The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-01-20
Your Religion.

WHAT good comes of it? Do you SIM
ply profess it? or do you really possess it,
Does it make you more amiable? or are
you just as harsh, petulant, and irritable
as the unregenerated! Does it make you
more kindly, forgiving, and generous,
with a spirit which wishes well to all man
kind? or are you selfish, narrow-minded,
inevitable? Is it a comfort in times of
affection? a support when you meet with
losses, reverses and calamities: Can you
contemplate death with composure and
equanimity? Do you belters "ln the
promises" that all will be we'll with the
good? Are you resigned! Can you truly
say, "Thy will be done? If you are a
Christian, you will "do as you would be
done by" seek the good Of others rather
than personal gratifcation-will be just,
hopeful, forgiving, cheerful, trusting,
charitable.
a Christian will carefully regulate his
propensities, guard against a sordid love
of money, vain pride or egotism, an acri-
monious temper, fault-tinding, unjust sus-
picion, jealousy, deception, or double
dealing, or doing anything which the
great teacher Christ himself would not
have approved.
A truly vital religion e~levates and i'm
proves; spurious religion, or hypocrisy,
corrupts and leads downward. A true
Christian worships God Gin sincerity and
in TRUTH" and looks more to the adorn-
ment of his mind than of his body.
A contemporary says: Il have seen a
woman protesting TO love Christ more
than the world clad in q silk dress cost
ing SIS; making up and trimming of
same, $40; bonnet Tor apology for one),
$35; velvet mantle, $50; diamond ring,
pings, $500; total, 81, LOCAL hung upon
one frail mortal. l have seen her at a
meeting in behalf of homeless wanderers,
in New York, wipe her eyes upon an en-
broidered misunderstanding $10-at
the story oftheir sufferings, and when the
contribution box came round take from a
well filled wallet of costly workmanship
taoenty- foe rents to aid the society formed
to promote their welfare. All, thought l,
dollars for ribbons and pennies for Christ's
childrenr'
How is it with the men? What amount
do they spend on their indulgence in
costly dinners, wine, liquor and tobacco,
that should be used for good purposes?
How much for mere pleasure excursions,
visiting watering places, and in dissipa-
ton and flirtations? How much for fast
horses, stylish equipages and vain display?
Are the clergy themselves exempt from all
these things? Are vestrymcn, dcacons
and other church officers all circumspect
and consistent Christians?
Are all those who sing praises to Him
in sacred song actuated by an exalted
Christian spirit? or are they ambitious
for worldly honors, eager for wages, or
for the praises of tiattering tongues? How
shocking to a devout mind is it to witness
the utter want of reverence in a person
approaching his Maker with a manner of
indifference as though he were an auc-
tioncer about to harangue a body of
tobacco buyers. Such scenes may be wit
messed not y thousand miles from New
York.
True religion is not a cloak to cover up
sin, though impostors so use it. Nor is
it a means by which the purse proud, the
arrogant or naughty Pharisee can secure
happiness here or hereafter. True religion
brings blessings to its possessor, let his
worldly circumstance be what they may.
Reader, be not deceived; see to it that
your religion is founded on the truth.
With Christ for your guide, teacher, COM
panion, you cannot remain in error nor
go far wrong.-F'hrenological Jomnal.