June 14

Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden. . I will go before thee. . I girded thee though thou hast not known Me.

THERE is a frequent charge made in our day against what are called the more advanced schools of theology, of scepticism and irreverence. But this passage reminds us that the most sceptical and irreverent are those old-fashioned believers who, clinging to precedent and their own stereotyped notions of things, deny that God's hands are in a movement because it is novel and not orthodox. Woe unto him that striveth with his Moulder; shall the clay say to its moulder, What makest thou? God did not cease moulding when He gave us the canon and our creeds, when He founded the Church and the Sacraments. His hand is still among the clay, and upon time, that great "potter's wheel," which still moves obedient to His impulse. All the large forward movements, the big things of to-day—commerce, science, criticism—however neutral, like Cyrus, their character may be, are, like Cyrus, grasped and anointed by God. Therefore let us show reverence and courage before the great things of to-day. Do not let us scoff at their novelty or grow fearful because they show no orthodox or even religious character. God reigns, and He will use them for what has been the dearest purpose of His heart, the emancipation of true religion, the confirmation of the faithful, the victory of righteousness.

GEORGE ADAM SMITH

THE MAKER OF FREEDOM