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and that of happy relaxation; of calm deep breathing; of an



eternal present; with no discordant future to be anxious about;



has arrived。  Fear is not held in abeyance as it is by mere



morality; it is positively expunged and washed away。







We shall see abundant examples of this happy state of mind in



later lectures of this course。  We shall see how infinitely



passionate a thing religion at its highest flights can be。  Like



love; like wrath; like hope; ambition; jealousy; like every other



instinctive eagerness and impulse; it adds to life an enchantment



which is not rationally or logically deducible from anything



else。  This enchantment; coming as a gift when it does comea



gift of our organism; the physiologists will tell us; a gift of



God's grace; the theologians say is either there or not there



for us; and there are persons who can no more become possessed by



it than they can fall in love with a given woman by mere word of



command。  Religious feeling is thus an absolute addition to the



Subject's range of life。  It gives him a new sphere of power。



When the outward battle is lost; and the outer world disowns him;



it redeems and vivifies an interior world which otherwise would



be an empty waste。







If religion is to mean anything definite for us; it seems to me



that we ought to take it as meaning this added dimension of



emotion; this enthusiastic temper of espousal; in regions where



morality strictly so called can at best but bow its head and



acquiesce。  It ought to mean nothing short of this new reach of



freedom for us; with the struggle over; the keynote of the



universe sounding in our ears; and everlasting possession spread



before our eyes。'18'







'18' Once more; there are plenty of men; constitutionally sombre



men; in whose religious life this rapturousness is lacking。  They



are religious in the wider sense; yet in this acutest of all



senses they are not so; and it is religion in the acutest sense



that I wish; without disputing about words; to study first; so as



to get at its typical differentia。















This sort of happiness in the absolute and everlasting is what we



find nowhere but in religion。  It is parted off from all mere



animal happiness; all mere enjoyment of the present; by that



element of solemnity of which I have already made so much



account。  Solemnity is a hard thing to define abstractly; but



certain of its marks are patent enough。 A solemn state of mind is



never crude or simpleit seems to contain a certain measure of



its own opposite in solution。 A solemn joy preserves a sort of



bitter in its sweetness; a solemn sorrow is one to which we



intimately consent。  But there are writers who; realizing that



happiness of a supreme sort is the prerogative of religion;



forget this complication; and call all happiness; as such;



religious。  Mr。 Havelock Ellis; for example; identifies religion



with the entire field of the soul's liberation from oppressive



moods。







〃The simplest functions of physiological life;〃 he writes may be



its ministers。  Every one who is at all acquainted with the



Persian mystics knows how wine may be regarded as an instrument



of religion。  Indeed; in all countries and in all ages some form



of physical enlargementsinging; dancing; drinking; sexual



excitementhas been intimately associated with worship。 Even the



momentary expansion of the soul in laughter is; to however slight



an extent; a religious exercise。 。 。 。 Whenever an impulse from



the world strikes against the organism; and the resultant is not



discomfort or pain; not even the muscular contraction of



strenuous manhood; but a joyous expansion or aspiration of the



whole soulthere is religion。 It is the infinite for which we



hunger; and we ride gladly on every little wave that promises to



bear us towards it。〃'19'







'19' The New Spirit; p。 232。















But such a straight identification of religion with any and every



form of happiness leaves the essential peculiarity of religious



happiness out。  The more commonplace happinesses which we get are



〃reliefs;〃 occasioned by our momentary escapes from evils either



experienced or threatened。 But in its most characteristic



embodiments; religious happiness is no mere feeling of escape。 



It cares no longer to escape。  It consents to the evil outwardly



as a form of sacrificeinwardly it knows it to be permanently



overcome。 If you ask HOW religion thus falls on the thorns and



faces death; and in the very act annuls annihilation; I cannot



explain the matter; for it is religion's secret; and to



understand it you must yourself have been a religious man of the



extremer type。  In our future examples; even of the simplest and



healthiest…minded type of religious consciousness; we shall find



this complex sacrificial constitution; in which a higher



happiness holds a lower unhappiness in check。  In the Louvre



there is a picture; by Guido Reni; of St。 Michael with his foot



on Satan's neck。  The richness of the picture is in large part



due to the fiend's figure being there。  The richness of its



allegorical meaning also is due to his being therethat is; the



world is all the richer for having a devil in it; SO LONG AS WE



KEEP OUR FOOT UPON HIS NECK。  In the religious consciousness;



that is just the position in which the fiend; the negative or



tragic principle; is found; and for that very reason the



religious consciousness is so rich from the emotional point of



view。'20'  We shall see how in certain men and women it takes on



a monstrously ascetic form。  There are saints who have literally



fed on the negative principle; on humiliation and privation; and



the thought of suffering and deaththeir souls growing in



happiness just in proportion as their outward state grew more



intolerable。  No other emotion than religious emotion can bring a



man to this peculiar pass。  And it is for that reason that when



we ask our question about the value of religion for human life; I



think we ought to look for the answer among these violenter



examples rather than among those of a more moderate hue。







'20' I owe this allegorical illustration to my lamented colleague



and Friend; Charles Carroll Everett。















Having the phenomenon of our study in its acutest possible form



to start with; we can shade down as much as we please later。  And



if in these cases; repulsive as they are to our ordinary worldly



way of judging; we find ourselves compelled to acknowledge



religion's value and treat it with respect; it will have proved



in some way its value for life at large。  By subtracting and



toning down extravagances we may thereupon proceed to trace the



boundaries of its legitimate sway。







To be sure; it makes our task difficult to have to deal so muck



with eccentricities and extremes。  〃How CAN religion on the whole



be the most important of all human functions;〃 you may ask; 〃if



every several manifestation of it in turn have to be corrected



and sobered down and pruned away?〃  







Such a thesis seems a paradox impossible to sustain



reasonablyyet I believe that something like it will have to be



our final contention。  That personal attitude which the



individual finds himself impelled to take up towards what he



apprehends to be the divineand you will remember that this was



our definitionwill prove to be both a helpless and a



sacrificial attitude。  That is; we shall have to confess to at



least some amount of dependence on sheer mercy; and to practice



some amount of renunciation; great or small; to save our souls



alive。  The constitution of the world we live in requires it:







          〃Entbehren sollst du! sollst entbehren!



           Das ist der ewige Gesang



           Der jedem an die Ohren klingt;



           Den; unser ganzes Leben lang



           Uns heiser jede Stunde singt。〃







For when all is said and done; we are in the end absolutely



dependent on the universe; and into sacrifices and surrenders of



some sort; deliberately looked at and accepted; we are drawn and



pressed as into our only permanent positions of repose。  Now in



those states of mind which fall short of religion; the surrender



is submitted to as an imposition of necessity; and the sacrifice



is undergone at the very best without complaint。  In the



religious life; on the contrary; surrender and sacrifice are



positively espoused:  even unnecessary givings…up 

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