The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1883-06-22

Coh spcdh' Out THESE are uuCcttdlu idC-
tors, they are fiuctuating forces in the
christian life. But the meaning Of disci
pine. through service that you know.
The servitude of discipleship to Jesus
Christ is the perfection of your moral
nature. Going into future thousand
forms will meet you, perchance robed as
very angels of light. who with glitter of
show, and fineness of speech will strive to
break your faith in that true ideal Of
liberated life. AT a thousand points you
will find pleasure offered at the cost Of a
small right; or brief success to be grasped
by STEPPING away from the path of duty.
from life of self imposed discipline.
Men and women will ask conformity to
customs that are not worthy of retaining.
You will be led often to feel that the losses
OF integrity are too great to warrant a
struggle against the profits that demarca-
ton from the true may bring With that
sight before you. calmly. nobly. make
your choice. OF this thing be certain that
character which is what you are. charac-
ter which circumstances exhibit but do
not create character generative IN its
nature. character which gives to man the
finest phase OF individuality. has been
exalted of God into eternal permanence.
Remember that the character which is
the product Of the discipline of Loyalty to
Christ, is the evidence of deserving the
diploma when you graduate from earth.
that lets you into the noblest activities of
the timeless realm beyond. Make this
then your watchword. One is my Master,
Christ. Make this your aim, perfection
through loyalty to him. and by the great
view that he gives of life and death, by
the great sympathy he thrills into your
heart for your countryand your kind. by
all those nobler impulses. by all that strong
energy, by all the hope and Zeal Of your
soul out of the tangled snarl Of life as il
is soon to lie about you, you may weave
robes enduring ms the ages. and white ms
the light. Be not Indifferent concerning
this matter. BE not content to drift in
religious uncertainty. Ifyou fail to take
advantage Of the circumstances about you
now; know this they willtake advantage
of you. What they will dowith you, God
grant you may never know. When Mr.
Pitt was applied to for help for Burns he
replied, Literature will take care of
itself" Eyes replied Mr.. Southey. "it
will take care of itself and you too, if you
don't look after'it.' Just so with your
present advantages; they are of worth be-
cause of the power IN them TO work re.
suits; what kind of results. you, and you
alone must decide. Let no false conceit
crush out the spirit of endeavor that looks
upward toward God as it looks outward
on life
remember TO have read that when the
mighty Theseus. the national hero of At
tica and founder of Athens, the destroyer
of Minotaurus, to whom yearly the Gre
tans sacrificed seven young men and sew
en- young maidens. whom they compelled
Attica to furnish that when he sought
bride for his friend Pirithous, she re
solved TO descend to Hadcs. and abduct
the fair Proserpine herself. the one flower
Of Pluto's realm. He descended; he
passed without attack the great three.
headed dog of He'll; the fur;es snakes
Kissed not at him; the fires of Tartarus
themselves seemed to fear to touch so
great hero as he. Noone cared to modest
him, so, after wandering awhile till he
was weary, he sat down on great stone
to rest Himself Till that moment, he
himself had not even guessed how great
man he was. What lordly power must
| sit on his brow that hell itself should fear
him. He sat, and sat in full-browed con-
temptation. At last quite rested, he re-
solved to resume his journey; but he
found he could not get up. Only this,
and nothing more. No torture. no furies
scourges, no devouring beast. He merely
was unable to get up or do anything
but sit. And story leaves him there.
Theseus sits and forever will sit. Such
vengeance did the irony of the gods in
| f1ict on him.
Such is a picture of one, VINO conscious
OF his strength. fails to use that strength
at once, in the sharp struggle to wrest the
elements of a perfect character ont OF the
opportunities about him. You may do
no great wrong--you may not dash to seen
ruin the character now part formed-you
may have no positive intent toward the
bad. but unless you have positive pur'
pose toward the good. in spiritual indo'
lence you may sit, and forever sit, power
less to rise to the execution of the grand
mission that God asks you to enter upon
Al your time OF life you must not sit. you
must act. you must struggle, though the
struggle demand all your strength. One
hard fight with self-one grand struggle
1 Al