The World as Man Made and Sees It.
THE world! How often we hear the expression! What do you understand by it? Tens of thousands of lips utter the word, and tens of thousands of pens write it daily. What does it mean? Men’s views of it differ almost as much as men differ one from another. It is a very complex word, and may be looked at from many points of view. Speaking generally, in one aspect, it is the moral state of things built up by men, during their sojourn on this little globe, called the earth, rolling wide in its orbit round the sun. It is a strange world, a strange medley! Human thought and device have reduced it to what it is. It is a vast puzzle to the thinker. Millions of minds work on it and search into its mysteries, as for hid treasures. It is a tangled skein, the end of which has not yet been discovered by the wisest. It is an enigma which baffles the loftiest intelligence. The most diligent searcher finds a thus far and no farther, whichever way he pursues his researches. The politician, the scientist, the divine soon gets out of his depth. The most learned scholar is he who most realizes how little he has realized. The most profound thinker is he who most discovers how puny are his loftiest thoughts. The most renowned scientist is conscious that he is only on the threshold of unknown wonders. The greatest divine naturally can only bring natural thoughts to bear on that which is only spiritually understood.
The world! The world! The world! What is it? A strange medley indeed! How bright it looks in youth! What shoreless prospects, what far-stretching vistas of happiness and glory in one way or another float through the imagination, as youth develops into manhood. How many a glittering goal attracts the heart and eye! But when reached, how bitter oft is the disappointment! How many thousands have gone forth, full of youthful ardor and energy, with the world before them as a vast stage for brilliant exploit and noble deeds, and have either been stopped unexpectedly, in the midst of their days, by the rude hand of accident or death; or returned crowned with one of the world’s rewards, its laurels, or its wealth, but with shattered health and a disappointed spirit! Or some unwise action, some false step, some momentary indiscretion, has stopped them short in their career, just ere they succeeded in obtaining the long-sought goal of their hope! Or, maybe, another with greater qualities had stepped into their place, or attained the top of the ladder of human fame instead of them! Unawaited circumstances seemed to conspire against them. Others appreciated not their efforts as they expected; and the heart has become heavy, envious, and sore. The world that seemed so bright and full of prizes, easy to be attained, proved delusive, and as years increased, so also the awakening to the vanity of it all!
The world! Yes, how suited it appears to man, who is the center of it! Mighty empires and kingdoms, brilliant with the accumulated glory of centuries, and historic records of mighty deeds! Luxurious courts, surrounded with all that human learning and invention can produce to render life easy and happy; political, social, religious, and moral elements combining to promote prosperity; mighty armies and navies clad in gorgeous uniform, and armed with every weapon of precision; glorious cities, with costly public buildings and monuments, spacious parks, brilliant streets glittering with electric light, and teeming with well-dressed thousands in elegant equipages or on foot; stately palaces and mansions; libraries, museums, theaters, music-halls, and every evidence of wealth and progress and prosperity! What a field for the heart of man to find satisfaction in, if only satisfaction could be found. Or if the higher needs of his soul demand satisfaction (for he has a soul, and it has needs), man’s world has made its provision. Would you think for a moment of something more spiritual than all the embellishments of art and man’s device to suit the natural senses, you have but to turn aside from the busy throng, and a few short steps will bring you to one of man’s many religious temples, whether cathedral or tabernacle, chapel or church; and there you will find plenty to minister to your religious senses (and man is naturally a religious being). There is music for the ear, the loud pealing organ and religious song, architecture and sculpture for the eyes, the noble dome, the gorgeous transept, the wide-spreading arch, the chaste monument, and reverential religious dress and attitude for the spirit.
The world! Man’s world! What is its future? Time goes on, man’s days pass rapidly. He is a busy creature while they last. Where is the goal? What will be the consummation? Civilization, education, invention are progressing rapidly. Trade both on land and on sea, with its attendant wealth, develops on all hands. Many a product of distant lands, once esteemed as a luxury, is now at the disposal of the masses, and men rejoicing in their success, delight to bring together in vast exhibitions the manifold results of their own skill. But where, we repeat again, is the goal? We have read and heard of the glories of Babylon and Rome, &c., in past ages, but what remains? A few crumbling ruins at most! Will history repeat itself? Will modern European civilization and progress go on advancing till all the world shall revel in power, knowledge, and luxury? Or what? One thing is very certain, that whilst empires and kingdoms progress, individuals by thousands pass off the scene, and lose their part in their glory. Wonderful and glorious things may yet be accomplished, according to human standards; but if so, another generation will profit by it, for none can deny that death is here. And death is a very disappointing factor in it all. But it has to be reckoned with. It is a humiliating thought indeed for a man, in the midst of his advancement and glory, to have to lie down and die! But who can escape it? Who can bid death begone? From the highest to the lowest, from the emperor to the beggar, not one. All the glory of man descends with him into death and the dark grave. What then is all this human glory around us in the light thereof! Useful as much in the world is, in the circumstances of the moment, what doth it all profit, once the summons to leave it comes? Man may put up a monument to your memory, and adorn it with garlands to the honor of your name, but where then are you?
The world! The world! What is it? At its best, a vast deceit, a delusion, a sham! Manifold mercies, privileges, and blessings are found in the midst of it, but in itself that which man has built up for his own delight, it is a cheat, and a snare I There is very much that is beautiful and delightful outwardly, but the one article of death (not to speak of all the misery and suffering on the road to it), is the drop of poison, so to speak, in the glittering and intoxicating cup of joy!
(To be continued.)