The name is absent

204 A Baccalaureate Sermon

Greeks teach us that the more we cultivate our sense of
beauty, of simplicity, of symmetry, and sincerity, the more
worth while shall we make our lives.

We have then both to Romanize and Hellenize ourselves.
We have to revere our flag, our country, and our con-
stitution, and we have to banish the ugly and unesthetic
from our lives. So closely have the threads of loyalty,
beauty, justice, and refinement to be interwoven that it will
be no longer possible to disentangle them from each other.
A few moments ago I said that if there was the majesty
of the law, there was also the law of majesty. The
majesty of the law is Romanism. The law of majesty is
Hellenism. Let me now add that if there is a duty of
happiness, there is also a happiness of duty. The duty
of happiness is Hellenism, the happiness of duty is Hebra-
ism. The Jew never believed there could be absolute physi-
cal grace where there was any moral disgrace. See what a
picture the Bible draws of Absalom: “But in all Israel
there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his
beauty. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head
there was no blemish in him.” But in the very next chapter
the historian does not fail to remind us that this same hand-
some man stole the hearts of the men of Israel, rebelled
against his own father, and came to an ignominious end.

The ancient Hebrew was the incarnation of religion.
Aye, even in idolatry, it was really the spiritual side of his
nature that asserted itself. And his religion fathered
his legal code, his esthetic code, his moral code. A trifle
gloomy you think. That depends upon our frame of mind
when we consider the subject. Narrow and unesthetic?
Yes, if we make it so. A cult for simple-minded people.
Then place the world’s greatest among the simple-minded.
Those who never feel the urgent call of the soul think every

<<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   >>

More intriguing information