The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-06-11

They have never been able to forget
They do not want to forget. They never
will forget. Their wretchedness is su-
preme, for no one can be happy if he
carries perpetually in mind the mean
things that have been done him. On
the other hand, you can find here and
there man or woman (for there are not
many of them) whose disposition is ge-
NAL and summary. Why? Have they
always been treated well? o, no. Hard
things have been said against them.
They have been charged with officious-
ness; and their generosities have been
set down to desire for display, and
they have many a time been the subject
OF tittle-tattle, and they have had
enough small assaults like gnats and
enough great attacks like lions to have
made them perpetually miserable, if
they would have consented to be miser-
able. But they have had enough divine
philosophy to cast off the annoyances,
and they have kept themselves in the
sunlight of Gods favor and have realized
that these oppositions and hindrances
are part of mighty discipline, by
which they are to be prepared for use
fulness and heaven. The secret of it all
is, they have, by the help of the eternal
God, learned how to forget.
Another practical thought: When our
faults are repented of let them go out
OF mind. If God forgets them, we have
right to forget them. Having once
repented of our felicities and misde-
meanors, there is no need of repenting
OF them again. Suppose owe you
large sum of money, and you are per-
suaded am incapacitaed to pay, and
you give me acquittal from that obliga-
ton. You say: 81 cancel that debt.
All is right now. Start again" And
the next day, come in and say: "You
know about that big debt owed you?
l have come in to get you to let me off.
1 feel SO bad about it cannot rest. Do
let me off, You reply with a little i'm
patience: 81 did let you off. Don't
bother yourself and bother me
with any more of that discussion"
The following day 1 come in and say:
MY dear sir, about that debt. l can
never get.ove the fact that I owe you
that money. 1t is something that weighs
on my mind like milestone. Do for
give me that debt" This time you clear
lose your patience and say: ''You are
nuisance. What do you mean by this
reiteration of that affair? l am almost
sorry forgave you that debt. Do you
doubt my veracity, or do you not under
stand the plain language in which told
you that debt was canceled?" Well, my
friends, there are many Christians guilty
of worse folly than that While it is
right that they repent of new sins and
of recent sins, what is the use
of bothering yourself and insult
ing God by asking Him to forgive
sins that long ago were forgiven? God
has forgotten them. Why do you not
forget them? No; you drag the load on
with you and aG5 times a year, if you
pray every day, you ask God to recall
occurrences which He has not only for
given but forgotten. Quit this folly l
do not ask you less to realize the turpi-
tude of sin, but ask you to a higher
faith in the promise of God and the full
deliverance of His mercy. He does not
give rec eipt for part payment, or so
much received on account, but receipt
in full, God having for Christ's sake de-
creed, ''your sins and your iniquities
will remember no more." AS far as pos
sible, let the disagreeables of life drop.
We have enough things in the present
and there will be enough in the future to
disturb us without running a special
train into the great Comedy to fetch us
nc cy>ooso1 fy.airrh+ h, 1of4 l1oI,
Some ten years ago when there was big
railroad strike, l remember seeing all
along the route from Omaha to Chicago
and from Chicago to New York hundreds
and thousands of freight cars switched
on the side tracks, those cars loaded
with all kinds of perishable material,
decaying and wasting. After the strike
was over, did the railroad companies
bring all that perishable material down
to the markets? No, they threw it off
where it was destroyed, and loaded up
with something else. Let the long train
of your thoughts throw off the worse
than useless freight of a corrupt and de-
stroyed past, and load up with gratitude
and faith and holy determination. We
do not please God by the cultivation of
the miserable. He would rather see us
happy than to see US depressed. You
would rather see your children laugh
than to see them cry, and your Heavenly
Father has no fondness for Mysteries.
Not only forget your pardoned trans
gressions, but allow others to forget
them. The chief stock on hand of many
people is to recount in prayer meetings
and pulpits what big scoundrels they
once were. They not only will not for
get their forgiven deficits, but they
seem to be determined that the church
and the world shall not forget them.
If you want to declare that you have
been the chief of sinners and extol the
grace that could save such wretch as
you were, do so, but do not go into par
ticulars. Do not tell how many times
you got drunk, or to what bad places
you went, or how many free rides you
had in the prison van before you were
converted. Lump it, brother; give it
to us in bulk. If you have any scars
got in honorable warfare, show them;
but if you have scars got in ignoble
warfare, do not display them. / know