But we couldn't get on without
the spiritual brotherhood, whatever became of our special creeds. There
is a genius for religion, just as there is for painting or sculpture. It
is half-sister to the genius for music, and has some of the features
which remind us of earthly love. But it lifts us all by its mere
presence. To see a good man and hear his voice once a week would be
reason enough for building churches and pulpits. The Master stopped all
at once, and after about half a minute laughed his pleasant laugh.
What is it?--I asked him.
I was thinking of the great coach and team that is carrying us fast
enough, I don't know but too fast, somewhere or other. The D. D.'s used
to be the leaders, but now they are the wheel-horses. It's pretty hard
to tell how much they pull, but we know they can hold back like the----
--When we're going down hill,--I said, as neatly as if I had been a
High-Church curate trained to snap at the last word of the response, so
that you couldn't wedge in the tail of a comma between the end of the
congregation's closing syllable and the beginning of the next petition.
They do it well, but it always spoils my devotion. To save my life, I
can't help watching them, as I watch to see a duck dive at the flash of a
gun, and that is not what I go to church for.
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