The Christian's Secret BY HANNAH WHITALL SMITH Author of "Every Day Religion Open Secret," "Child Victor F Brawstr) 6-12-30 PREFACE. WH HAT I have to tell in this little book is no new story. The early Church taught it in the days of the Apostles, and from those days, down to the present time, there have been found in every age some whose voices and whose lives have proclaimed it. Many times it has been lost sight of, and the Church has seemed to fall into almost hopeless darkness and lifelessness. But the "secret" has always been preserved by an apostolic succession of those who have walked and talked with God. In the present day the truth concerning it has been afresh revived, and my little book is an effort to tell it again in a way that will be simple enough for all to understand. Too often the language of religion, like the oft repeated chimes of a bell, seems to lose its power to attract attention; and it may be that even a bell of inferior tone shall be able to break the careless inattention of some souls. I have not tried, therefore, to make my book theological. I could not if I would. I have simply sought to tell the blessed story, so old and yet so in the homely and familiar words of every new, day life. I do not want to change the theological views of a single individual. The truths I have to tell are not theological, but practical. They are, I believe, the fundamental truths of life and experience, the truths that underlie all theologies, and that are in fact their real and vital meaning. They will fit in with every creed, simply making it possible for those who hold the creed to live up to their own beliefs, and to find in them the experimental realities of a present Saviour and a present salvation. Most of us acknowledge that there is behind all religions an absolute religion, that holds the vital truth of each; and it is of this absolute religion my book seeks to treat. No doubt it is very imperfectly done, but I can only trust that all its mistakes may be counteracted, and caly that which is true may find entrance into any heart. The book is sent out in tender sympathy and yearning love for all struggling, weary souls, of whatever creed or name; and its message goes right from my heart to theirs. I have given the best I have, and can do no more. |