Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1858-12-11
No. 30

penetrate 1t till the little circle of his own petty fe
and the everlasting my duty and "my this and
that vanish before the presence of something greater
than all to which that pronoun can be applied so
keeping his powers Of wonder and admiration, and
perehance alteration, alive and fresh and with them
an untorced and spontaneous cheerfulness humiIi-
ty and simplicity, different from the sham articles
forced on - sense OF duty living BODY is from
a galvanized corpse. His yery Sabbaths are marked
out TOO often with the same great oversight and so
month after month passes without the souls Obtain
lng glimpse OF Gods works and WAYS free from the
consciousness Of the importance of its own works
It's view being constantly darkened bv its own
shadow. MethInks we make here a woiul mistake,
and, indeed commit great sin, for which we can
make no better excuse than the one He made for his
murderers, and which, perchance BE may make for
Us, soul-murderers as are" They know not
what they do" We have in these latter davs come
to have some notion Of the Importance of physical
health and learning to regard its preservation as
great religious duty. When shall we begin to have
some notion of what constitutes psychical heaIth-or
the health of the souTand TO feel that its preserva-
ton Is as much more duty, the soul is worIhier
than the body. Doubtless many good people if asked
why 1t Is duty 70 preserve the health of the body
would answer, " because we can so work longer III
the world-and God placed US here to work" Now
good people, if read the Scriptures rightly, God
did not place Us here 10 r0rk-he placed US here to
gyOg-and he gave sound bodies Originally, what
ever we may have made Of them since) that they
might be organs for healthy sous-and that with those
fitness Of spirit and fitness OF mind for union unto
and communion with Him. That with a sense of
their own weakness and impotence TO free themselves
from an evil and set-scekiuG spirit they might boldly
and freely depend, with constant suppiication on
HIM Tor spirit OF love and goodwill TO be in them
"a fountain If life 70 head and heart and that they
might read and interpret His Word uttered TO them
nsull nature and human le and in the structure of
their own souls; growing in knowledge as in grace,
III order 70 be prepare ed IN the next 0 of existence
~
worthily, and free from the distractions OF evl-to
TeDose III still more rapid growth II does demand
OF US gr0rh oJ soul, and so far distort, mai
or cripple that growth, defraud Him. Now soul
certainly does not consist merely in the moral sense
the appreciation Of holiness and the contrary, or
conscience, though this be its pith and heart any
more than the human body consists Of brain and
spinal marrow-but, in Miton's definition, of
.' Fancy and understanding, whence the soul
Discursiye or intuitive."
All the faculties, memory the rational imagination
the GisCursive reasOn-an the iutellec ual powers
and energies as well as the feelings and affections
belong to the essence of the SOUL and its health re-
quires a symmetrical development and spontaneous
life and activity in all. How, good people, shall
retain attain IL where hardly free and spouIane-
Gus impulse of heart or mind is permittedf One
would think that expected at death to slough off
our souls with bodies, and come cut free from
all the consequences of our mental mis- development
here below, can ti9d IN Scripture no warrant for
any such thought. We may be forgiven and we
may find peace and JOY, and satisfaction according
our measure, and it nevertheless be true that We
shall know it TO be our own fault, and great sin.
that that measure is SO small, and power of ap-
| pretending Gods works and ways so little.
But it Is said perhaps, " there is SO much in the
world to d0 and SO little time to do II IN how
we pause for quiet meditation the easy indulgence
of natural feeling and atfection-we must keep do
| ing" Dear sirs is this your world, God's2
True He has given you portion of II to take
of-but do YOU think he He gave you anymore than
lie knew you could take care of well: Do you sup
pose that when He gave you that portion that by the
| experience gained therein your souls nigh; grow
into fitness tor worship of and communion with Him,
He meant YOU 10 so absorb yourself in the work
to lose the object of it. TO not gain experience
For merely suffering the passage of events is not
DeyieHce-that only comes from the meditation upon
or consideration of events which makes the soul er-
BeTt. What experience can tool have for instance:
/ Again how can YOU do your work well when you
are day by day duling and spelling its instrument,
/ l. e., yourself. You, perhaps. cannot see where you
tall short when Heaven sees, and future retrospect
will show YOU lamentable results in the souls of
all around YOU from your having been over SO cum
bered with much serving" Can YOU tell the effect
for instance the minds OF your children produced
by the absence of little genial and natural flow Of
thought spirits which the constant pressure OF the
dav's duties has repressed and no careless hour has
brought to lite again? Or can YOU calculate the
effect on them Of a casual remark, reproOf,
monstrance, which, had your own mind been little
more sensible of how spontaneous all life must be
that is life at ALL you would never have made: No!
our only safety Is in not dc!Tauding souls Of
that free and fitting meditation and recreation which
/ their health requires-and time so spent is wisely
spent Some people seem TO be afraid to trust their
souls out into the open air without peeping out of
the door to watch them-to feel as if to tarn their
minds loose for a few minutes to gambol at viii
giving theInsup to the Evil One. "Oh ye OF little
faith yOu can trust your Makers guard during the
repose Of the body-buI not during the equally ne
cessary repose of the soul! You pray daily for
the indweling of His Spirit and vet not be able to
trust Him and His promises 70 preserve you from
evil for an hour When shall we learn that our
spiritual safety lies not in resolving and struggling
but in simply loving and trusting. Let us remember
that though we leave our mortal bodies behind at
death, we take our souls with Just as they arc
and that while wisdom bids us 90 learn TO measure
life and not so much live 10 work, work to live
our Maker desires from souls not dwarfed, or
distorted or parayzed in any of their faculties of
thought or feeling by the discipline of His providence
here but souls quickened enriched and eniivened
in all their powers of rational activity and enjoyment
into fitness for the most Joyous and intelligent wor-
shin AID service of which BE made them capable;
souls which that discipline has cultivated, not crushed
Could we bear this more constantly in mind, and
starve our souls somewhat less IN consequence me-
I thinks we should find in even this mortal life far
more of " sacred and home-felt delight sober
certainty OF waking bliss" than now. q
OVER EATNG.-How many people eat to make
it even. Ali the butter is gone, but the bread is
not quite eaten, so another piece OF butter IS
taken but it was to much, and the bread has
given cut
How many time has the reader eaten some
rar,na nt on his plate not because be wanted It,