The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-04-29
Thoughts for the Thoughtful.

Man, iterally-never rose but by
his own arm.
The richest man carries nothing
away with him but shroud.
Better is the branch that bends
than the branch that breaks.
Keep mastery over thyself, and
possess peaceful and tranquil mind.
Sinner, the faults Of your christian
friend will not cancel any of your sins.
eff he gets to heaven I WILL" will
be poor consolation to you when both
are lost.
If there is anything which makes
life worth living, tits to be a member
of an afectionate family.
It is not so much what we do that
condemns us, as it is what we fail to
do. "He that believeth not is con-
demned already"
Prayer expresses and increases our
faith. When it comes direct from the
heart, faith and prayer are connected,
and are inseperable.
A man, as man, is the child of God;
and one child is brother to another,
whether they are conscious of their
heritage relationship or not.
The yoke of Christ is easy, the
burden of Christ is light; but it is
light when you love it. and no man
who has sinned much can love it all
at at once.
What an inexhaustible fount of
blessedness is thought The deeper
ones thought, the better the work;
the former ightens the latter; the
latter absorbs the former.
We do not reach spirituality of
character by spasmodic, unnatural
efforts to crush the nature that is
within us, but by slow and patient
care to develop and disengage it from
it's evil.
Man is religious being, but he
wants his religion to fit in side by
side with his tastes and desires. But
when it comes to a religion that hum
bles his pride and crosses his will, he
rejects it.
When those who should know bet
ter, will not bestow q smile upon us,
when we are weak-.how can we APP
preciate their smile when we may
become stronger; for then the beauty
of it is lost.
The cross of Christ-a system that
is not to be built upon selfshness,
nor upon blood, nor upon personal
interest, but upon love. Love not
not self-the cross of Christ, and
not the more working out of the ideas
of individual humanity.
Not, Glory to the strong, but
BLESSED are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God" Not, ssThe Lord
is man OF war, Jehovah is His name"
but ssGod is Love-" In Christ not
intellect, but love, is consecrated.
He is most dear to the heart of
Christ, of course, who loves most,
because he has most of God in him,
and that love comes through missing
none Of the preparatory steps Of
affection, given us here as Primer
lessons.
Love gives itself. The mother
spends herself in giving life to her
child; the soldier dies for his coun-
try; nay, even the artist produces
nothing destined for Immortality,
nothing that will hoe, except SO far
as he has forgotten himself, and
merged his very being in his work.
Man must strike soon If he would
strike at all; for opportunities pass
away from him, and his victim may
escape his vengeance by DEATH
There is no passing of opportunity
with God, and it is this which makes
his long-suferiAg solemn thing
God can wait, for he has whole
eternity before Him in which he may
strike.
When man comes to front the
everlasting God, and look the splendor
of His judgments in the face, per-
sonal integrity, the dream OF spotless-
ness and innocence, vanish into thin
air; your decencies, and your church
goings, and your Irregularities, and
your attachment to correct school
and party, your gospel formulas Of
sound doctrine what is all that, in
front of the blaze of the wrath to come?
Says Robertson: tsThe Son of God
lived till thirty in an obscure village
of Judea, unknown; then came forth
matured and perfect man-with
mind and heart and frame in perfect
balance of humanity. It is divine
lesson! / would / could say as strong.
" as I feel deeply. Our stimulating
artificial culture destroys depth. Our
competition, our nights turned into
days by pleasure, leave no time for