Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-09-12
From Petersburg.
For the Fayetteville Observer.
PETERSBURG, Aug. 80. 1872.

, J
PETERSBURG, Aug. 80, 1872.
Mr. -EditOr-DEAR SIR-In tn
estimation of the masses, th
church is cold, repulsive and IN
sympathetic society, composed
principally Of those who fancl
themselves to be wiser and bette
and holier than Others, and no
as it is, or ought to be, an institu
ton of mercy, of brotherly kind
ness, and charity. If a man il
poor, or sick, or discons0late, Of
broken hearted, then, although hi,
spirit may yearn for a purer anC
better sympathy than any which
the world can give, yet he does
not turn to the church as be
ought, or as feeling that this i;
Gods home for the lonely, and
/ the only communion or fellowship
in which the deepest wants and
necessities of his nature can be
fully met and adequately supplied.
And then, strange 20 say, we
members Of churches are too Of
ten received with emotions Of
dread and alarm, especially among
the young, and at the bed side of
the sick and the dying, rather
than with those emotions of love
and reverence with which they
ought to be welcomed, as friends,
as brothers, as christians. In
deed the whole tendency of the.
times has been to ALLEVIATE, separ-
ate and isolate the christian from
the common sympathies of Lille, as
men who resembled in character,
rather the cold and uDfeeling
Priest, than the good Samaritan.
And | have no doubt that these
false and pernicious views of the
church and OF the members, have
been the fruitful source of much
Of the infidelity which prevails
around US. Thesitate not to say,
therefore, that ! look upon those
mutual benefit societies to which
| have referred. as. reforms uDon
the churCh--as doing the work
which God ordained his church
to do in the world-as the voice
Of nature and of God, protesting
against her coldness, her luke
and her want Of sym
pathy, and as ultimately designed,
in Coils providence, to awaken
her to tue discharge Of her neg
IecteG duties as his home-Ljs
famiIy-his hous -holI-his broth
erhcod on earth. All the good
that those societies are laboring
to do, should be done by the
church, more fully, more freely.
more lo,ingly. Their example
should quicken us to greater
diligence aud energy, and every
man, woman and child should
b. constrained to feel aud rec
Ogni2e the fact, that there is no
such sympathy, no such love,
no such brotherhood, no such |
companionship, no such bond of
union, as that which exists in the
body Of Christ, all members of
which are really members one Of
But there is only one
way in which this great object can
be accomplishments by talking.
not by preaching, but by going to
work secretly and quietly, as it
were, without ostentation or pa
rade, and in the spirit Of Christ
our Lord. You know what these
societies are doing, though you
may net see it-they nouriSh their
feeble, they tend their sick, they
bury their dead with demonstra
tions of respect, they suppos
their widows, they educate their
orphans, and nothing more is re-
luired than the sign or watch
word of membership to unlock
The sympathy of the heart. So
let US nourish and protect our fee
Die, though with stronger arm;
80 let Us tend and nurse our sick
IN / helpless, though with more
love so let us bury our
lead, though with higher and bet
Ter demonstration of respect and
attachments, and that without re-
yard to their outward condition,
rs rich or poor; SO let US comfort ]
and support the widow and the
though with purer
md deeper sympathy; 50 let the
mystic signs and watch-words Of
,ur faith be always recognized as
enough, and more than enough to
penetrate the soul and uplock the
deeper treasures Of christian love. I
Then draw we nearer day by /
lay. each to his brethren-all to 1
God" SERENUS.5 4