Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/128

 HO PSYCHOLOGY AND PREACHING

cant for teachers and preachers. Indeed, are they not supremely significant for all men? The making of char acter is the one serious business in the world. No man has begun to get the right point of view upon his work until he looks at it in its relation to character-making. The failure to do this is what degrades so much of the world s work. But in an especial way this matter is important for preachers; for their business in a peculiarly direct way is aimed at the development of right sentiments and ideals. However strongly they may believe in and insist on the direct regenerating and sanctifying action of the Divine Spirit upon the hearts of men and I do strongly believe in it the only way in which they can relate themselves to this process is by developing the proper mental attitudes and emotional dispositions in the people to whom they minister. A right emotional attitude seems to be the necessary condi tion for the redeeming action of the Divine upon the human spirit, and right emotional attitudes are the necessary condi tions for the development of the spiritual life after it has been initiated. At any rate, however these emotional dispo sitions may be related to the action of the Divine Spirit a matter about which theologians have found it difficult to reach an agreement it is certain that they have a vital re lation to the origin and progress of the spiritual life, and it is certain also that they are very largely under the control of human agencies. And it is the preacher s high privilege and responsibility to influence the spiritual life from begin ning to end by developing these dispositions.

IV. This leads to the question, how are these emotional dispositions developed? To be concrete, let us ask how a child s sentiment for its mother is developed. That senti ment is not in-born ; but from the beginning of life the little one has numerous and varying experiences of its mother. Normally these experiences are such as to give satisfaction to its varying needs and are attended by pleasant feelings; her absence is accompanied by the consciousness of unsatis fied needs and unpleasant feelings. There thus grows up

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