PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY REVIVED 67 



In the old Hebrew days, men who could see right 

 through the outward appearance of things to the truth 

 of God which lies behind those outward appearances, 

 were called '* seers/' And the Early Friends were 

 seers ; for, by the light of Christ, they saw right through 

 all external appearances, all shows and shams, and stood 

 face to face with the Eternal Truth of God* To such 

 men all creeds and dogmas, all signs and symbols, all 

 outward rites and sacerdotal observances, were mere 

 hindrances and impediments to truth. Nor need we 

 wonder at this, for those to whom the '' real presence '' 

 was a daily, and even a constant experience, could never 

 be satisfied with baubles* 



And that reality, which the Society of Friends has 

 stood for in the past, we wish to stand for to-day* Will 

 you not come then, and worship with us ? Throw aside 

 your crutches, your creeds, your ritual, your prepared 

 sermon, your pre-arranged services, your outward and 

 visible signs, which all too often correspond to no 

 realities of spiritual experience, and let us together 

 worship God in the beauty of holiness, and in the 

 simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. 



'' But,'' you say, '* I find my crutches a help to me, 

 and it is surely better to go to Heaven on crutches than 

 never to get there*" Yes ; a thousand times yes I But 

 why limp to Heaven like cripples when we can walk 

 erect like men, as Christ intended we should do ? 



'* But," again you will say, '* I have been to your 

 meetings, and I have not found them helpful* I 

 believe your ideal to be the true one, but in actual practice 

 your meetings are not what I need*" 



Well ! our meetings are what we make them, and 

 if they are not ideal, then come and help to make them 

 so* The liberty which we claim for ourselves, we do 

 not deny to others* Our only stipulation is that all 

 things shall be done decently and in order, and that all 



