Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-04-15
HUSBAND AND Wife.
HUMAN LIFE I'm ITS SOCIAL, IDEAL
AND EFFECTIVE SENSE.
HOW A MAN MAY BE BRoADENED.

TIE ADVICE OBJ REV. WAYLAND D. BALL.
OF ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH, TO
YOU'VE MEN AND YOUNG WoMEN-THE
QUALITIES THAT MAKE COOP WIFE.
abraham and Sarah; or, Husband and
Wife Till Death Do Us Part" was the sub.
ject of a sermon by the Rev. Wayland D.
Ball at the Associate Reformed Church in
Baltimore, Sunday morning, March 10Th.
He said in part: "In all the church litur-
gies that have seen, Immediately follow.
ing the marriage service ia the burial SER
vice. This is an order which has more than
once caused me to shudder as I have, in
turning to the marriage service, which |
was about to use il joining together in
wedlock the young pair that stood before
me, radiant with hope and happiness and
blooming with youth, by mistake opened
to some part of the burial ssrvlce. l have
often wished the liturgicai order were diff
ferent, and have indeed often set it down
in my own mind as a cruel and thoughtless
order. Bot may it not after all have been
done dssignedly, and may there not be wis
dom in the order? Perhaps it would not be
beyond the point of wisdom, though cer-
tainly beyond the point of customs, upon
the conclusion of the marriage ceremony
then and there to read solemniy to the
bride and bridegroom the entire burial ser
vice, or at least some parts of it.
"But," says oEe, s't0 do this would be
simply shocking. Il would serve to cast
an almost superstitious gloom over an occs-
sion that ought to be cheerful. But why
Should it not communicate wholesome
seriousness to the occasion2 tt ia no frivol
Gus occasion by any means. But one other
ls in fact more solemn and ignifcaat-that
ia the severance by death Of the marriage
bond. Would it not be we'll for the bride
AID bridegroom to hare st brought to their
minda that life was real and earnest, that
troubles and trials were certainly before
them, borrow also? By such thoughts, ne.
thinks, If tho par we're sensible rather than
simple and superstItinus, they would be
helped rather than injured by having sush
reflections plainly brought before them 1t
would serve 60 warn them against allowing
themselves to become TOO entirely absorbed
of this word; if aonld turn their minds to
thoughts Of the world beyond; it would
serve to biud them moro tenderly and in
dug 1ntly together as husband aud wife.
''Eumau life in its truly social aud most
ideai and effective sense begins with man
ana woman when they become joined to.
gether in marriage. This Is not meant to
cast any reproaeh upon, neither to discour-
age bachelors and spins ers. It is not
meant that the man who does not for suffi.
cent reasons marry thereby necessarily
fails of feeling any worthy mission in this
life, nor yet that there is no proper or hon
orable outlook fer wOman i'll this day but in
mstrimony. It is not meant to assert that
i5 is better to have married badly than not
to have married at all. It does not mean
to ignore the fact that some marriages are
e. DIT n g -
and the woman who are joined together in
nature and in heart. of which union mar.
riaee is the outward sign, do in the hour of
their nninn bsgin iIfe in The sense most
tire and human and fundamental.
You will observe that the first thing re-
cGsdsd of Abraham after the mere mention
osf his birth il the fact that he took to him.
self Afe.- This is the first event in his
lie 8 hich hs biographer deems worthy of
record. for with this event his life IN reality
as social and historic character began. 1t
is even 30 with other men, as a rule, If they
g5t srrisd at all, that the first act in their
livea worthy Of being recorded is their mar
mage, for up to this time life to them is
n, ofe or less dim in its outlines. Efforts
are frg tive and directed without precise
ends. Ambitions are vaguely defined. The
sense of responsibility is not felt; the neces-
fity of sustained action not made apparent.
The reason of existence is not seriously
+ udied. The obligation to human society
liz rot comprebended. Before marriage life
IL man is little if aught else than Skin
mi.h in q mock battle. He is like ship
y ithout ballast or pilot. He is outside in
! cad of inside the great concerted history,
He is one who waits for his part in the
HAY. We may not be able to explain ex-
kctly why or how it is, but we know that it
even g.; that when man gets married,
he have in him any of the spirit and &C.
q Of mau, great change at once takes |