Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-01-02

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There are moments in everyone's life, be
be ever so hardened, when he must
stop to consider his moral condition. No
one, whatever his condition may be, is
wholly blind to his moral or spiritual
standing. We know whether we are going
up or going down. many realize that their
tendency is towards evil, and, having a
desire to change their course seek what
seems to them the protecting influence of
some church and feel safe after they have
taken out this insurance policy against
fire in the life to come.
According to this religion there are but
two destinations for mans sonl after death.
One, the sudden and miraculous transition
from an ordinary mortal into eternal glory,
and the highest degree Of spiritual excel
lence without regard to earthly develop
ment of the soul. The other the sudden
plunging Of q soul into eternal damnation,
without regard to earthly developments.
The failure to ''believe and be baptised"
being sufficient grounds for this awful YER
dict. st. .s.4-. ~
To suppose that man could live de-
graded life, treading only the downward
path, SO living that his evil life stamped
him a wretch, and then at last, after years
of crime, when after having gone to the
bottom rung of the ladder Of degradation,
representative Of Christian lore may go
to his dying moments, and by .jugglery
Of words, q few prayers aud little faith
exercised ON the part of the candidate for
the upper spheres, he is sent on his jour
ney rejoicing and supposed to be received
into the arms OF Him who, when He lived
and walked upon the planet we do to day,
never sinned.
Such belief is outside Of all reason and
deserves nothing but the contempt of
every individual Of thought. Can we
imagine tree that has been stunted, and
bent, until it possesses no beauty what
ever, being suddenly transformed into .
stately elmi Can we imagine . crippled
and deformed man transformed into per-
feet physical manhood To say the spirit
when it leaves the body comes under an
entirely different code Of laws from that
which created and maintained It in earth
life is an absurdity. Spirit is pre-sxistent,
CO. existent and eternal. Shall any one
uresume, then, that there is one code of
laws for the creation and final destination,
and another for the maintenance of the
spirit while in the body. Not SO! The
great eternal laws, created by the eternal
God to govern the eternal spirit, extend
from creation down through the ages Of
mortality, and into eternity, infinite and
Interchangeable. God given, therefore, per-
| feet. There is not . special law for each
one, then, but the general law for ell Gre
alton. Growth and destiny which has
aways governed, governs now and always
viii while time lasts- -...s..
| The all absorbing question and desire Of
every mortal should be to know something
| of the future destiny Of the SOUL, A qucs-
| ton Of such vast importance to mankind
| we cannot afford to set aside. Would We
know the condition Of the souls futurity,
Ilet MS look around and about IA. The book
Of nature is orsn before us, let US read
from its pages the simple secret. Let us
llearn from the tree, ,Ithe bird. the blossoms.
All about us in all forms Of life lies the key
which win unlock the mystery.
Does not the vegetable kingdom adhere
| to we'll known laws in all its varied forms
Of lifef Does not any obstacle placed in
| its way of freedom Of growth, bring imper-
fectionf Do we not find that the farmer
who succeeds best, is the man who takes
the most pains in cultivation Do We moi
| find that in the whole material world that
| the best results come from judicious train
| inef Would we become an athlete, ther
| we must conform to the laws of physical
| training. First We mustsunderstsnd these
laws and then we must obey them. IL
other words, we must go into training.
i A man who would contest for any line o
physical powers or endurance must pu
himself in conformity with the growth
| necessary for such contest, and then, steI
| by step, he must advance. and no on
knows better than he the disaetrcus result
Of single backward step. We would no
| lot the prize ring master grow wiser thai
ourselves. They know well the sdvantag
Of training to get physical strength.
Il We would do well to initiate their ex
ample as far as training goes, and stimuiat
our spiritual growth and powers by pre-
, cess of daily training.
Dear readers, we are at this moment I'll
| the prize ring of lifs." We are contestin
| spiritually for supremacy. Our opponent
are the evil tendencies Of our nature, an
these are sometimes masters In the rin
tactics. Are we we'll enough trained
| fight the battle and come out conquerol
: A long array of enemies stand between .
) | and the grand prise. Among them q
, | selfishness. avarice. envy, hatred, prid'
. coyetousness, malice, dishonesty, la
| ciyiousuess and uncharitableness. Thes
; enemies we cannot evade. We must met
| them one by one and fight until the bait
| | is DER and the victory won. Deaths po
, tails offers no barrier to these evils. Eitn'
. | on this side Of life or the other, We mu'
, | win In the contest with all our enemie
q Let us awake then from the indifference
: ignorance. Let us shake off the iethare
b in anything, or creed, that pretends
save, for at the end we shall most sure
!. snd myth. 'ewhatsoever man SOW
q | that shall he also reap 10 . Just, wise al
reasonable law to adopt and live b
"Faith without works is dead" and ~
! him that overcometh shall be given
!. drink OF the waters of life freely"
i O silent power, 0 mystic light
!. That makes us strong in wisdom's way
O mako some wise that they may gui'
The poor, way.faring one who strsys
!. Away from the path Of love divine
II Toward the blest celestial shore,
~ Where loved ones wait to guide US nou'
vi When earthly labors oil are Ger.
/ Butler. Pa. s .s.,
Which is the Longer Line.
J. Just look for moment at these tv