Page:Personality (Lectures delivered in America).djvu/180

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158
PERSONALITY

support it. We have come to this great discovery by the immediate perception of this "I" in us, that there must be one infinite "I."

Then comes our question, "How are we related to this Person?" Man has got this answer in his heart of heart, that it is the closest of all relationships,—the relationship of love.

It cannot be otherwise, because relationship becomes perfect only when it is that of love.

The relation of king and subject, master and servant, lawgiver and those who obey the law,—these are partial relations for one particular use. The whole being is not involved. But this personal "I" must have perfect relationship with the Infinite Personality. It cannot be otherwise. Because we have loved and find in love the infinite satisfaction of our personality, therefore we have come to know that our relationship to the Infinite Personality is that of love. And in this way man has learned to say "Our Father," not merely King, or Master, but Father.

That is to say, there is something in Him which we share,—something common between this Eternal Person and this finite little person.

But still the question remains, Why should I use the word "Father" which represents the