lar knowledge. Men disputed whether God is
Finite or Infinite, whether he has a triple or a single aspect. How
should they know? All we need to know is the face he turns to us. They
impose their horrible creeds and distinctions. None of those things
matter. Call him Christ the God or call him simply God, Allah, Heaven;
it does not matter. He comes to us, we know, like a Helper and Friend;
that is all we want to know. You may speculate further if you like, but
it is not religion. They dispute whether he can set aside nature. But
that is superstition. He is either master of nature and he knows that it
is good, or he is part of nature and must obey. That is an argument for
hair-splitting metaphysicians. Either answer means the same for us. It
does not matter which way we come to believe that he does not idly set
the course of things aside. Obviously he does not set the course of
things aside. What he does do for certain is to give us courage and save
us from our selfishness and the bitter hell it makes for us. And every
one knows too what sort of things we want, and for what end we want
to escape from ourselves. We want to do right. And right, if you think
clearly, is just truth within and service without, the service of God's
kingdom, which is mankind, the service of human needs and the increase
of human power and experience. It is all perfectly plain, it is all
quite easy for any one to understand, who isn't misled and chattered at
and threatened and poisoned by evil priests and teachers."

"And you are going to preach that, Daddy?"

"If I can. When I am free--you know I have still to resign and give
up--I shall make that my message."

"And so God comes."

"God comes as men perceive him in his simplicity.... Let men but see God
simply, and forthwith God and his kingdom possess the world."

She looked out to sea in silence for awhile.

Then she turned to her father. "And you think that His Kingdom will
come--perhaps in quite a little time--perhaps in our lifetimes? And
that all these ridiculous or wicked little kings and emperors, and
these political parties, and these policies and conspiracies, and
this nationalist nonsense and all the patriotism and rowdyism, all the
private profit-seeking and every baseness in life, all the things that
it is so horrible and disgusting to be young among and powerless among,
you think they will fade before him?"

The bishop pulled his faith together.

"They will fade before him-