The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-10-28
GLOWING ONES OWN HORN.

p GLOWING ONES OWN HORN.
a sh,,r Sermon from the Newspaperiai
Pulpit.
Lift up thy voice lisa xl. 0.
From the frequency of such passages
as these" And Esau lifted up his
voice and wept,' "And Jacob kissed
Rachel and lifted up his voice and
wept,'' 1.-THE people lifted up their
voice and wept," GOTHAM
lifted up his voice and cried"
"lifted up their voices and wept
sore" and "Saul wept," it would
seem that the raising of voices
and the raising of tears, in
Biblical times, were intimately asso-
ciated the one with the other. And
even in our own day there is close
relation between the two acts, but with
this difference, namely, that whereas,
in former times the voice lifting and
the tear-shedding proceeded from the
same person or persons, in modern
days the loud voice and the moistened
eye come from entirely different
sources; that is to say, one lifts his
voice and another does the weeping
But this need concern us not Differ
ent eras are marked by different Gus
toms. Our purpose to-day is to draw
what instruction we may from the in
junction contained in the text: 81 Lift
up thy voice"
And firstly, it should be borne in
mind that when the Scriptures say:
Lift up thy voice." it is equivalent to
saying, lift up thy words;'' and it need
not, perhaps, be said that the lighter
ones words are, the more easily may
they be lifted UP. Therefore, if it be
commendable in one to lift up his voice
(and that it is, tine several passages
quoted prove beyond peradyenture),
then it follows that the person who
would obey the words of my text should
choose words which may be raised with
the least possible exert'on. And you
will usually find that the words of the
loudest tal>er are usually of the small
est possible weight
Secondly. Lit up thy voice" When
you are engaged in an argument, speak
as loud as your lungs will allow YOU
Let your ad7e sary's logic be as keen
as Damascus blade, and his reasoning
as convincing as a pecuniary bride,
only lift up your voice to the proper ele-
walton and you are bound to get the
better of him. Possibly you may not
succeed in bringing him over to your
view, but you will inevitably silence
him. which amounts to the same thing.
But, thirdly, it might be advanced
that your conduct would cause you to
be disliked. What of that? Do not the
successful ones of the earth always ex-
cite the envy, and therefore the enmlty,
of the unsuccessful? Go to! What does
the text say? Lift up thy voice"
Fourthly-H you have aught to say to
your neighbor, and you are proud of
what you are saying (and proud you
are, or you wouldn't open your mouth
to say it), why should you not speak
loud enough that all within earshot
should hear it, and be benefited accord
ingly? Why should not your edifying
powers of speech be made known to the
multitude? The text says: ''Lift up
thy voice.
Ffthly-And if it be praiseworthy
act to lift up your voice, then it follows
that no opportunity should be lost which
can show that you desire to do that
which is praiseworthy; that is to say,
you should lift up your voice wherever
and whenever the opportunity offers.
Nay, more, you should make the oppor-
tunity. For the text says: Lift up thy
voice" 1t doesn't say: '.Lift UP thy
voice in prayer" or, Lift up thy voice
in lamentation," or, Lift up thy voice
to speak well of thy neighbor;;" but
SIM ly: Lift up thy voice"
Sixthly-Do not fatter yourself that
you will be sought out and pushed ahead
in the world by others. Modest worth
is good thing, but unless one makes
himself heard he is quito apt to be left
amidst the noise made by the many who
eddy true, in the beautiful imagery of
our ancestors, that 1.-THE still SOW sucks
the most swill;' but it should be re-
membered that she is still only because
she has got what she wanted. Until
she got it you may be sure she failed
not to lift up her voice
Seventh, and in conclusion, when
those about you are reading and writ
ing, when your friend is playing on the
piano upon your invitation, when you
are in the lecture-room or at the theater,
when your wife or mother or husband
or father is endeavoring to get much
needed nap, when there be those about
you who have sensitive ears and delicate
nerves, when there is somebody else
whose words all are eager and anxious
to hear, when you see, hear or think of
something you want-then, in the words
of my text: Lift up thy voice." Boston
Transcript"