m the Cross He leads until on our enraptured
hearts there rises the vision of the Cross abiding still in the heart
of God, and our eyes behold over all the universe the sheen of that
love which still stoops to death that it may save. As we tread the way
back, and go on ever nearer to the hidden fire, we feel the flame of
His love filling all our {196} being. And beauties undreamed of leap
into light at each bend of the road. To come to God is to journey from
death to life. The world has nothing great comparable to this.

V

But to return to God means not only a transfigured soul in a
transfigured world, it means also a transfigured life. To turn the
face Godward is to change one's ideal, and the change of ideal
eventuates in a change of life. When the new light illumines the
secret places, the soul, quickened by the fellowship of God, sees the
unclean with new eyes, and sets itself to conquer whatsoever is
unworthy of God. National repentance with us will realise itself in
peopling the waste places, in emptying the slums into the country, in
destroying the vested interests in the vice of the people, in making a
healthy and beautiful life the birthright of every citizen. For the
Church that will give itself to the realisation of this {197}
repentance there will never be the stagnation of monotony. Life will
be electric with conflict, triumphant at last with victory.

It is the thrill and romance of life--this experience of the soul to
which we are summoned. It heralds every great day of God. 'Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' is the herald of every dawn. It
is a message to be preached with yearning and wonder and love, and not
with clenched fists. It can be preached with fierceness, but that will
little avail. The prophet can call to the people: 'Return, for the
precipice is in front of you and destruction yawneth at your
feet--return.' But terror is feeble to move the heart. Better far is
it to call to the people as Hosea called to Israel: 'Return, for God is
behind you; your own God who saved you again and again when there was
none to help, who bore you and carried you through the terrible
wilderness.... Return, God is waiting for you, just behind you.' The
gospel of repentance is the gospel of the love of {198} God. When the
soul realises the love and the tenderness and the glory of God waiting
to enrich and save--then the soul will return. The greatest adventure
in life is just t