irit be quickened,
if our hearts be lifted up, and our wills be strengthened, that worthy
life may bring peace and joy!

WHY THE CHURCH?

We cannot deny the truth that the things of the spirit are of first
importance; but when it comes to living we seem to belie our
convictions. We live as though we thought the spirit a doubtful matter.
There are those who take pride in calling themselves materialists, but
they are hardly as hopeless as those who are so indifferent that they
have no opinion whatever. The man who thinks and cares is quite apt to
come out right, but the mindless animal who only enjoys develops no
recognizable soul. The seeking first is not in derogation of any true
manhood. It is the full life, the whole life, that we are to
compass--but life subordinated and controlled by the spirit, the spirit
that recognizes the distinction between right and wrong. Those who
choose the right and bend all else to it, are of the Kingdom. That is
all that righteousness means.

The church has no monopoly of righteousness, but it is of immense
importance in cultivating the religious spirit, and cannot safely be
dispensed with. And so it must be strongly supported and made efficient.
To those who know true values this is an investment that cannot safely
be ignored. To it we should give generously of our money, but equally
generously we should give ourselves--our presence, our co-operation, our
loyal support of our leaders, our constant effort to hold it to high
ideals. If it is to give life, it must have life, and whatever life it
has is the aggregation of our collected and consecrated lives.

The church called Christian cannot win by holding its old trenches. It
must advance to the line that stretches from our little fortress where
the flag of Reason and Religion defiantly floats. Shall we retreat? No;
it is for us to hold the fort at all costs, not for our sake alone, but
for the army of humanity.

We believe in God and we believe in man. As President Eliot lately put
it, "We believe in the principles of a simple, practical, and democratic
religion. We are meeting ignorance, not with contempt, but with
knowledge. We are meeting dogmatism and superstition, not with
impatience, but with truth. We are meeting sin and injustice, not with
abuse, but with good-will and high idealism. We have the right message
for our time." To the church that seems to us to most nearly realize
these ideals, it is our bounden duty, and sh