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Show Brooks9 Theory for Preachers He Believed They Should Take Active Interest in the Life About Them and Base Their Sermons Thereon. Phillips Brooks, who really was not ambitious for the honor, and cared very little for it, was appointed bishop of Massachusetts In 1891, about two years before his death. A year or so before he became the head of a great dioces?, I had the pleasure of a long chat with him, in the course of which he outlined at some length his theory of the proper sources for the sermons of the preacher of today. "The world of today," said the great pulpit orator, "life as we see it around us. men's activities, the aspirations of children, the conquests of nature for the benefit of mankind all these things, and all others like unto them, furnish abundant inspiration and opportunity op-portunity for the clergyman who wishes to reach right .down into the hearts of those who hear him. In another an-other time, possibly, effective preaching preach-ing depended upon explaining the doctrines, doc-trines, but that is not for this age. "After all. Christ furnished us the best example of the manner in which a preacher or teacher should an-. proach his hearers and those whom he wishes to influence. With the single exception of the Sermon on the Mount, which contains the fundamental fundamen-tal Christian philosophy the precepts upon which the Christian religion was founded Christ always took his examples, his illustrations, his metaphors, meta-phors, from the daily life with which his hearers were familiar. "He could take the most trivial fact of nature and with it emphasize His truths. His allegories, or parables, as I now remember them, were all based upon familiar things. The only occasional occa-sional references to the classics of that day which He made were to the prophets and to -the Jewish scriptures, and with these all who heard Him were perfectly familiar. Ah, what an exquisitely beautiful illustration He made from the lilies of the field, very likely pointing to those He saw blossoming blos-soming about Him as He spoke. . 'And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." "Now," continued Mr. Brooks, "it seems to me that the most effective way of reaching hearers for a preacher preach-er of this time is to bring them into touch with familiar things. That means, of course, that the clergyman should not hold himself aloof, but should take an active interest In every affair of life. He should go about among the people and learn what they are thinking about and what they are 'doing. He should have an eye for nature; na-ture; he should be affected by the flowers, the foliage and the birds of the air, just as so many of the poor people are. I have tried to follow this course, and it has not been an effort of the will for me to do so, since it has always been a most gratifying experience ex-perience with me." Dr. Brooks certainly practiced what he preached in this respect. He went about among the lowly, but without superior mannerism, and gained their ! confidence. He was seen once in a j humble Boston tenement, with an in- tant upon nis Knee, playing with another an-other child upon the floor, at his feet, and chatting merrily with the parents, who must have looked upon that visit as a pastoral call of the best kind. He was as fond as Thoreau was of visiting the wharves of Boston; he was many times seen watching the coming in and sailing of ships and listening to the none too discreet conversation con-versation of the stevedores and longshoremen. long-shoremen. Within less than a quarter of an hour after he had delivered a wonderfully powerful Advent sermon to 3,000 business i an gathered in Trinity church, in New York, he went arm in arm with a friend across the street to one of the famous downtown restaurants, and sat at a table for the better part of an hour keenly observing observ-ing the coming and going of the great throng which rushed into that place for its noontime lunch. He was a constant student of life and of nature; : he applied this study in his sermons; and it was because of this, undoubted ly, that he, perhaps more effectively than any other preacher of his time touched the hearts and inspired th I consciences of his hearers. (Copyright. 1910, by E. J. Edwards. A) Rights Reserved.) |