesus are fully obeyed. In such a state, would a transaction
be right where each person was trying to do what was best for himself,
although it might be to the damage or loss of another? It might be
called honest to own slaves, and probably in the history of the earth
a great many sincere Christian people have owned them, but you have now
reached that condition, I think, where you can see it is wrong. So your
way of doing business may be honest, but in our more ideal state we see
that it is not right. Our remote ancestors, through the various stages
of our development, did a thousand things with clear consciences which
we could not do now. I understand your situation perfectly, and am sure
your race will outgrow its imperfections.”
I thanked Thorwald for his faith in us, and he resumed his narrative.
“In the age of which I am speaking,” he said, “the church was taking a
prominent place in the world, but had not assumed the leading position
which it afterward reached. Many nations were still without the light of
the gospel, and even in nominal Christian lands the actual supporters
of the church were in the minority. In the midst of much evil and many
discouragements the church was trying to regenerate society, but it had
a difficult task, partly on account of the great perversity of the
human heart, and partly because the church itself was not free from
the imperfections of the age. Its members represented all shades of
spirituality, the great majority of them having but a faint appreciation
of the glorious cause in which they had enlisted. They called themselves
soldiers of the cross, but were so burdened with the ordinary but more
pressing duties and occupations of life that they never dreamed of the
grandeur of the service, nor of the brilliant deeds of which the church
was soon to show itself capable.
“One chief hindrance to the growth of the church and to the spread of
its influence was the spirit of division within itself. Theoretically,
all believers, the world over, were one body, or church, but in point of
fact there were many churches, and in some particulars they were quite
sharply opposed to each other. This evil was in full force in that age,
but there were signs in the air that it was not to remain forever a
stumbling-block to the faith of the world.”
“We are afflicted in the same way,” said I, “and some of us are hopeful
enough to look forward to a really united church. But many think it is
a part of our nature to differ, and are not able to see how all can ever
come to think alike. They say that if by a miracle all should be brought
into one church, and then left to their own inclinations, in a short
time there would be as many sects as there are now.”
“And so there would,” returned Thorwald, “with your present ways.
Your imperfect nature must change under the softening influence of
the gospel. The differences that cause such trouble come from each
individual’s selfish regard for his own opinion. All must learn not only
to respect but to embrace the opinions of each other when they are
right opinions. Two streams may run in parallel channels forever if each
persists in following strictly its own course. If one turns toward the
other and the other turns away, they will still be kept apart; but let
each turn toward the other, and how quickly they come together.”
I told Thorwald I could apply his illustration to our condition and we
would try to profit by it.
“One of the promising features of the religious situation,” he
continued, “was the good start the church had made in missionary work.
In the zeal with which this was taken up it was quite a new departure
for the church, for not long before this time good men believed that if
God intended to save the heathen he would do it without any help from
man. But now success had come in the work in sufficient measure to
greatly encourage the faithful souls engaged in it.
“When I speak of zeal, however, you must understand that this quality
was confined to a few people. Nearly all were only half-hearted
Christians at the best, doing something, to be sure, but not at all
alive to the grand opportunity of bringing the world to the feet of the
Savior. Only here and there was one found who was ready to give himself
unselfishly to the work, and the amount of money given to advance the
cause of Christ, at home and abroad, was small indeed compared to that
spent in luxurious living and hurtful indulgences.
“At the same time, it was an age of progress. The ordinary span of life
was long enough to show improvement in many ways, and men, seeing the
rapid advancement the world was making, took courage and looked forward
more confidently for the dawn of a brighter day. Religion was beginning
to be more of an every-day matter, and Christians were coming to a faint
realization of the real value of the gospel in its adaptation to all
the needs of men. Care for the body, better ways of living, and right
conduct toward others were all taught, as well as duty to God, and
society began to feel the benefit of such sensible teaching.”