The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-13


all human interests his field of study.
For man who has brains and enjoys
using them, the ministry is paradise
from which no ordinary inducements
could tempt him to chair at an Office
desk, or place behind the counter.
8. Morally, the ministry is the safest
place in the world. Its associations
make it easy to do right, and hard to do
wrong. The performance of its duties
is constant disciplining Of the moral
and spiritual nature; and the minister
has about him all the helps to right
eousness, and as few hindrances as any
man can have. Parents who want
their children kept unspotted from the
world, who want to see them safely es-
tablished in life, could do it in no bet
ter way than to see that stalwart boy
at twenty-five years of age graduated
from a theological school, ordained by
the Michigan College of ministers, and
installed as pastor over some good
| Christian church.
4. Socially the ministry has advan-
tages superior to any other profession.
The doors of the world are opened to
him. He is welcomed alike to the cot
tage of the poor man, and the palace Of
the rich. He shares in the sorrows of
the world, and in its festivities. He is
privileged to play with merry children,
and to pray with dying pilgrims. He is
the friend of the cultured, the adviser
of the troubled, the helper Of the needy.
His sympathies span the whole range
of human emotion and experience, and,
as no other can, he sounds every note
in this wondrous harp of a thousand
strings, and the music he wins from
this varied relationship with life is the
divinest part of all human experience.
5. Once more, the ministry has its
advantages for the physical man. 1t
requires no exhausting bodily toll, and
seldom exposure to danger. 1t permits
one to live in fullest accordance with
the laws of health, and to enjoy the
fullest measure of physical comfort. 1t
is no small advantage that in average
length of life the clergy rank first, CIV
ing on an average several years more of
life than some other occupations which
are thought by young men to be more
desirable. Health and length of days
are of account as well as salary.
But all this is only one side of the
subject, the advantages of the ministry
to those who may choose it as a profess
sion. We do not suppose any honora-
BILE young man is willing to consider
only what profession will do for him.
He will want to know what he can do
with it. He will consider not only its
advantages, but it's utility, its opportu-
nifty for achievement.
We imagine that an impression pre-
walls quite largely among the young
men of the day, that the church is a
kind of played-out institution that has
seen its best days, that the work of the
ministry is not of much account, and
that religion is a superfuous relic of the
past. Whoever takes this view is short
sighted indeed. Certain phases of re-
ligion may be outgrown; certain kind
of ministry, once in vogue, may now be
useless. But we insist that religion is
just as genuine and vital force in the
world to-day, as when the church ruled
the State and judged emperors. And
the modern minister has as noble a
work before him as earth can afford.
1t is his glorious privilege to educate
the people. Men, women and children
gather voluntarily before him with re-
ceptive minds to hear his words, to
receive his ideas, to gather whatever
light and truth he may shed upon them.
He has the utmost liberty in the selec-
ton of his subjects, and in method of
treatment. Outside of pulpit and pas
toral work he has the public ear; and
the press, the platform, the lyceum and
the lodge, the home and the street, af-
ford him golden opportunities to teach
the people.
But it is especially his privilege to
cultivate character. 1t is much to ed
ucate minds, but it is more to lay ones
hand familiarly on the beating heart of
the world and shape its feelings and
emotions. 1t is well to teach geogra-
ply and grammar in the school-room,
but it is better work to teach grace
and goodness to all the people. The
teacher of mathematics is useful, but
the teacher of morals does the world
better service. To make men good is
nobler than to make them smart. And
the minister who can guide the conduct
of his people, form their habits, cult
vate their characters, is second to none
in honor and usefulness. His hand is
on the secret springs of life, and through
his work he makes public sentiment
and directs the social forces which Gull
inmate in great achievements.
Does any one think scornfully of the
work of the ministryp What is your
idea of useful employment? To saw
lumber or bore salt wells ? to grow DO
tatoes and cabbages, pigs and chickens?