God’s Masterpiece

GOD'S MASTERPIECE By H. Bartley Heiner Over the door of every profession, every occupation, every call- ing, the world has a standing advertisement: "Wanted — A Man." One of the most beautiful buildings in America is the congressional library in Washington. The brilliant architect, Mr. Smithmeyer, trav- eled over the world, visiting the most famous buildings in all the lands, before completing the plans for this princely structure. It is a marvel- ous combination of noble dignity and symmetrical beauty, and stands as a triumph of the architect's genius and the builder's skill. There is another building, grander even than the library in Wash- ington. Divinity is its architect. This building is Man — God's Master- piece. What is man?. If you put the question to materialistic thought for an answer, it is: Man is a splendid animal. He stands at the very summit of animal creation. He is a piece of finely organized clay, but at death he is dissolved back into his original elements, and that is all there is of him. If that is all there is of man why these longings, and aspirations after something better, something bigger? Plato defined man as a two-legged animal without feathers. Diogenes pulled the feathers off a rooster and tossed it into the acad- emy, saying, "There is one of Plato's men." Man, according to revelation, is the child of God, created after the exact image of God, physically, morally and intellectually. My definition of a real man is: one who is content with what he has but not with what he is; he is a man by virtue of the things within not without^ A little girl wrote in her composition that, "Man is a two-legged animal that chews tobacco and walks on the forked end." That is a very good definition of some men — so-called — but there are others who do not chew tobacco. The Bible says very wisely, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." It is what we think in our hearts, what we love to think about, which directs our actions, which in turn form our character. What is a miser but a man who has devoted his thoughts for years to making and saving money, till at last it becomes impossible to think of anything else. He would be glad to use his money, to enjoy it, to give, but he cannot; his thoughts have worn so deep a rut of habit that he is un- able to get out of it. As he thinketh in his heart so is he. We talk about the education which comes from books, the culture which is given by study, by schools, by lectures; but the deepest and strongest of all education comes from the atmosphere of thought with which we

GOD'S MASTERPIECE 1 1 79 surround our souls. Therefore the apostle tells us to think of what is true, noble, beautiful, good; not of what is false, base, and mean. To think of good things and good men, brings about noble actions that elevate the soul; while to think of base and mean things inclines us to ignoble actions tending downward. If we are to reach the goal of true leadership, the path of true achievement, the accomplishment of true usefulness, we must have the effort of struggle and sacrifice. Remember that true life is energy. Gothe says that, "Energy will do anything that can be done in this world, and no talents, no circum- stances, no opportunities will make a man without it. In a frame, hung upon the wall in a prominent place in the re- ception room of a large banking house in New York, is the inscription: "Do you use life, or ate you letting life use you?" What a world of thought is opened by this query. Are you one of those who are letting life use you? Are you simply drifting with the current? Or are you guiding your ship of destiny firmly and unwaveringly? We can make of life what we will; we can be used by it, flung about and trampled upon, and at last go down to a nameless death, or we can take control and become a director of our life, and guide it as we will. We can use it to make a better, brighter and happier world, not only for ourselves but for others with whom we may come in contact. The interior force of man, if it is small, is shaped by its surround- ings; but if it is large, it shapes those surroundings. The flower, the tree, may not alter its environment, but a man can and does. Indeed, the whole history of man is the story of his alteration of the environ- ment in which he is born. Progress is but another name for this change. The times demand a high type of manliness. The intrinsic value of a man is not measured by his dollars or lack of dollars, but by his integrity as a citizen to all that is noblest and best in human life. In one of George McDonald's books a despondent character says, "I don't know why God ever made me." Another character replies, "God has not finished you yet. He is just making you now; you are not yet completed; this is only your beginning." What we call life is only the school time. Science places man just a little above the animal. Religion places man just a little beneath the Gods. Whether you are just above the ani- mal or just beneath the Gods depends largely upon your action. No such honor was ever given to any other created being as the being made after the intellectual and moral image of God, but with that honor comes a great responsibility. You can live up to the position in which God places you or you can live on a level with the animals. Burntfork, Wyo.