OUR FAR-REACHING INFLUENCE
By L. A. R.
"WE are made a spectacle unto the world [Greek, the cosmos, or universe], and to angels, and to men." Certainly here is a wide enough sphere of influence for anybody. This is not the word of any mere man, either. The pen of inspiration has written it, and declares to us that our influence moves out in lines that extend beyond the stars. And this influence is not a stray word that goes out here and there, and now and then, for the word "spectacle" comes from the Greek term which means circus, or amphitheater. At Corinth, and other Greek cities, there was the great outdoor theater,—an amphitheater, or a theater in which the seats were built up one above another in centrical lines around the stage. Thousands of people could assemble in the seats, and look down upon the stage, where some play or show of interest was enacted. So, then, if we are made an amphitheater to the world, to angels, and to men, it means that something of more than usual interest is going on. They peer down upon us from the seats of the mighty. They "desire to look into these things." They long to know the meaning of human life and human history, and the course and outcome of the great controversy between good and evil. "We are made a spectacle to the universe, to angels, and to men." Who will remember it to-day, and walk in the realization of it, knowing that his words, his acts, yea, even his thoughts, shall be scrutinized in the great controversy? What we do shall throw light or cast a shadow, illuminating the problem or darkening counsel in the conflict. Here is the influence of human life as recorded in the Book. These are the dimensions of its sphere. Who, then, can say that the days are insignificant, and that life is not worth while?