The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-04-13
ENCOURAGE PURE THOUGHTS
IT is Not DO, We Outwardly Live Alright
But Is Our Heart Clean and Upright.

A'N' ~ Ous hhsoit Shchh anu OpIlkhts
1t is doubtless fact that to even
many of those whose minds are full of
sin, whose lives are SO blackened by
the smirch of evil that there is little
left of the man made in the image of
God and but little lower than the an
gels, there does come at one time or
another watts of pure thought.
But the habit of pure thought can
come only through cultivation. The
high aim that should ever be before
our minds to attain to the semblance
OF our Divine pattern, Jesus, is not al
together one of inheritance. By "a life
OF goodness, a life known to be full of
cardinal virtues, life in which the
good so transcends the bad that it ac-
tually hides it, perhaps blots it out, you
appear to become holy; and those who
know you best respect you most, place
most confidence in the fact that as you
believe so you live.
Your child, who from it's babyhood
has most closely watched you, believes
in you, and, believing in you, seeks to
initiate your virtues. That is most adj
mirable; but does that child see be-
meath the surface? Does he know that
behind the mask the soul is not always
just as pure as 1t looks to him2 You
know how easy it is to say one thing
and believe another, how you can
cultivate the habit of dong two things
at once, as the mother croons lullaby
while her eyes follow the lines of her
book, and she does not even know that
she sings until the baby's cry jarring
upon her song in its discord makes her
know that it is there.
You teach your child to be good. to
eschcw evil, and as reward you hold
before it Gods love, and the future hap
piness that He promises. Is the lesson
learned in day, is one telling of the
golden rule enough to fix it upon his
mind; is it not rather over, and over,
and over? Is it not line upon line, line
upon line? That becomes the habit of
good, and can not be too thoroughly
cultivated nor too strictly urged for at
tention.
bNii 10 lholttiouB, d NlChCu lutd, IL
wrong thing held before your eyes
makes you start back with horror, but
chance word few lines from fas-
cinatng book, beautiful picture
makes you look at the beauty and for.
get the evil; and it is very easy to fall
into the habit of looking leniently up.
on it, until you forget that it exists.
The mountain torrent rushing down
the steep descent carries everything
that lies in its way, but the stream that
runs under the rustic bridge in yondel
valley is just as surely a part of the
.Orrent as though the crimson tints OF
the autumn sky were not reflected il
its clear water, and it is just as surely
bearing towards the ocean.
BY some strange persistence we like
to do what is wrong, there is fascina
ton in daring to do what one chooses
the bent of our minds is not al
ways towards the best: and THU
not because we really low,
what is not good, but perhaps be
cause we do not choose to submit to 8
dictation that may exist only in ou
Imagination. Be the reason what /
may, it is a sad fact that we Otter
choose that which is just the reverse o.
what we ought to have chosen.
But there is one sure antidote for us
that is to so form the habit of pur,
thought that nothing of evil coulc
abide with us. When our Saviour de
livered the sermon on the mount HI,
told His hearers that the pure in
heart were blessed, pure heart viii
coin only pure thoughts, and habit o
pure thoughts will make evil impossi
BILE. In the picture that is given to us
of the eternal city, the new Jerusalem
we see "a pure river of water of life
clear as crystal, proceeding out o
the throne of God and of tn,
Lamb We do not actually know any
thing about Heaven; it is such plac,
as our individual tastes, highest ideas o
happiness may form for us; but ou
Bible shows pure white throne upor
which the Judge shall sit, and tn,
throne is within the gates of pearl
where there is no night, no sorrow, NJ
sin.
To prepare for such home we ough
to cultivate this habit of pure thoughts
for the body is in a great measure wha
the mind makes it, and it ought to be {
At temple for the Holy Ghost. BY God''
help, With the love of Jesus in oul
hearts, with faith that ever wavers
we can be. body, mind and spirit both
pure and holy, and fit for the kingdom
Isabel Olcott, in Christian at Work.
lOk E0R IAE RESI