Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-05-07

! to catch III the Wlndplpe ana become
! tight strangulation instead Of eXhllara-
| ton.
All the infdcl books that have been
written from FOltairc down to Herbert
Spencer, have not done SO much damage
! to our Christianity as lugubrious Chris
tians. Who wants religion woven out of
the shadows Of the night? Why go
growing on your way to celestial en-
thrOnement? Come out of that cave and
sit down in the warm light Of the Sun of
Righteousness. Away with your odeS to
: melancholy and Hcryey's calculations
Among the Tombs."
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
=. We're marching through EmmanueIs
To fairer worlds OH high.
have to say, also, that we need to put
more spice and cnliVcnment in our rellg-
iOus teaching, whether it be in the prayer
meeting, or in the Sabbath school, or in
the church. We ministers need more fresh
air and sunshine in our lungs and our
heart and our head. Do you wonder that
the world is 50 far from being converted
when you find so little ViVacity in the
pulpit and in the pew? We want, like
the Lord, to plant in our sermons and
celebrations more lilies OF the field we
want fewer rhetorical celebrations and
fewer scsquipcdaIon words; and when
we talk about shadows, we do not want
to say adumbratiOn; and when we mean
Quccrncss, we do not want to talk about
idiosyncracics; or if stitch in the back,
we do not want to talk Of lumbago, but
in the plain YcrnaCular preach that Cos
pei which proposes to make all men
hpI vi
In other words, we want more CHINA
mon and less gristlc. Let this be SO in
all the different departments of work to
which the Lord calls us. Let us be plain.
Let us be earnest. Let us be common
scnsCal. When we talk to the people in
a VcrnaCuIar they can understand they
will be very glad to come and receive the
truth we present. Would to God that
Queen BaIkis would drive her spice laden
drOmCdaricS i'll all our sermons and
prayer meeting cXhOrtatiOns
More than that, we want more life
and spice in our Christian work. The
poor do not want so much to be groancd
over as sung to. With the bread and
medicines and the garments you give
them, let there be an accompaniment of
smiles and brisk encouragement. DO
not stand and talk to them about the
Indebtedness of their abode, and the
hunger of their looks, and the hardness
Of their lot All! they know it better
than you can tell them. Show them the
bright side Of the thing, if there be any
bright side. Tell them good times will
come. Tell them that for the children
of God there is immortal rescue. Wake
them up out Of their stolidity by an
inspiring laugh, and while you send in
L,l,, 10 nfN lnL
in the spices.
There are two ways of meeting the
poor. One is to come into their house
with a nose elevated in disgust, as much
as to say: Il don't see how you live
here in this ncighborhood III actually
makes me sick. There is that bundle;
take it You poor, miserable wretch, and
make the most of it. Another way is TO
go into the abode Of the poor in II man
n"r which seems to say: ''Thc blessed
Lord sent me. He was poor himself.
1t is not moro for the good | am going
to try to do YOU than it is for the good
you can do me- Coming in that spirit
the gift will be as aromatic as the spike
nard on the feet of Christ, and all the
novels in that alley will be fragrant with
the spice.
We need more spice and enlivcnmcnt
in our church music. Churches sit dis
cuSsng whether they shall have choirs,
or prcCcntorS. or organs, or bass violS, or
comets. say take that which will
bring out the most inspiring music. If
we mad half us much zeal and spirit in
our churches as we have I'm the songs of
our Sabbath schools it would not be long |
before the whole earth would quake with |
the coming God. Why, in most churches |
ninc-tcnths of the people do not sing, or |
they sing SO fccbly that the people at
their elbows do not know they are sing
ing. People mouth and humble the
praises of God; but there is not more !
than one ont of a hundred who makes "a |
joyful noise" unto the Rock of Our Sal.
walton, Sometimes when the congrega- |
ton forgcts itself, and is all absorbed in |!
the goodness Of God or the glories of
Heaven, | get an intimation of what |
church music will be a hundred years |
from now, when the coming generation |
shall wake up to its duty
promise high spiritual blessing to |
any one who will sing in church, and |
who will sing so heartily that the people !
all around cannot help but sing. Wake !
up, all the churches from Bangor to San |
Francisco and across ChriStcndom. 1t
is not Il matter of preference, it is mat !
ter Of religious duty. Oh, for fifty times |
more volume of sound. German chorals |
in German cathcdralS surpasS us, and
vet Germany has received nothing at the
hands of God compared with America;
and ought the acclaim in Berlin be louder
than that in Brooklyn? Soft, long drawn
out music is appropriate for the drawing
room and appropriate for the concert |
but st. John gives an idea of the sono-
rous and resonant congregational sing
ing appropriate for churches when. in
listening to the temple service of Heavcn,
he says: IL heard great noise, as the
voice of a great multitude, and as the