ues, in the way of Truth, Beauty and Goodness; that its
laws, forces and material readily lend themselves to the purpose of
anyone who will use them for that high creative end, turning out, in
fact, to be the very kind of laws, forces and material which such an
one needs. Well then, I will see. I will base my life on the
assumption that somewhere, in the height above or in the depth below,
Power is waiting to back me up. That Power, if I find it, shall be my
God. Is it not reasonable to suppose that, if it exists, it will find
some means of making me aware of its presence? That then shall be my
experiment, and I will abide by the result."

A person who reasons with himself in this manner is taking the most
practical, and the wisest means I know of to determine the question
whether God exists. For my own part I should view his experiment with
hope proportioned to his sincerity. Frankly, I should expect him to
make discovery of the Living God, as a reality, as a companion, as a
friend. Whether to the reality, companion, friend, so discovered he
gave the name "God," or some other name, I should not regard as a
matter of supreme importance. If he chose to call it Christ, or more
simply "the Spirit," I should not quarrel with him. The discovery is
far too momentous to be imperilled for a name. Its value lies not in
its name but in its _reality_. "Few things are easier," says John
Henry Newman, "than to use the name of God and mean nothing by it."
Call it then by a name which means something, and not by a name which
means nothing.

All religious testimony, so far as I can interpret its meaning,
converges towards a single point, namely this. There is that in the
world, call it what you will, which responds to the confidence of those
who trust it, declaring itself, to them, as a fellow-worker in the
pursuit of the Eternal Values, meeting their loyalty to it with
reciprocal loyalty to them, and coming in at critical moments when the
need of its sympathy is greatest; the conclusion being, that wherever
there is a soul in darkness, obstruction or misery, there also is a
Power which can help, deliver, illuminate and gladden that soul. This
is the Helper of men, sharing their business as Creators of Value,
nearest at hand when the worst has to be encountered; the companion of
the brave, the upholder of the loyal, the friend of the lover, the
healer of the broken, the joy of the victorious--the God who is spirit,
the