Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-06

hundred miles in length. =.
a Fact AL bout Good RESOLUTIONS.
And more than this, we never get beyond
the resolution. We never do anything at
all. Indefinite good resolutions are moth
ing but castles in the air. They have no
standing on the maps Of the kingdom OF
heaven. Nobody ever built a real castle
out of q good resolution without an accom-
paniment OF plans and specifications. That
is, good resolution. to amount to any
thing must be definite. 1t must enter into
particulars. ~-. -.+ .a
Lent is a'time to train ourselves into new
spiritual strength by the religious exercises
of prayer and fasting.
The words "and fasting" are omitted in
the. Revised version, as they are in. many
ancient manuscripts and in the lives of
many modern Christians. There is no
doubt, however, about the fasts of Jesus
Christ. Whether he said anything just
here about fasting or not, matters very lit
tie. He did say something about it in the
Sermon on the Mount and in other places,
and in the good example Of his own life.
Jesus was not an ascetic. We know that
very we'll He came "eating and drinking
even to the scandal of some severe re-
ligionists' who could not think OF real
sanctity apart from long face and
A Pair of Hollow Cheeks.
We make mistake, however, if we think
that Jesus discountenanced fasting. The
only kind of fasting that he disapproved of
was a fasting for the sake Of areputation
for religion. And that is no more to be
thought of as real fasting than the revolu-
tions of prayer-wheel are to be accounted
as real prayer. That isa most subtle form
No; fastinsis apart Of the Christian re.
ligion. 1t is one ot the recognized and
recommended helps to holy living. 1t is
one of those exercises in the training of
good Christian which have been actually
proved by long experience to be of avail
for spiritual strength. After all, the real
reason for fasting is like the real reason for
keeping Lent; we need it.
For think of the advantages of fasting.
Yes; the spiritual advantages of literal fast
ing, of abstaining from certain articles of
food. Fasting is good for reminder, good
for drill and good for emphasis.
Tho Benefit Of Fasting.
Fasting helps the memory. We cannot
we'll forget, if we are put in mind of it
three times day, that this is Lent. That
does not of itself insure, OF course, holy
Lent. but it does avail to keep the season in
our thoughts. And that is the beginning of
all right observance.
Fasting helps the will 1t is an exercise
in saying mo" That is the hardest word
in the English language to pronounce. We
need practice in it. Fasting gives us an op-
portunity to practice. OF course, these
Lenten self-denials do not often touch those
great temptations in which we must say no,
or suffer for it; for the most part we give up
things that are entirely harmless. Yet they
have, after all, quite as much to do with
real sins as the rowing weights in gymna-
SUM have to do with real water, or as the
have to do with real war Fasting gives us
drill in saying mo" Every good Lent
makes us better Christian soldiers.
Fasting helps us toward a better empha-
sizing of our lives 1t keeps the body un-
der for the sake of the soul We need that
Christian living ought not to be a giving up
of the bad for the sake of the good. There
is nothing essentially Christian about that
The most ordinary ideals of decent exist
ence demand that. Christianity builds up
on that foundation the structure of . life in
which the prevailing principle is the giving
up of even the good for the sake of the bet
ter. Christianity emphasizes the best. 1t
sets the soul emphatically first.
Fasting for Definite Purpose.
The most profitable fasting is that which
says not "no," but Eyes" That is, we get
the most good out of Lent in which We
have tasted for the sake of some kind of
positive good. Suppose that fasting from
to use for the benefit of'our brothers and sis
tiers who have to keep Lent all the year
round. The advantage of that fasting is
evident enough. Let us live more simply;
for six weeks, at least, let us cut down the
expenses of our tables; and the money that
is saved let us apply to the evening up of
the inequalities of our modern life. Give
it to the poor.
Or suppose that another form of our ab-
stinence is a withdrawal from social gaity
For six weeks, at least. we will not go to
party or to play. That is of little spirit
ual advantage unless the time thus saved is
put to religious uses Yes; and the money,
too. If you want to spend good, con-
sistent, genuine, and profitable Lent, add
up the amounts that you spent since the
middle of, January for theater tickets, for
carriages, for flowers, for party dresses, for
the kitchen and the caterer, and set that
much religiously aside this Lent to be used
in making this hard life little brighter
and easier for some less favored brothers
and sisters Of yours
The Other Essential OF Lent.
No one, I think, will deny that this is a
good, sensible. and Christian way to fast.
Do not leave fasting out of your Lenten
resolutions. Tie other essential of holy
Lent is prayer. 1t ought not to be neces-
sary to say so much about that And yet it
must be confessed that we are'in too much
of a hurry nowadays to say our prayers.
The morning paper has become "a general
substitute for the family Bible. The daily
work tends more and more to crowd out the
daily Worship How is it in your house
about family prayers? That is one of the
signs of the religious conservation Of the
home. And it is one of the sacramental
signs that are real means of grace. 1t brings
religious conservation with it. 1t helps to
sanctify the daily round of common life. 1t
helps to make Christian habitation some
thing more than lodging house, where peo-
pie eat and sleep. Lent is q good time to
emphasize this helpful custom Of family
prayers.
Lent is good time to emphasize prayer
And We all need to have prayer emphasized.
1t 1apses easily into conventionality,
and loses the heart out of it. The words
that we say in the service, the words we
say when we kneel down in our rooms, are
so often only words. golden bowls empty OF
incense. We need to take more time and
more thought. We need to get more OF our
selves into our prayers. Prayer is COM
munion with God. 1t is a drawing con-
sciously near to God, And we need it.
This Kind cometh. not forth but by
WHAT kind? Any kind. Who
ever would cast out any sort nf devils must