Worship in Spirit and in Truth.
Not long ago we went to church in the city of—well, no matter where. There had recently occurred in our personal experience some things to gladden us, and others to give us anxiety, and we felt unusually disposed to seek the relief of prayer and praise in public worship. We hoped that the minister would be able to express our desires better than we could, and that we might be able to join in some hymn of thanksgiving set to a familiar tune—our repertoire is not large. We had been sitting in the richly-upholstered pew and staring at the painted windows but a few moments when the organ suddenly hushed, and in a distant corner of the church four fashionably-dressed ladies and gentlemen arose and sang. And this is what they sang:— “God is a spirit; God is a spirit; and they that worship him, and they that worship him, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit: and they that worship him; God is a spirit: must worship him: they must: must worship; ship him; in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such: (tenor) for the (all, loud) seeketh such, seeketh such, seeketh such to worship him. (Very softly) God is a spirit; (waxing louder) God is a spirit; and they; they that worship him; they; and they; they that worship him; must worship him, must worship him, and (loud, yellendo) THEY that worship him; and they; must; that worship him (tenor, softly) must; (contralto) worship; (all) him in spirit and in truth; (all but tenor) for; (all) the Father seeketh such; (bass) seeketh such; (all softly) to worship him, to worship; (sort o’ dying away) in spirit and in tru-u-u-th.” As the concluding cadences softly died away among the vacant pews, like the “still, small voice” among the cliffs of Sinai, we could not help wondering whether those much-tortured words had any meaning, and if so, whether that meaning had any application to the performance just ended. What is “worship in spirit and in truth”?—New-Haven Palladium.