The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-30
THANKS IN THE CHURCHES.
An Unusual Observance of Thanks
giving Throughout the City.
Services by the Presbyterians, Methodlsts'
Episcopalians, Disciples of Christ
Baptists and the Hebrews.
THE PREsBYTERIANs.
Union Service at the First Church-Sermon
by Rev. j. r. Mitchell

Mitchell pastor of the Fifth Church, delivering
the sermon. The text of his discourse was
Neh. Wit, 1912. He dwet at some length upon
the condition of the inhabitants OF Jerusalem
IN the time of Nehemiah, who, it would seem,
had as little to be thankful for as any people
chat ever lived. Yet, when Ezra and Nehemiah,
as the head of the church and nation, issued the
proclamation quoted as the text the day was
given up TO festivity, to social pleasure and TO
charity. From this it may be learned that the
most unfortunate have reasons for observing
day of thanksgiving. There were doubtless
some who felt and said that they had nothing to
be thankful for. and just so, in this age we hear
every few years some cynical, pessimistic per-
son asking, "What have we to be thankful forl'
No more forcible illustration of this could be
given than in the average thanksgiving sermon,
In which the evils from which we arc now suf-
fering or which threatens us in the future, are
depicted and -dweIt upon with prolonged en-
phasis. Whatever may save been our experience
during the yeBr, we have received enough OF
Gods mercies and blessings to Justify us in
keeping this as a day of thanksgiving and re-
joicing 1t would make us happier and more
thankful, Mr.. Mitchell said, if, instead OF com
pairing ourselves with those who have been
more prosperous than we have been, we would
contrast condition with that of
those who have been less fortunate.
It would make us happier and more thankful, If,
instead of always looking on the dark side Of
life we would resolutey look for the bright
side. In this world there is mingling of light
and darkness, of joy and sorrow, of good and
evil But some people notice not the light. nor
the Joy, nor the good, but only the darkness and
the sOrrows and the evils. AS they look back
over the year, they will remember weeks
aickness and never once think OF the fifty
one weeks of health. They Will recall
the death OF one that was dear to
iihem, without ever stopping to consider how
many loved ones are spared to them. When we
look through the telescope at the sun, 1t is the
spots that most attract our attention. In read
ing history, we often pass over ten, twenty, fifty
and even one hundred years and sometimes sew
after page and chapter after chapter are
given TO single year of war
a record of bloodshed suffering sorrow and
death. The peaceful and happy periods of "a ma
tions's existence are passed over in silence, And
so 1t is with every one he looks over the pages
of his biography as it is written out in his mem
Ory. More space will be given to a
single sorrow than to hundred joys
Hence never able TO read
history Alright. 1t is no wonder that such peo-
pie are gloomy, discontinued and unthankful.
II we could only just reverse this way of doing
look more at the bright side of things than at
the dark, think more of our months of health
than weeks of sickness, and dwell more on
our joys than on our sorrows, we would all be
both happier aud more grateful to God. have
read OF two buckets that were 50 fixed to a wind
lass over well that as one went down the other
always came up One day one of these buckets
bee anne inconsolably sad, and when asked the
cause Ii replied that whereas it always came up
full it was always sent down empty, and that it
wished it had never been made The other
bucket at once spoke up and said: Gwen, now.
/ never looked at our LIES work in that light
have always congratulated myself that whereas
go down empty, always come up rull." Now,
these two buckets had the same lot in life, but
one was always cheerful AMI the other lust as
,lu,r On pI tba Nrir l,t
side of life and the other on the dark. And,
now, this same difference may be observed
among people. We often see two persons, occu-
plying nearly the same position in life, and yet
one of them viii be melancholy while the other
is happy, simply because one looks on the
dark side and the other at the bright side of
lifo's experience. have heard OF a man who
always put on magnifying glasses when he went
to eat straw berries that they might appear as
large as possible And this is certainly more
philosophical than tn put on the same glasses to
look at the troubles that beset our way.
1t would help to make happier and more
grateful If we would remember that Gods
choicest blessings are often unnOtlced simply be-
cause they are so common. We fail to appreciate
either their number or their greainess because
they are all the time continued to On the
way to California over the Pacific railroad, the
train goes up gradually for hundreds of miles
that the passengers keep wondering where the
Rocky mountains are, and are surprised when
told they are nearly at the top of them, and at
an altitude of nine or ten thousand feet aDovs
the level of the sea. And so IL is ascend
Iife's path over the mountain OF Gods mercies;
rising gradually higher and higher. we at length
reach greater altitude than are aware of;
and yet here we are, thousands of feet above the
great sea OF want and misery on which SO many
are struggling to keep from sinking.
Many little items make together great sum.
grain of sand is very small and light and yet
what is heavier than the sand which is by the
sea shoreq And so the common mercies of life
make up in number what they lack in size.
We are very grateful when member of our
family RECEIVERS from dangerous sickness; but
we fail to remember that continued health de-
mands continued Thanksgiving. Preservation
is as truly work aad as great a one as a new
creation. When we see our friends, then, in the
morning, should feel as grateful as if they
had been raised from the dead. God is impart-
ing to them new life In one continuous how If
1t were to stop for one moment they would at
once cease to exist just as the electric lamp goes
out the instant the connection is broken between
slant gift of God to us. And the same is true of
every blessing in life. When we learn recog-
nize this truth it will make us more grateful
And it will help lis to he happier and more thank
full il we would remember that sorrows are often
blessn gs in disguise. Their captivity in Babylon
made the Jews better people than they were
before It cured them of idolatry. Even afflic-
ti0ns work together for our good. Fire
purlies the gold. The blows of the
sculptor give the form ana beauty OF an
angel to the block of marble. The pathway that
lay through slavery and the dungeon led Joseph
up to the throne. The pilgrimage through the
wilderness led to land flowing with milk and
honey The sorrows of life are often but the
winds that watt the soul TO the port of heaven.
Even the apparent evils of life are often bless
ings in disguise And now, If we could only
believe all this 1t would make us more grateful
But you will notice that Ezra and Nehemiah
gave specific directions as to how they were to
observe this day of thanksgiving. And in this
they were doubtless inspired just as truly
as when they taught the people on the religious
subjects. We must recognize these directions
then as coming from God himself
They were to observe this day of thanksgv-
1nRs by feasting, by rejoicing and by making
great mirth And the Israeties were to keep
the feast of iDgathering in the same way. As
the morning OF that day dawned. every heart
bounded with joy and the whole land broke
forth into singing. AS the people passed up
from their homes that they might worship to-
gether before God in Zion, they made the hills
aud valleys resound with their praises. And
then, utter religious service. the rest of the
dsy was given up TO feasting and the social fes-
tiyities. In this way God meant to show that
there was no inconsistency between regio II
and mirth.