St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-12-11

will, for at least one service, 90 to the
same church. The neighbors will say: ::
| wonder what is going on to-day, for saw
| our neighbor and his wife, who always 90
| to different churches, going arm-in arm to
| the same sanctuary?"
Well, will tell you what has brought
them together, arn-in-arm, to the same
altar Something very important has hap
| pened. Their son is to-day uniting with
| the church. He is standing in the aisle
| taking the vows of a Christian. He had
| been somewhat maynard, and gave father
| and mother good deal of anxiety, but
| their prayers have been answered in his
| conversion, and as he stands in the aisle and
| the minister of religion says: 'Do you con-
| seCrate yourself to God who made and re-
deemed you and do you promise to serve
Him all your daystn And with manly voice
he answers: II do.n There is an April
shower IN the pew where father and mother
SIT, and RAINBOW of joy which
arches both their souls, that makes
all differences Of creed intinitcs-
NAL. And the daughter, who had been
very worldly, and gay, and thoughtless,
puts her life on the altar of conservation,
and as the sunlight of that Sabbath streams
through the church window and falls upon
her brow and cheek, she looks like their
other daughter, whose face was lumincd
with the brightness of another world, on
the day when the Lord took her into His
Heavenly keeping years ago. ] should not
wonder if, after all, these parents pass the
evening of their life in the same church, all
differences Of church preference overcome
by the JOY of being in the house of God
whore their children were prepared for
usefulness and Heaven.
But | can give you a recipe for running
your children. Angrily contend in til
household that your church is right and the
church OF your companion is wrong Bring
sheer and carcature to emphasize your
opinions, and your children viii make III
their minds that religion is sham and
they will have none of it. In the northeast
storm Of domestic controversy the rose Of
Sharon and the lily of the valley
viii not grow. FIGHT about apes
tolic succession; fight about election and
free agency; fight about baptism;
fight about the biShoprlc; fight
about gown and surytice, and the
religious prospects Of your children viii be
left dead on the field. You VIII b. as IN
fortunate as Charles, Duke Of Burgundy,
who in battle lost a diamond the value of q
nation. for in your fright you Will lose the
Jewel of salvation for your entire house
iiollt lHcIG - ltliitti- Ok tIlSb tflt ttltb D.
cacy Of your own religious theories. Use
all f0rcible argument, bring all telling il
Illustrations array all damonstrativo facts |
but let there be no acarbity, no singing
retort, no mean inslnuation, no supcrcil- |
iousness, as though all others were wrong
and YOU infallibly right.
Take a hint from ASTRONOMY TIL
Ptole;naic system made the earth the cen
ter of the solar system. and every thing |
was thought to turn round the earth. Blu
the COpernican system came, and mado |
the sun the center, around which tn
planets revolvei. The bigot makes his |
little belief the center of every thing, bur |
the large Christian makes the Sun OF |
Righteousness the center, and all denomj- |
nations, without any clashHr and each at |
its own light and in its own sphere, re
vOlving around it, |
Over the tomb of Dean Stanley, in West |
minister Abbey, is the passage Of Script |
nre: Thy commandments are exceeding |
brOai' Let no man crowd Us on to a path |
like the bridge Al Sirat, Wnich the M0ham- |
medan thinks leads from this world over
the abyss Of hell into paradise, the breadth |
Of the bridge less than the web of starve5
spider, or the edge of a sword or razor,
off the edges of which many fall No; while
the way is not wide enough to take with u
any of our sins, it is wide enough for al
Christian believers to pass without peri! |
into everlasting safety.
But do not any OF you depend upon what |
you call sound creed for salvation. 4 man
may own all the statutes Of the State OF
New York, and yet not be q lawyer; and a
man may own all the best medicine treat
ises, and not be physician; and man may
own all the best works on painting and |
architecture, and not be either painter or
architect; and a man may own all the
sound creeds in the world, and yet not be
Christian Not what you have In your head
or on your tongue, but in your heart aad in
your life, will decide every thing.
In olden times in England, before the
modern street lamps were invented, every |
household was expected to have a lantern
in front of his house. and the
cry Of the Watchmen in London as they
went along at eventi1e was: ''Hang out |
your lights!' Instead of disputing in your
house about the different kinds of lantern,
as d Waterman On the walls of Zion I cry:
'Let your light SO shine before men that
thew, seeing your good works. may glorify
your Father which is in Heaven"
Hang out your lights! You may have a
ideas about religion, and yet not
the great idea of pardoning mercy. 1t is
not the number of your ideas, but the
greatness Of them. A mouse hath ten off
spring in her nest, while the lioness hath
one in her lair. All ideas about forms and
ceremonies and church government put to-
gether are not worth that one idea Of get
ting to Heaven yourself and taking your
family with you.
But do not reject Christianity, as many
10, because there are so many sects. Stand
ng in Westminster HOTEL London, looke
out of the window and saw three clocks, as
near as / can remember-one on the Parlia
nent House, another on st. Margaret |
Chapel, another on Westminster Abbey |
H.. all Il L