The Sympathy of God.

Mr. C. P. Parker gave last evening the final lecture of his course on Natural Religion.

Our thoughts in these discussions, he said, have been centored upon the presence everywhere and at all times of a great Reality. We have used the words Power and Reason as being truly descriptive of that Reality. We have seen that the knowledge which that power must have of the sympathetic creatures which it has made, suggests the presence of something like sympathy in it. We need not be surprised at finding something like feeling in the Eternal Force. No one knows force who thinks of it simply as producing physical motion. Plants, animals and men show us other aspects of force. We must know life, self-movement, thought and feeling in order to know force as it is. But we must test our theory of divine sympathy by seeing whether the nature forces as moved by the Eternal Power give actual help to the desires of men. An examination of the help which individuals and nations find from nature shows that the more reasonable men are, and the better their organization, the more help nature gives. With unreason and with isolation we find no sign of sympathy. Nature however seems to have no complete power to satisfy man. His desire grows by what it feeds on. But if men turn from the works of God to God Himself they find new help and satisfaction in Him. We have not used the word of God in these lectures till now, but the action of the Eternal Power is now seen to be so personal that we cannot refrain from the word. Since God helps reasonable desire we must make careful study to see what desires are reasonable. Great desires may be perfectly so. We need much help from wise men who study and know God Himself, if we are to learn what God's desire for the future of the world is. Among these great men none is more important to study than Christ. We must try to find by patient study the real nature of Christ's power.