Page:Heralds of God.djvu/57

Rh Him, and find Him." You will remember how the invincible wistfulness of faith kept glimmering even through the scepticism of Thomas Hardy:

Surely if we had ears to hear and eyes to see, we should recognize the same deep ache and yearning to-day even in lives apparently devoid of Christian convictions, lacking any conscious background of God for their thinking and activity, with no flame of prayer on the altar of their spirits, and no conception of a risen, regnant Christ who has overcome the sharpness of death and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. To all intents and purposes, the sceptical mood and the assault of doubt and denial have choked their spiritual life, as the Philistines choked the wells of Abraham in the valley of Gerar long ago; but you will find, as Isaac did, that the underground wells are still there, buried but undestroyed, and needing only the touch of faith and love to set them flowing free again. That is the measure of your opportunity.

Signs are indeed not wanting that the sceptical mood is less sure of itself to-day than a generation ago. Its armour has been pierced. Its self-confidence has been badly shaken. You will not be handicapped, as were 51