The Brookhaven leader., 1891-01-22

I've our companion, in doing what He
saws is sinful. We don't dare ap- |
proach the Pure and Holy One, when
we have just sent forth our lambs,
decked and garlanded as victims for
the altar, at the DEVILS great sacrifice.
Alas, no wonder our Christian life is
so blank, our minds so like storm
dashed ocean we too often lack the
Masters presence.
The extensive reading of light,
trashy literature, made mp of love tic-
ton, is thought by some to be a nice,
harmless pleasure, but it is having a
most baneful effect especially upon
the young. 1t imbues them with
wrong principles in reference to the
vcry-day obligations of life, and in
no aspect is it more injurious than in
the forming of the marriage tie. The
imaginations and passions are princi-
pally appealed to by this sort of read
ing and wrong views of love and mar
riage, result.
Thousands of young people have
their heads full of ideal beings, such
as have never peopled this globe.
Their day and night dreams are full
of creatures beautiful as angels, with
forms of perfect symmetry, voices
sweet as Eden's birds, and hearts in
capable of aught, but love and purity.
Visions of manly forms, bearing the
very soul of honor, bosoms that never
feel the gush of impure passions, or
the stings of anger or ambition, beam
before the minds eye. When these
creatures of poetry and perfection,
come to encounter together the mat
ter of fact relations of life and find
each other not angels but veritable
creatures of flesh and blood, then
their path of life gets rough and
thorny then, the yoke chafes; then
they realize their mistake, but too late
to profit much themselves by the dis
cOvery. Some do not think sinful
amusements hurtful in their effects on
them, for they "only attend to kill
time;" but that is impossible. They
have only lost that time for "higher
thoughts and nobler Deeds" but have
saved the time for Satan to fill with
vileness of every description and
right well does he improve the Oppor-
tunity. When these thinly venered
and glittering surfaces have dropped,
one by one away; when you fully
realize that "He only who garnishes
the earth, can beautify the mind;"
that His touch only, makes the world
inhabitable or your life worth its liv-
ing, then the poverty and sin defOrm-
ity of your mind will be revealed.
Then you will feel with sore bitter
ness, the effects of the enemy's touch
upon your time "killed" for amuse-
ment.
The pulpits too are receiving to
some extent, the imprint of the enc
my. The most solemn truths are
sometimes made farce by peculiar
"Pop- goes the weasel" style of the
minister. It's not at all wonderful
that such preaching is spiritually in
effective. And even religion is some
times seen delighted with the glare
and glitter of the Snowman art of
parade. Many of our young men and
women are just beginning christian
life, and fear some are making the
mistake of thinking that christianity
is limited to the outward forms and
graces of the church; and SO absorb
ed are they in the outward obedience
of the church as to lose sight of their
obedance to God. They see no evil
in sinful amusements, only as viO-
lation of the church rules, and some
times even cast those aside, to partic-
ipate in sinful pleasure. To such,
and all others I would say, our church
has no rules, except those commanded
by our Lord Jesus Christ in the New
Testament, and it is disobedience to
Him when you are led into sinful
pleasures.
Let us study better these evil eff
fects, for they will reach to the end of
time. We are not half awake on the
subject. Let us pray God for cour-
age to discharge our duty to our child
rem with regard to these sinful amuse-
mcnts, and ever remember that "the
mind takes part of all we see and
hear" and "the key of that mind is
the tongue and when it opens the Sc
cret doors, what lies in the store
house behind, whether gems or mere
rubbish, is hidden no more"