ffacement, gentle acceptance; of exerting
that love which must be joined to power and a sound mind if the full
life of the Spirit is to be lived. In the realm of the supernatural this
is a solid gain; though not a gain which we are very quick to appreciate
in our vigorous youth. Did we look upon the religious institution not as
an end in itself, but simply as fulfilling the function of a
home--giving shelter and nurture, opportunity of loyalty and mutual
service on one hand, conserving stability and good custom on the
other--then, we should better appreciate its gifts to us, and be more
merciful to its necessary defects. We should be tolerant to its
inevitable conservatism, its tendency to encourage dependence and
obedience to distrust individual initiative. We should no longer expect
it to provide or specially to approve novelty and freedom, to be in the
van of life's forward thrust. For this we must go not to the
institution, which is the vehicle of history; but to the adventurous,
forward moving soul, which is the vehicle of progress--to the prophet,
not to the priest. These two great figures, the Keeper and the Revealer,
which are prominent in every historical religion, represent the two
halves of the fully-lived spiritual life. The progress of man depends
both on conserving and on exploring: and any full incorporation of that
life which will serve man's spiritual interests now, must find place for
both.

Such an application of the institutional idea to present needs is
required, in fact, to fulfil at least four primary conditions:--

(1) It must give a social life that shall develop group consciousness in
respect of our eternal interests and responsibilities: using for this
real discipline, and the influences of liturgy and creed.

(2) Yet it must not so standardize and socialize this life as to leave
no room for personal freedom in the realm of Spirit: for those
"experiences of men in their solitude" which form the very heart of
religion.

(3) It must not be so ring-fenced, so exclusive, so wholly conditioned
by the past, that the voice of the future, that is of the prophet giving
fresh expression to eternal truths, cannot clearly be heard in it; not
only from within its own borders but also from outside. But

(4) On the other hand, it must not be so contemptuous of the past and
its priceless symbols that it breaks with tradition, and so loses that
very element of stability which it is its special province to