Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker volume 3.djvu/168

Rh ready been made, and into which ourselves are liable to fall. Then, secondly, I make this distinction and dwell upon it because each of these three things is often set up as piety itself, and a man is told he can have no real piety in one church without superstition; in another without fanaticism; and in a third, without mysticism.

Now real piety is the safeguard of all other forms of happiness; it is the greatest of human joys. Our delight in the world of God far transcends all our delight in the world of matter or in the world of man. If I am sure of God, sure of His infinite power, wisdom, justice, love, and holiness, then I am sure of everything else. I know that He has planned all things wisely, and will finally bring out all things well. Then I have a foundation on which I can build other things, and build securely. Then the universe—the world of matter and the world of man—looks permanent; I can rely on it. But without this certainty of God, I am not sure of anything; uncertainty hedges me in on every side. Now I doubt, then I fear, next I despair; for if all things depend on chance, as the atheist says—the blind action of blind forces—then there is no security that anything is planned wisely or will turn out well; and if they depend on an imperfect God, changeable, wilful, capricious, as the popular theology teaches, then there is the same lack of certainty, and I am not sure that God planned wisely or provides well. If they depend on an ugly and malignant God, as so many persons still teach, and some believe,—why, there is no hope; there is fear—yes, despair! In my nature there is a great demand for happiness, for immortality, for heaven. Logically, according to the light of nature, that demand, which comes of my constitution, implies the promise to pay ; but if I am not sure of God, then I have only the promise to pay in my nature, but there is no endorser on the note; there is no security lodged as collateral for payment, and I cannot trust the promissor. This misfortune is a very deep one, and it is felt also in all the popular churches that are about us.

Thus my consciousness of God colours all the other facts of consciousness; my world of matter and my world of man take their complexion from my world of God. This