A Great Wistfulness
"Oh that I knew where I might find him!" -- Job 23:3
A story is told of Professor Huxley. He and a friend were serving on a Royal commission. One Sunday they were staying in a little country town. "I suppose you are going to church," said the great scientist to his friend. "Yes," replied the friend. "What if, instead, you stayed at home and talked to me of your religion?" "No," was the reply, "for I am not clever enough to refute your arguments." "But what if you simply told me of your own experience—what religion has done for you?"
The friend did not go to church that morning. He stayed at home and told Huxley the story of his religious life and what God had been to him. And presently there were tears in the eyes of the great agnostic as he said, "I would give my right hand if I could believe that!"
A little while ago Dr. G. Campbell Morgan was asked by an interviewer for his view of the spiritual condition of London. "On the one hand," he replied, "I see evidence of awful indifference, but on the other I see remarkable wistfulness. When I get into touch with the most indifferent men I find there is a great wistfulness that was absent a few years ago. The man who told me then that he was an agnostic still says that he is an agnostic, but he adds now that he dearly wishes he could believe as I do."
After all, in spite of their indifference to religious things, there is a great wistfulness in the hearts of men, a yearning to know God and His truth. Everywhere we hear them crying, "Oh that I new where I might find Him!"
