Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/175

175

THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.

  "And whose great and even little intellects," added
Hold, "fancy they can limit and define this Being
whom they were created to worship, and assign to him
his place in their systems of the universe."
  "Let us leave them," interrupted Mander. "I per-
ceive that here, on this little flat, with the heaven so
wide above it, the sea so broad around it, and almost
without an object to remind one of the feeble works of
man, that here the heart grows larger, and that thought
will no longer permit itself to be bridled and held in
check by abstract ideas and logical conclusions, but
soars freely outward, toward eternity. As I was sit-
ting, last evening, on the broken font in the old church-
yard, and saw only the sea around, and the starry
heavens above, it seemed to me as if I, too, were float-
ing in the ocean of the universe, myself a little world,
moved by the breath of God, sustained by his power,
illuminated by his Spirit, peaceful and happy as the
other stars, worshiping, like them, the Creator, the Up-
holder, and the Governor of all ; and I still feel as if,
having been once so rich, I could never again be so poor
in faith and in the joy of believing- as before."
  "May, then," said Hold, as if in benediction, "may
then, the morning-star which has arisen in your heart
shine there forever. Must he not be a God of love,
who gives such hours to men? Shall we deny that in
such sacred moments, the Lord himself speaks ? deny
it, because our tongues have no power to repeat His
words ? But you inquired why God should do such
great things for insignificant man as to reveal himself
to him, in his majesty, to bring him light in his dark-
ness, peace in his warfare, in such a way as the Gospel