The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-10-21
Thoughts for the Thoughtful.
RELIGIOUS SELECTIONS.

in God and what is great in man: To
be independent of everything in the
universe is Gods glory, and to be
independent is mans shame. All that
God has He has from Himself-all
that man has he has from God. And
the moment man cuts himself off
from God that moment he cuts him
self off from all true grandeur.
We are one in Christ-one family.
Human blessedness is impossible ex-
cept through union one with another.
But union is impossible except in God.
FAITH.-There is a power in the
soul, quite separate from the intellect,
which sweeps away or recognizes the
marvellous, by which God is felt
Faith stands serenely far above the
reach of the atheism of science. It
does not rest on the wonderful, but
on the eternal wisdom and goodness
of God. The revelation of the Son
was to proclaim a Father, not mys-
terry. No science can sweep away the
everlasting love which the heart feels,
and which the intellect does not even
pretend to Judge or recognize. And
he is safe from the inevitable decay
which attends the mere barbarian
worship who has felt that as faith is
the strongest power in the mind of
man, SO is love the divinest principle
in the bosom of God: in other words,
he who adores God asknown in Christ,
rather than trembles before the IN
known-whose homage is yielded to
Divine Character rather than to Di-
vine Power.
Faith in religion is the same prin-
ciple as faith in worldly matters, diff
fering only in its object: it rises
through successive stages. When, in
reliance upon your promise your child
gives up the half-hour's idleness of
to-day for the holiday of tomorrow,
he lives by faith: future supersedes
the present pleasure When he alb
stains from over-indulgence of the
appetite, in reliance upon your word
that the result will be pain and sick
ness, sacrificing the present pleasure
for future punishment, he acts on
faith: I do not say that it is a high
exercise of faith-it is a very low one
but it is faith.
Child of God, if you would have
your thought of God something be-
yond cold feeling of His presence,
let faith appropriate Christ. You are
as much the object of Gods solici-
tude as if nothing lived but yourself
He has counted the hairs of your
head. In Old Testament language,
''He has put your tears into His bot
tle." He has numbered your sighs
and your smiles. He has interpreted
the desires for which you have not
found name nor an utterance your
self. If you have not learned to say
'My Redeemer,' then just so far as
there is anything tender or affection
ate in your disposition, you will tread
the path of your pilgrimage with
darkened and lonely heart; and when
the day of trouble comes there will
be none of that triumphant elasticity
which enabled Job to look down, as
from rock, upon the surges which
were curling their crests of fury at
his feet, but could only reach his
bosom with their spent spray.
FAM1Iy.-Never more than in the
family is the true entirety of our ma
ture seen. Observe how all the diver
sites of human condition and char
acter manifest themselves in the fam
lily.
First of all, there are the two OPP
posite poles of masculine and femi-
nine, which contain within them the
entire of our humanity-which to-
gether, not separately, make up the
whole of man. Then there are the
diversities in the degrees and kinds
of affection. For when we speak of
family affection we must remember
that it is made up of many diversities.
There is nothing more different than
the love which the sister bears toward
the brother, compared with that which
the brother bears toward the sister.
The affection which man bears to-
ward his father is quite distinct from
that which he feels toward his mother;
it is something quite different toward
his sister; totally diverse, again, to
ward his brother.
And then there are diversities of
character. First, the mature wisdom
and stern integrity Of the father; then
the exuberant tenderness of the moth
er. And then one is brave and en-
thusiastic, another thoughtful, and
another tender. One is remarkable
for being full of rich humor, another
is sad, mounful, even melancholy
Again, besides these, there are diver
stiles of condition in life. A family
made up of one sex alone; or in which
all are devoted to one pursuit; or in
which there is no diversity or temper
and dispositions-the same monoton-