《lecture19》

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surely to be more sacred in our eyes than its anomalies; the dear



old ways; of which the Most High is never tired; than the strange



things which he does not love well enough ever to repeat。  And he



who will but discern beneath the sun; as he rises any morning;



the supporting finger of the Almighty; may recover the sweet and



reverent surprise with which Adam gazed on the first dawn in



Paradise。  It is no outward change; no shifting in time or place;



but only the loving meditation of the pure in heart; that can



reawaken the Eternal from the sleep within our souls:  that can



render him a reality again; and reassert for him once more his



ancient name of 'the Living God。'〃'319'







'319' James Martineau:  end of the sermon 〃Help Thou Mine



Unbelief;〃 in Endeavours after a Christian Life; 2d series。 



Compare with this page the extract from Voysey on p。 270; above;



and those from Pascal and Madame Guyon on p。 281。















When we see all things in God; and refer all things to him; we



read in common matters superior expressions of meaning。  The



deadness with which custom invests the familiar vanishes; and



existence as a whole appears transfigured。 The state of a mind



thus awakened from torpor is well expressed in these words; which



I take from a friend's letter:







〃If we occupy ourselves in summing up all the mercies and



bounties we are privileged to have; we are overwhelmed by their



number (so great that we can imagine ourselves unable to give



ourselves time even to begin to review the things we may imagine



WE HAVE NOT)。  We sum them and realize that WE ARE ACTUALLY



KILLED WITH GOD'S KINDNESS; that we are surrounded by bounties



upon bounties; without which all would fall。  Should we not love



it; should we not feel buoyed up by the Eternal Arms?〃







Sometimes this realization that facts are of divine sending;



instead of being habitual; is casual; like a mystical experience。 



Father Gratry gives this instance from his youthful melancholy



period:







〃One day I had a moment of consolation; because I met with



something which seemed to me ideally perfect。  It was a poor



drummer beating the tattoo in the streets of Paris。  I walked



behind him in returning to the school on the evening of a



holiday。 His drum gave out the tattoo in such a way that; at that



moment at least; however peevish I were; I could find no pretext



for fault…finding。  It was impossible to conceive more nerve or



spirit; better time or measure; more clearness or richness; than



were in this drumming。  Ideal desire could go no farther in that



direction。  I was enchanted and consoled; the perfection of this



wretched act did me good。  Good is at least possible; I said。



since the ideal can thus sometimes get embodied。〃'320'







'320' Souvenirs de ma Jeunesse; 1897; p。 122。















In Senancour's novel of Obermann a similar transient lifting of



the veil is recorded。  In Paris streets; on a March day; he comes



across a flower in bloom; a jonquil:







〃It was the strongest expression of desire:  it was the first



perfume of the year。  I felt all the happiness destined for man。



This unutterable harmony of souls; the phantom of the ideal



world; arose in me complete。  I never felt anything so great or



so instantaneous。  I know not what shape; what analogy; what



secret of relation it was that made me see in this flower a



limitless beauty。 。 。 。  I shall never inclose in a conception



this power; this immensity that nothing will express; this form



that nothing will contain; this ideal of a better world which one



feels; but which; it seems; nature has not made actual。〃'321'







'321' Op。 cit。; Letter XXX。















We heard in previous lectures of the vivified face of the world



as it may appear to converts after their awakening。'322' As a



rule; religious persons generally assume that whatever natural



facts connect themselves in any way with their destiny are



significant of the divine purposes with them。 Through prayer



the purpose; often far from obvious; comes home to them; and if



it be 〃trial;〃 strength to endure the trial is given。  Thus at



all stages of the prayerful life we find the persuasion that in



the process of communion energy from on high flows in to meet



demand; and becomes operative within the phenomenal world。  So



long as this operativeness is admitted to be real; it makes no



essential difference whether its immediate effects be subjective



or objective。 The fundamental religious point is that in prayer;



spiritual energy; which otherwise would slumber; does become



active; and spiritual work of some kind is effected really。







'322' Above; p。 243 ff。  Compare the withdrawal of expression



from the world; in Melancholiacs; p。 148。















So much for Prayer; taken in the wide sense of any kind of



communion。  As the core of religion; we must return to it in the



next lecture。







The last aspect of the religious life which remains for me to



touch upon is the fact that its manifestations so frequently



connect themselves with the subconscious part of our existence。



You may remember what I said in my opening lecture'323' about the



prevalence of the psychopathic temperament in religious



biography。  You will in point of fact hardly find a religious



leader of any kind in whose life there is no record of



automatisms。  I speak not merely of savage priests and prophets;



whose followers regard automatic utterance and action as by



itself tantamount to inspiration; I speak of leaders of thought



and subjects of intellectualized experience。  Saint Paul had his



visions; his ecstasies; his gift of tongues; small as was the



importance he attached to the latter。 The whole array of



Christian saints and heresiarchs; including the greatest; the



Barnards; the Loyolas; the Luthers; the Foxes; the Wesleys; had



their visions; voices; rapt conditions; guiding impressions; and



〃openings。〃    They had these things; because they had exalted



sensibility; and to such things persons of exalted sensibility



are liable。  In such liability there lie; however; consequences



for theology。  Beliefs are strengthened wherever automatisms



corroborate them。  Incursions from beyond the transmarginal



region have a peculiar power to increase conviction。  The



inchoate sense of presence is infinitely stronger than



conception; but strong as it may be; it is seldom equal to the



evidence of hallucination。  Saints who actually see or hear their



Saviour reach the acme of assurance。  Motor automatisms; though



rarer; are; if possible; even more convincing than sensations。 



The subjects here actually feel themselves played upon by powers



beyond their will。  The evidence is dynamic; the God or spirit



moves the very organs of their body。'324'







'323' Above; pp。 25; 26。







'324' A friend of mine; a first…rate psychologist; who is a



subject of graphic automatism; tells me that the appearance of



independent actuation in the movements of his arm; when he writes



automatically; is so distinct that it obliges him to abandon a



psychophysical theory which he had previously believed in; the



theory; namely; that we have no feeling of the discharge



downwards of our voluntary motor…centres。  We must normally have



such a feeling; he thinks; or the SENSE OF AN ABSENCE would not



be so striking as it is in these experiences。  Graphic automatism



of a fully developed kind is rare in religious history; so far as



my knowledge goes。  Such statements as Antonia Bourignon's; that



〃I do nothing but lend my hand and spirit to another power than



mine;〃 is shown by the context to indicate inspiration rather



than directly automatic writing。  In some eccentric sects this



latter occurs。  The most striking instance of it is probably the



bulky volume called; 〃Oahspe; a new Bible in the Words of Jehovah



and his angel ambassadors;〃 Boston and London; 1891; written and



illustrated automatically by Dr。 Newbrough of New York; whom I



understand to be now; or to have been lately; at the head of the



spiritistic community of Shalam in New Mexico。  The latest



automatically written book which has come under my notice is



〃Zertouhem's Wisdom of the Ages;〃 by George A。 Fuller; Boston;



1901。















The great field for this sense of being the instrument of a



higher power is of course 〃inspiration。〃  It is easy to



discriminate between the religious leaders who have been



habitually subject to inspiration and those who have not。  In the



teachings of the Buddha; of Jesus; of Saint Paul (apart from his



gift of tongues); of Saint Augustine; of Huss; of Luther; of



Wesley; automatic or semi…automatic composition appears to have



been only occasional。  In the Hebrew prophets; on the contrary;



in Mohammed; in some of the Alexandrians; in many minor Catholic



saints; in Fox; in Joseph Smith; something like it appears to



have been frequent; sometimes habitual。  We have distinct



professions of being under the direction of a foreign power; and



serving as its mouthpiece。  As regards the Hebrew prophets; it is



extraordinary; writes an author who has made a careful study of



them; to see







〃How; one after another; the same features are reproduced in the



prophetic books。  The process is always extremely different from



what it would be if the prophe
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