In whatever direction we look to-day, we see the danger of an invading materialism. By this I do not mean any philosophic position. In fact, I do not believe that what might be called philosophic materialism is gaining ground at the present time. It does seem to me, however, that a practical agnosticism is making itself felt in very many quarters. The vague sense that God is responsible for the Universe, that at one time some great Cause operated to bring it all into being and that, in some way, we are all still depending upon the benevolent activity of that Cause, is not 70Christianity. The Christian Church is being invaded by this uncertainty with regard to God. There is a loosening, it seems to me, of that close grip upon the eternal verities which enables men perpetually to draw upon the resources of God, to throw themselves in the abandonment of faith upon a living Savior and to find that faith justified at every step of the way. Men do not like to set forth upon a path without knowing whither it leads. The prevailing scientific temper leads men to test everything many times, to trust nothing beyond the range of verifiable scientific facts. This breeds a spirit which only takes cognizance of the things which can be seen and felt and weighed and measured. Where is there room in this narrowed universe for the limitless activity of the God of Love?  
When we turn our eyes to the non-Christian world, the danger becomes more startlingly apparent. Here are the “child races” filled with that sense of the mystery and awe which the little child, even in our materialistic modern world, still has. The savage thinks of God as infinitely near, 71or at least he thinks that the spirits of the departed are. It needs no carefully stated argument to demonstrate the existence of an unknown world. It lies all about and around. He is reminded of it by the thunder and the lightning. And to him there comes our modern education explaining away all the beautiful or the dreadful mystery of life, and, before he knows what has happened, he is losing his sense of God. The old sanctions are loosened as the old fear is removed, and he has got helplessly adrift into the mid-stream of a barren rationalism.
 
What are we to do for him and what are we to do for the modern man in our midst? We shall not have to go very far to search for those who still find the remedy in an elaborate and beautiful religious ceremonial; who will tell us that it is foolish to build our religious conviction upon mere personal experience: that we are rather to turn back to the experience of the Christian Church. We are to observe its ordinances perfectly. There are to be stated seasons of prayer: there are to be stated means of grace: 72and through these, whether you feel any better for it or not, you will be brought into line with the experience of the Catholic Church and become partakers of Heavenly grace. I am far from denying that beautiful forms of worship, that stated seasons of prayer, or that time-honored ritual may have a real place in the spiritual experience of very many. Doubtless, these things have been of value in bringing numbers of souls into the Kingdom of God, and will still be so. To me it seems, however, that they are fraught with great danger. Especially at the present time, when men intensely desire reality, they are apt to become impatient with the forms of a bygone age, however zealously they may be followed by some of their contemporaries. And, on the other hand, there are those who are too readily content with the outward and allow the mere forms of religion to salve the uneasy conscience. W............