Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1875-05-05
WHOLE NO. 1909

higher spiritual nature, without any
reference whatever to the strong,
: dominant claims of his animal being.
When young minister has passed
through the seven regularly indoctrin-
, ated years of study when he has left
the college walls which have, for the
most part, done their best through all
} these years to lift him away from
sympathy with his fellow-man when
he has been pronounced good think
er and a fine scholar by those who
ought to know when, moreover, his
J life is blameless and irreproachable, it
it is not little surprising to see such
} bright and promising lights go down
one after the other, often within
single year of the time when hope
beat high and the future beckoned,
while pointing to the Masters vine
yard.
On the other hand, when a church
is built beautiful and capacious, with
a minister possessing all desirable and
essential qualities, and congregation
devoted and attached, it Is sometime a
marvel to behold how soon the church
becomes feeble, how the members, one
after the other, drop away and no new
ones are rained up to take their places,
and the society stands for months and
years on the brink of disintegration.
That circumstances like these are
again and again repeated, no one will
pretend to deny while that there is
in most cases cause capable of
remedy we do firmly believe,
1t is folly to suppose that ship
which has sprung leak if launched
on the river Jordan will not sink be-
cause set afoat on that sacred stream.
She will most assuredly obey the laws
of gravitation, whether upon the
waters of the Jordan or the Missssip-
pi. 1t is our place rather to go below
and stop the leak, than ascend the mast
Bible eve We are eahshf t6G ttG"aasi"te ase tie means means
to an end simple, natural, and, if
you please, common-sense MEANS
Nowhere are we taught to ignore or
disdain the rules by which mankind is
ordinarily governed. And in nothing
do we make greater mistake than in
supposing that the methods which
were employed eighteen hundred
years ago will be equally effective
now we are to make use of the prin-
ciples the same, but the conditions are
widely different
Many minister would increase his
usefulness more, and do God greater
service, by studying elocution six
months than by cramming still furth-
er into ecclesiastical history, or even
theology, during the same length of
time. A personal, disagreeable habit
is often as great an obstacle toward
usefulness as the need of right spirit.
A man has dull, indifferent manner;
he never warns up with his theme,
never shows himself at all anxious
that the words which he speaks should
take any effect never follows them
up in any way by personal conversa-
ton, or the least appearance OF solicl-
tude for his flock ; and yet he Won.
ders that sermons which hehas so labo-
riously prepared should produce little,
if any, result
Then, again, he has no true-hearted
sympathy with the members of his
spiritual household he delivers him.
self in conversation with them OF vari-
GUS inquiries and platitudes, very
much as a school.boy would recite a
disagreeable lesson, and, having got
ten through with it, throws himself
back with sigh of relief. The peo-
pie very soon come to understand
that there is no real interest in either
question or answer and when the
same interrogation as to 'your wite's
health" is put half-a.dozen times, as
we have often heard it, during single
call by the dutiful pastor, why, there
is prin,a .tacie evidence that it means
business-"simply that, and nothing
more"
If man has no real love for his
fellow man if he does not care for
their welfare, both temporal and
spiritual if he considers it beneath
him to interest himself in little child
rem, and to bestow some attention up
on the difiulties which beset the most
ordinary common place life, he has
wholly mistaken his vocation in as.
suming the clerical robes ; and he
need not wonder that his entire minis.
try is failure, even though his dis
courses are as finished as the orations
of Demosthenes.