Christian World Pulpit, Ixxii. 311 (W. S. Swanaon); Ixxviii. 101 (R. H. Wray).
Timely Remembrance:
Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, or ever the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. — Eccles. xii. i.
All the books, both of the New Testament and of the Old, may be said to have been written in faith and by faith. But we might use different words to describe the faith of the different saints and prophets who wrote them, or whose deeds are told there ; if we should say that Moses had a self-sacrificing faith, Isaiah an expectant faith, Jeremiah a sustaining faith, Daniel a consoling faith, we might express some special truth as to the writings and spirit of each, as well as the true faith in God which is common to all. And if we thus distinguish the kinds of faith wherein the books of Scripture are written, we might say that this Book of the Preacher was written with a daringly honest faith, a faith that would look facts in the face, and see God in or behind those very things which serve to hide Him from most others.
Ecclesiastes is never afraid to declare his belief that life is good and pleasant — parts, at least, of this life very pleasant indeed, and meant to be enjoyed. " Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun " ; " Eejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes."
But he knew all the time that faith must be strengthened by all truth ; that every single truth agrees with every other, while "no lie is of the truth," and no lie can serve the truth. The world is good — good because God made it ; but for us to live for this world only is not good, because this world will pass away, and we shall not, but shall have to be judged. He therefore speaks the words of the text in which he appeals to those who have life before them to remember God whatever else they forget.
422 TIMELY REMEMBRANCE
^ " There is a polish for everything that taketh away rust ; and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God." The companions said, " Is not fighting with the infidels also like this ? " Lord Muhammad said, " No, although he fight until his sword be broken ! " ^
^ On a chalk hill in England there is a gigantic figure of a horse cut out on the green turf, allowing the white soil to be seen. This was an idol that was worshipped by our heathen ancestors. It was the white horse of Odin that was held in the deepest reverence all over the North of Europe. Provision was made for keeping the shape of this figure clear and distinct on the hill for all time coming. At stated intervals a grand ceremony took place, attended with much pomp, called " the Scouring of the White Horse," which consisted in removing the weeds and grasses that had choked and obscured the white lines of the gigantic idol cut out on the hill- side.*
1. " Bememher." — The word " remember " in the text is a word full of meaning. It tells us that we have not to do something new, but to keep in mind something that we have already known. We have not by searching to find out a God unknown to us, but to recall a God in whose image we were created, by whose grace we were redeemed, and for whose glory we were made. His likeness was at first stamped upon us, as truly as the portrait of the king is stamped upon the coin we use, and on the postage stamp we put upon our letter. In the most sinful and polluted nature traces of this Divine image can be detected. And what is wanted is that this Divine image in us, which sin has soiled and defaced, which the evil things of the world have grown over and hidden, shall be restored.
f On 28th July, 1900, Westcott again addressed the Durham miners at their service in the Cathedral. In opening his address the Bishop said : " A great modern writer has said, ' If I looked into a mirror, and did not see my face, I should have the sort of feeling which actually comes upon me when I look into this living busy world and see no reflexion of its Creator.' It is a startling and terrible image. I know no more impressive one in literature, and have we not all felt something of the same kind ? We look upon the life of men whom God has made in His own image, and expect to find everywhere tenderness, self-control, self-sacrifice,
* The Sayings of Muhamvutd (trans, by Al-Suhrawardy), 116. ^ JJugh Macmillan, The Daisies of Nazareth, 70,
ECCLESIASTES xii. i 423
love in its thousand shapes ; instead of this we are met on all sides by selfishness, self-indulgence, passion, carelessness of all things except the desire of the moment. As Cardinal Newman says, it is as if we looked into a mirror and did not see our face. If, indeed, what we see upon the surface were all, I do not think that life could be lived. But, thank God, it is not all. When a sudden crisis comes, commonplace men, men hitherto in no way distinguished from their fellows, prove themselves heroes. They hear in their own souls the voice of God, and without one thought lay down their lives to save their comrades. Your own work, your own experience, is fertile in acts of unlooked-for and unpre- pared self-devotion. Such deeds correct our first impressions. They show us the true man ; and we rejoice. God has not left the world which He called into being, though He hide Himself, and if the eyes of our hearts are open we can see Him. We rejoice in the signs of a Divine nature." ^