THE EXPRESSION OF OUR LOVE.
By F. O. McCartney
My love to fellow men is dependent upon the extent to which I am willing to serve them. A willingness to sacrifice in service is the highest possible expression of love. We are sometimes deeply moved at the recital of the need of our fellows. We feel tears coming to our eyes, and our throats choke up a little. That is the right kind of a feeling, but the test of the genuineness is this: Does this emotion express itself in service to our kind, even that service which counts life as naught in comparison to the true well-being of our fellow men? Religion is action, having service as its chief purpose and sacrifice as its method. And this is love. And so with love to God. I believe that a man may feel the presence of the Infinite in his heart and life, in the universe, and in his fellows. But my love to God can express itself how?—By obedience to all the truth that He reveals to me; by service to His children, my brethren; by obedience and service; if needs be, by the sacrifice of all. If you should to-day give body and mind and heart and will to this obedience, to this service, to this sacrifice, you would know then in actual experience what religion is in its essence. And no one can realize what religion is unless he puts into practise these three principles. Devote your life to obedience, service, sacrifice, and through it there will breathe the spirit of a great helpfulness, and from your life there will flow love and light and life to your fellow men.—F. O. McCartney.