Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-05-04

osionsor- nasaely, naors space.
LIE ~ aCADEra
The fae- i that lbs dGEs<s aad cares q
thls life. coming 70 us from tine 20 time.
are stupid eften aui inane aud f1solrr-
abie. Here ara men who have been barter
icg aud nsg 1slatinx. climbing. pounding.
hainassrin2 Tor ts<asy years, fsrsy Years.
nifty years. One zrea< long drudsery has
thsar LIE besn- Tksir face ANXIOUS. then
feelings berumhed. thar DAYS monosoaons.
What = necessary % brigntea up thai
maa's fife. and 70 sweet<n thas acid dispo
slrion. and 70 pas sparkle into &c nan's
sptritsr The spicery Of oar holy religion.
shy, II bs6xeeR the Io~ses q life there
dashed . gieaxn Of an eternal gain; IL be
tween the trtrayals OF life Acre came the
gleam OF the urdying friendship Of Chris:.
II tn duh times in business we foand mia
istering spsriss flying to and fro in our
ofx,cc and store aad shop. everyday lie.
instead Of bs.ng a stupid monotone, would
be glorious Inspiration pendaiuming 10
tween calm satisfaction and high rapture.
How any woman keeps house without
tho religion OF Christ 10 help her L. q fnys-
tery % me. 10 have To spend the greater
part Of oDe's lifs. - many women do, IN
planning for the meals, in stitching gar
meets that viii soon be rent again. aud do
ploring breakagcs and supervising tardy
suborainases and driving off dust that
soon again will settle, and doing the same
thing day In and day out, aud year IN and
year out, until their hair siivers, and the
back st0ops, AID the spcctacles crawl to the
eyes, aud the grave breaks open under the
thin sole Of the shoe-oh. il Ia q long moa-
otouy! But when Christ comes TO the
drawing room. aud comes 20 tho kitchen,
aud comes TO ths nursery. and comes In
the dwelling, thea how CHEEKY becomes all
womanly duties. She is never alone now;
MArths gc<s through fressing and joins
Mary as the feet OF Jesus
All day long Deborah Is happy because
she can help Lapidoth; Hannah. because
she can make . coat for young Samuel;
Miriam, because she can watch her infant
brother, Racbal, because she can help hee
father water the stock; the widow Of Sa
repta, because the cruise Of oil is being re-
plenished- o woman! having In your
pantry q nest of boxes containing oil kinds
Of condiments, why have you not tried In
your heart and life the spicery Of our holy
religion! Martha! Marthal thou art care
ful and troubled about many things; but
nething il nsedful, and Mary hath chosen
that good part which shall not Be taken
away from her."
SOME RELIGION rs rysIPID.
must confess that great deal Of the
religion Of this day Is utterly insipid.
There il nothing piQuaut or eievatine
about IL. Men and women go around
humming psalms in q minor key, and
culturing melancholy, and their worship
has in is moro sighs than rapture. We do
mos doubt their piesy. Oh. no. But they
ore sitting az feast where the cook has
forgotten to season the food. Everything
Il Nat in their cxpcr1soce and In their con-
versAtion. Emancipated from sin and
death and heil. and on their way to o mag
nificent heaven, they act as though they
were trudcing on toward an everlasting
Botany bay. Religion does not seem to
agreo with them. IL seems to catch in the
windpipe and become tight strangulation
instead Of an exhila<ation.
All the iundst books that have been writ
ten, from veltaire down b Herbert Spcn-
coz, have not done 50 much damage to
our Christianity Is lugubrious Christians.
Who wants . religion woven ont Of tho
shadows Of the nightr Why 60 growing
On your way to celestial cnthronements
Coms ont Of that cave and sit down in the
warm light Of the Sun of Righteousness.
Away with your odes to melancholy and
Hervey's "Medifations Among the Tomhs.
Then let our songs abound,
Aud every tear DO dry;
We're marching through Emmannel's
ground
70 faircr worlds on high.
/ have to say, also, that we need to put
more spice and enliyenment in our rcli2-
ious teaching, whether it be in the prayer
meeting, or in the Sabbath school. or in
the church. We ministers need moro fresh
air and sunshine in our lungs and our
heart and our head. Do you wonder that
the world is SO far from being converted
when you find so little vivacity in the pull
pit aud In The pswl We want. like the Lord.
70 plant in our sermons and authorizations
moro lilies Of the field. We want fewer
rhetorical celebrations ard fewer sesqui
pedalian worsis: and when VIC talk about
shs<lows, wo do not want to say adumbra-
ton; and when VIC mean queernegs. we do
not want to talk about idiosyncracies; or il
Q stitch In the back. we do not want to
talk Of lumbago, but in the plain vernacu-
lar prsach that gospel which proposes to
make ell men happy. honest. victorious
and FREE.
In other words, wc want more cinnamon
and less gristlc. Let this be 20 in all the
different departments Of work 70 which toe
Lord calb us. let IN b plain. Let us be
earnest. Iet us DO common sensical
When we talk to the people In q vernacu-
lar they can understand they will b very
Glad to come and receive tho truth we pre-
sent. Would 70 God that Queen Balkis
would drfve her spies laden dromedaries
Into all cur sermons and prayer meeting
exhoVtafious.
LIFE AID SPICE IN CRRrgTIAN WORK.
Moro than that, We want moro life and
spice IN our Christian work. The poor do
noe want 50 much 70 b groaDed over ~
sung 70. With tho bread and medicines
and the garments you give them. let thc-s
be az accompaniment OF srnilcs and brisk
eucouragcm~ut. Do not stand and talk to
them about the wrstchedneas Of their
abode, aud the hunger Of their looks, and
the harmless Of their lot. All they know
it bseser than you can tell thcm. Snow
them the bright side of the thing, II thors
b any bright sids. Tcll them good times
viii come. Tell them that for the children
Of God shcro is immortal rescue. Wake
them mp ous OF their stolidity by m In
spring laneh. sntl while you send in help.
hks The Qucen Of 6heba also send IN the
sptcss.
Tbeve ara two wsys Of mcstisg The poor.
One = 20 eo.ne into tAeir house With noss
elevated In disgust, - much - 20 say: II
don't 80 ~ - you live hero In TIN ustgh-
bcsbood. II actually makes me sic-.
Thsss b shss bandIe; take IL, you posr.
ubsvabls wretch, and make the most ct
IA AnosAer wsy " 70 60 inso the aboss
Of The poor In Q manner which seems -
az. The b.. Sscsl Lori ISN'T me- lie wns