IV

THE ORIGIN OF MAN


When the mainspring is broken a watch ceases to be useful as a
timekeeper. A handsome case may make it still an ornament and the parts
may have a market value, but it cannot serve the purpose of a watch.
There is that in each human life that corresponds to the mainspring of a
watch--that which is absolutely necessary if the life is to be what it
should be, a real life and not a mere existence. That necessary thing is
_a belief in God_. Religion is defined as the relation between God and
man, and Tolstoy has described morality as the outward expression of
this inward relationship.

If it be true, as I believe it is, that morality is dependent upon
religion, then religion is not only the most practical thing in the
world, but the first essential. Without religion, viz., a sense of
dependence upon God and reverence for Him, one can play a part in both
the physical and the intellectual world, but he cannot live up to the
possibilities which God has placed within the reach of each human being.

A belief in God is fundamental; upon it rest the influences that control
life.

First, the consciousness of God's presence in the life gives one a sense
of responsibility to the Creator for every thought and word and deed.