Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-06-15

"
} work is to persuade people to fac
! that way and start thitlIerward an'
: finally go in. But has not religion
} something to do with this world as wei
as the nextf Oh. yes; but do you no
see that II the people start for heaven
on their way there they Ill do all the
good they canG They will at the very
start of the journey get so much of the
spirit of Christ. which H. spirit o
kindness and self sacrifice and gene
rosity and burden bearing und helpful
ness, that every step they take will re
sound with good deeds. Oh, get youi
religion off of stiltsi Get it down out
of the high towersl Get it on a level
with the wants and woes of our poor
human racel Get it out of the dusty
theological books that few people read
and put it in their hearts and lives.
Good thing is it to profess religion when
you join the church, but every day,
somehow. we ought to profess religion.
A peculiar patchwork quilt was, dur
ing the civil war, made by lady and
sent to the hospitals at the front. She
had boy in the army. and was natur-
ally interested in the welfare of sol
diers. But what a patchwork quilt she
sentl On every block of the quilt was
passage of Scripture or a verse of a
hymn. The months and years OF the
war went by On that quilt many a
wounded man had lain and suffered
and died. But one morning the hos
pital nurse saw patient under that
blanket kissing the figure of leaf in
the quilt, and the nurse supposed he
was only wandering in bis mind But
no. he was the son of the mother who
had made the quilt, and he recognized
that figure of leaf as part of gown
his mother used to wear, and it re-
minded him of home ''Do you know
where this quilt came from2" he asked.
The nurse answered, Il can find out,
for there was a card pinned fast to it,
and will find that.
Sure enough, it confirmed what he
thought Then the nurse pointed to a
passage of Scripture in the block of the
quilt, the passage which says, when
he was yet a great way off his father
saw him. and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him Yes" said the dy-
ing soldier II was a great way off, but
God has met ME and had compassion
on me- Shall | write to your mother
and tell her that the lost one is found
and the dead is alive again?' He an
swered, II wish you would if it would
not be too much trouble. Do you
suppose that woman who made that
quilt and filled it with Scripture pas
sages had any trouble about who Mel
chisedec was or how the doctrine of
Gods sovereignty can be harmonized
with mans free agency, or who wrote
the Pentateuch, or the inconsistencies
OF the Nicene creed? No, no; go to
work for God and suffering humanity,
and all your doubts and fears and mys-
teries and unbeliefs put together will
not be heavy enough to stir the chem
lists scales, which is accustomed to
weighing one-tiftieth part of grain of
chamomile flowers.
mysteries when there are so many Ger
titudesf Why spend our time explor
ing the dark garrets and coal holes of
great palace which has above ground
one hundred rooms flooded with sun
shine2 1t takes all my time to absorb
what has been revealed, so that l have
no time to upturn and root out and
dag forth what has not been revealed.
The most of the effort to solve mys-
teries and explore the inexplicable and
harmonic things is an attempt to help
the Lord out of theological difficulties.
Good enough intention, my brother, no
doubt; but the Lord is not anxious to
have you help him. He will keep his
throne without your assistance Don't
be afraid that the Bible viii fall apart
from Inconsistencies, 1t hung together
many centuries before you were born,
and your funeral sermon will be
preached from a text taken from its
undisturbed authenticity.
CHRIST COMES WHEN WE MAKE READY
Do you kNow that think that if all
ministers in all denominations would
stop this nonsense of ecclesiastical strife
and take hold the word OF God. the
only question with each of us being
how many souls we can bring to Christ,
and in how short a time. the Lord
would soon appear for the salvation of
all nationsl When the young queen
of England visited Scotland many
years ago great preparations were made
for her reception. The vessel in which
she sailed was far ont at sea, but every
hill in Scotland was illumined with
bontlres and torches The night was
set on Ore with artificial illumination.
The queen standing on ships deck,
knew from that that Scotland was full
OF heartiest welcome, and the thunder
of the great guns at Glasgow and Edin
bnrgh castle woke up all the echoes,
Boom they sounded ont over the sea.
Boom they sounded up among the
hills Do you know that think that
our King would land II we were only
reSdy 10 receive hinl Why not call 10
him from al our churches, from all our
hospitals, from all our honest Why
not all at once light all the torches OF
Gospel invitationi Why not ring all
the bells OF welcomed Why not light
light up the long night Of the worlds
sin and suffering with bonfires OF vic
toryi Why not unllmber all the Cos