Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-07-04
Do What DO You Think Is Right.

L
self; but to him that esteemeth any thlng TO
be uncean to him it is unclean-Romans
xiv, IA.
We have here very broad and i'm
portant principle of action. st. Paul
applies the principle to only a few
things, but there is no reason why we
may not apply it to many things.
The Apostle says that some men es
TEEN one day above another. while
Others regard all days alike. He fur
ther saws that many regard certain
articles of food as unclean, while Others
entertain different opinion. Neither
of these classes, he declares, is justified
in condemning the other for following
their convictions. No one man can be
the Judge for all the rest. Each must
be fully persuaded in his own mind,
and then do what he thinks is right.
Paul carries his principle so far as to
assert that if given course is entirely
innocent in itself. still if you think it
is wrong, that settles the matter for
YOU, and you commit a sin in following
it.
You are to do what you yourself
think is right, not what other people
tell you is right.
You are to exercise your own best
Judgment when deciding what is harm
with You on that basis.
If you have been endowed with rea
soning faculties and with moral ia
ture you are by their exercise to erect
a standard for yourself and to create
an ideal which it shall be your purpose
to attain. When you have made the
standard you are to act in accordance
with it, and when you have made your
ideal you are to keep it in view with
ewes that are loyal and steadfast.
In a single word, Sc. Paul would
have you be yourself even though you
become unlike everybody else.
You are not to be as drop of water
in bucket of water, undistingulsh-
able from the general mass, but rather
as one grain of sand on q seashore of
sand, or as one leaden shot in bagful
of shot, in close relations with every
other grain of sand or every other
shot, but still maintaining an individ
uality of your own, which cannot be
lost and with which you refuse to part.
This is only another way OF saying
that in the providence of God there is
DO such thing as crowd to be treated
as whole, but that He wishes you to
retain your peculiar personality under
ali circumstances, and will attend to
your special needs in a special way
You are to begin by being your SIM
pie self; you are to continue by think
ing for yourself and hammering out
convictions which are your personal
property; you are to end by acting for
yourself Then when you get to heav
en- there will be only two questions for
you to answer-Did you have a clear
do? and, Did you do what you thought
you ought to do?
Suppose we apply this rule TO some
of the ordinary matters of daily life.
There is in the community an almost
violent difference OF opinion on the
subject of theatres, and of dancing,
and of riding for pleasure on Sunday
afternoon.
Now it is generally admitted that
none of these things is wrong in itself,
and yet ajority of the clergy frown
with almost equal disfavor on them
all. And since the clergy are thought
full folk, and make it their business to
examine our pleasures from a moral
standpoint, and are pot to be suspect
ed of personal motives, their opinions
should have due weight. Not conclu
sive weight; because they cannot stand
in our stead at the bar and shield US
from their consequences of not follow
ing our own convictions. If they
could, the affair would assume an en-
tirely different aspect. If we could
feel that they are authorized to tell us
what to do and what not to do; if they
could simply say to the Lord. I'VE ad-
vised him and he followed our advice, "
and so settle the matter for us, we
should then receive their warnings
without hesitation. But that is not
the case. We stand for ourselves, and
there are no proxies in the other world.
We therefore give their opinion the
highest consideration when they de
nounce the theatre, but remember
that we ourselves are the court of last
appeal.
Our decision, therefore, as to all
these pastimes must come from the
fact that we are fully persuaded in our
own minds, not by somebody else's
mind. There isn't a human being who
has been endowedwith ordinary intel
ligence who does not know to an abso-
lutte certainty whether an evening at
the theatre is demoraliZing or not. If
he thinks it wrong to go, then it is
undoubtedly a crime to go. If in his
opinion eating flesh is sinful. then he
will surely be held for a misdemeanor
if he eats flesh. If he feels that he
must apologize for going to the theatre
or for taking ride on Sunday or for
engaging in the dance, he is morally a
coward and is guilty of an offence. No
matter how innocent any pleasure may
be in itself, if you are ashamed of in
duIging in it, but still indulge, you are
accountable for the commission of a
sin.
What dignity it aids to human ma
ture to be thus made the judge of your
own actions and to be weighted down
with personal responsibility for them
How much healthier and stronger and
freer and more progressive and more
wholesome society would be if every
man had an opinion of his own and the
independence which conviction gener-
ateS
As it is half the world doesn't know
why it does this or why it refrains from
doing that, and can give no good rea
son either for it's beliefs or its doubts
1t follows fashion as flock of sheer
follow the bellwether; not only fashion
in dress, even when it is uncomely and
disfguring, but fashion in creeds and
in politics and in all the other concerns
of life.
But st. Paul tells you to use your
brains, to use your moral nature
honestly and fearlessly, and then to dc
what you think is honorable and right
If we followed his advice the world
would be all the better for it.-N Y
Herald.
An astronomer calculates that if the
diameter of the sun is daily diminished