The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-02-08
THE OPPORTUNITY.
DIR. Talmage Discourses on the
Time to Do Good.
The Necessity of Starting the Young in the
Right Direction-Take Advantage OF
Present OppOrtunities-The
Danger of Delay.

In a late sermon at BROOKLYN Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage took for his subject
Opportunity" the text being from
iGallatians vi 10: "As we have, there
fore, opportunity, let us do good
The noted divine said:
At Denver. Col, years ago an audi
ence had ASSEMBLE for divine worship.
The pastor of the church for whom
was to preach that night. interested in
the seating of the people, stood in the
pulpit looking from side to side, and
when no more people could be crowd
ed within the walls, he turned TO me
and said, with startling emphasis:
What an opportunity Immediately
that word began to enlarge, and while
a hymn was being sung, at every
sstanza the word opportunity" swift
ly and nightly unfolded, and
while the opening prayer was be-
ing made, the word piled up into
Alps and Himalayas of meaning, and
spread out into other ATTITUDES and
longitudes of significance until it be-
came hemisphere, and it still grew in
altitude and circumference until il en-
circled other worlds and swept out
and on and around until IL was as big
as eternity. Never since have l read
or heard that word without being
thrilled with its magnitude and mo-
mentum. Opportunity. Although in
the text to some it may seem a mild
and quiet note, in the great Gospel of
harmony it is a staccatato passage. 1t is
one of the lOveliest and awfullest
words in our language of more than
100000 words of English voca bulary.
AS we have opportunity let us do
good"
What is an opportunity? The lexi-
cographer would coolly tell you it is
conjunction of favora BILE circumstances
for accomplishing a purpose; but words
cannot tell what it is. Take a thou
sand years to manufacture definition.
and you could not describe it. Oppor-
tunity, But while l do no not attempt
to measure or define the word. | will,
God helping me. take the responsible
ty Of telling you something about OPP
portunity.
First. il is very swift in its motions.
sometimes within one minute it starts
from the throne of God, sweeps around
the earth, and re-ascends the throne
from which it started. Within less
than sixty seconds it fulfilled its mis-
sion.
In the second place opportunity never
comes back. Perhaps an opportunity
very much like il may arrive. but that
one never. Naturalists tell us of in
sects which are born. fulfill their mis-
sion. and expire in an hour; but many
opportunities die so soon after they are
born that their brevity of life is meal
culable. What most amazes me is that
opportunities do such overshadowing,
far-reaching, and tremendous work
in such a short earthly allowance.
You are a business man of large ex-
perience. The past eighteen months
have been hard on business men. A
young merchant at his wits end came
into your Office or your house. and
you said: Times are hard now. but
better days will come. l have seen
things as bad or worse. but we got out.
and we will get out of this. The
brightest days that this country ever
saw are yet to come" The young man
to whom you said that was ready for
suicide, or something worse, namely. a
fraudulent turn to get out of his
despairful position. Your hopefulness
inspired him for all time. and thirty
years after YOU are dead he will be
reaping the advantage of your optim-
ism. Your opportunity to do that one
thing for that young man was not half
as long as the time l have taken to re-
hearse it.
In yonder third gallery you sit,
man of the world, but you wish every
body well. While the clerks are
standing round in your store. or the
men in your factory are taking their
noon spell. some one SAYS: Have YOU
heard that one of our men has been
converted at the revival meetings in
the Methodist church," While it is
being talked over You say: We'll.
do not believe in revivalS. Those
things do not last. People get excited.
and join the church. and are no better
than they were before. 1 wish our
men would keep away from those meet
iugS-" Do YOU know. oh. man. what
YOU did in that minute OF depreciation?
There were two young men IN that
group who that night would have
gone to those meetings and been
saved for this world and the F.
next. but you decided them I.
not TO go. They are social natures. /
They already drink more than is good /
for them. and are disposed to be wild. I
From the time they heard you say that. /
they accelerated their steps on the /
downward road. In ten wears they I
will be through with their designations. 1
and pass into the Great Beyond. That F.
little talk OF yours decided their des- I
tiny for this world and the next You /
had an opportunity that you misim- .
proved, and how will you feel when I
You confront those two immortals in I
the last judgment and they tell you of /.
that unfortunate talk of yours that /
flung them over the precipice?
The day I left our country home TO I
look after myself. we rode across the /
country, and my father was driving. /
Of course l said nothing that implied .
how felt (But there are hundreds of 4
men here, who from their own expert /
ence know how 1 felt.) At such 4 time 1
a young man may be hopeful and even
impatient, but to leave the homestead .
where everything has been done for 4
you; your father or older brother tax 4
ing your part when you were imposed
on by larger boys; and your mother al /
ways around, vixen you got cold. with /
applications for the chest. or
herb tea to make you sweat off the
fever. and sweet mixtures in the cup /