FAITH 89 



belong to it, but which may nevertheless be perfectly 

 legitimate. This fact was brought home to my mind 

 some years ago, when the subject of faith was discussed 

 at our Adult School. I began the discussion by asking 

 for a definition of the word '' faith/' and the answer 

 I received was, ** Faith is that which brings us in touch 

 with God/* It was not the answer which I wanted, 

 but here we have one of those associations which have 

 gathered round the word *' Faith,*' and which now 

 rightly belongs to it. I told the men to think of one of 

 our Manchester tram-cars, the arm of which is broken 

 so that it is out of touch with the trolley-wire. 

 There it stands in the way, and if it is to be 

 got out of the way it must be pushed along, or 

 lifted bodily. Such is belief in a doctrine. But 

 imagine the same car with the arm intact, and not only 

 intact, but in contact with the trolley- wire. Now, not 

 only can it move, but it can carry its heavy freight of 

 passengers to their destination. That is Faith. There 

 is no such thing as a passive faith. Faith always works, 

 and anything that does not work is not faith. It may 

 be belief ; it may be credulity ; it may be superstition : 

 but faith it is not. 



When I was a small child, I used to be put to bed in 

 a large nursery, having a heavy wooden shutter which 

 moved upwards in front of the window, to keep out the 

 light. It was a most unheahhy arrangement, but that 

 was long before the importance of light and air was 

 recognised by parents. I well remember one summer 

 evening the nurse put me to bed with an older brother, 

 and left us without having completely closed the shutter. 

 A wide chink was left at the top, through which a broad 

 beam of light streamed upon our bed. Having been 

 accustomed to absolute darkness we could not sleep. 

 For some time we tossed about, until a happy thought 

 struck us» We had heard of the efficacy of prayer, and 



