Spirit Alchemy.

There is a divine alchemy whereby money may be transmuted into redeemed, purified, uplifted lives.  There is another alchemy whereby men, made of finest gold in the image of God, may be transmuted into the basest metals.  When Moses coming down from the presence of God saw the shocking sight of the people worshiping a calf made of gold, he reproached Aaron for permitting it.  Do you remember Aaron’s answer?  He had the gift of speech, you remember, an easy, smooth way of explaining things.  Yet in the light of the recited facts the answer seems rather lame.  It needs a crutch to steady it up.  He said, that he had put in the gold and—­“there came out this calf.”

A great many men might fairly make use of Aaron’s explanation.  They have put into the crucible of life their gold, themselves, God’s finest gold intrusted to their hands.  And under their manipulation what has come out is as a vealy, callow calf, a bull calf at that too, scrub stock, fit only for the ax.

There is the other, the divine alchemy whereby a man may put in the gold intrusted to his handling and there shall come out lives, sweet, strong, fragrant lives, made anew in the image of their Maker.

The Fragrance of the Life in the Gift.

It is a part of the peculiar potent value of money that there can be a practical transfer of personality through its use.  For instance I have a friend whose heart burned to go to a foreign mission field for service there.  But the physician said it would not be wise for her to go.  Yielding to his expert judgment, she still yearned to be of service there.  In the providence of God she became intrusted with large wealth.  And so she arranged to have a man go in her stead to China, she caring for all the expense involved, while he was so left wholly free for the service.

Tell me, was that not a practical transfer of her personality to the point of service where he is engaged?  Then she arranged for another, and another, and yet others.  It is not only a transfer of personality in practical results, but a duplication of personality, and a triplication, and more.  For she is busy in her home circle, while her representatives are busy elsewhere through the influence of her action.

A young woman, graduate of a western college, developed much talent in speaking to other young women of the Christian life.  Her public service was much blessed in the lives of large numbers of women.  She had no wealth, but was dependent upon her efforts for a livelihood.  Another young woman, in the East, came under the warm spell of her personality and speech.  And her life was blessedly revolutionized by that spell.  Her own heart burned to be doing something of the sort for her sisters out over the land.