Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-09-04
A HUMAN LIFE.

Vanity of vanities all is vanity.-Eccles1-
asteS, l., 2.
No. not all is vanity. A great many
things which you think very desirable
are a mere puff of vanity; but many
other things are quite worth working
for, and fully repay you for your labor
The subject is an important one, Tor
such man as Solomon would hardly
have made remark unless there was
a truth in it. We can sit down togeth,
er and find mutual profit in careful
inquiry as to the special matters to
which the wise man referred.
Solomon would scarcely be regarded
in these days as conservative man
He lived double life, one OF which
was spent in physical pleasure, while
the other was devoted to intellectual
pursuits. His course could hardly be
approved by our modern public opin-
ion, and the pleasures which he rather
boastingly indnlged in were such as the
gentlemen of our times never refer to
except in the confessional.
The upshot of his wide experience in
gratifying his appetites is that they
furnished him with no lasting satisfac
ton, and in that particular matter ev
ery man in every age will agree with
him. The testimony, when it is hon
estly given, is universal and unanimous.
No man can live on the physical plane
and feel that he has lived well. This
sense of unrest, this loss of self-respect,
this burning regret when memory re-
calls such past, which all men suffer
from, are simply evidence of the ma
tural grandeur and dignity of the soul.
In other words, they prove that no one
can be really happy who makes his
body rather than his soul his master,
ministering to the one and ignoring the
other.
Just as the physical functions rebel
when they are misused, and the result
ant suffering is reminder that you
have broken certain laws, SO the spirit
rebels when appetite or passion is ram
pant: and the remorse which follows is
Gods way of telling you that you have
struck the wrong trail and are climb
ing the wrong hill. The universe is so
made that no one can live for himself
alone, can live selfishly and meanly
without making for himself little hell
in which the worm dieth not and the
fire is not ouenched-until that mode
of life is changed for better.
1t is not true, however, that the &C
QUESTION of wealth is vanity, provided
it be acquired with integrity. The
Church is too apt to tell you that this
worldliness is sinful and that the other
worldliness alone is beneficial. We
were placed here to do a great work,
and as long as we are in the world we
ought to de that work with willing
hands and an ambitious heart. There
is as much conservation to be found III
business life as there is in monastic
life And there is as much heroism Re
! l.
irreproachable lines as there is in going
to foreign shore to preach the gospel
to savages. The good men, the men
who are approved of God, are not all
found in the ministry or in the list OF
church membership. A man in the
whirl of active commercial life may be
as sanity as the ascetic who lives in a
cave and spends his time in meditation
and prayer.
But if you recognize nothing except
this world, if you are so absorbed in its
pursuits that you catch no glimpse OF
heaven and do not shape your ends
with reference to a future, then the
time will surely come when you will
ask yourself if, after all, it pays you to
live for forty or fifty years and then be
snuffed out like candle. The appetites
of the body will be stated some time,
and an appalling dissatisfaction will
creep over your mind. You will be like
harp that is out of tune or whose
strings are broken, and you will cry out
in bitterness of spirit, VANITY of vani-
ties, all is vanity!n
If you could hear the wall of human
beings who have drunk the draught of
pleasure until only the dregs are left,
if you could hear the moan of disap
hi ha
of thousands self-wrecked, you would
tremble with pity. You cannot live a
low life and have sweet taste in your
mouth. God must abdicate before that
miracle eau occur. Never yet did a
mean thought or deed produce pleas
ant dreams; and if you suffer because
you have INDUCED in either it is simply
thunderous command to mend your
WAYS, and the thunder will continue
until you see your mistake and rectify
it. Some people will tell you that this
suffering is Gods wrath working pun
ishment in your soul, but, Oh the con
trary, it is Gods pity for your wanton-
ness, and your own punishment of
yourself for being self-willed and self
indulgent
Live for your soul, not for your body,
because the body will go back to the
dust after awhile, but the soul will re
main. Have due regard for your bet
ter, your immortal self; and you can
do that just as well as a business man
as you can do it as an ecclesiastic. Sell
and buy; dream of wealth and acquire
it if you can; provide with all shrewd-
ness and economy for your family; sur
round yourself if possible with comforts
and Injuries. There is nothing in the
Christian religion which forbids you to
do these things. But from day to day
be man, with work that covers the
present and hope that reaches out to
the future. Then you can face death
without tremor and be certain of a
happy Immortality. You will thank
God for beautiful life and step into
heaven to be welcomed by the angels
N. Y. Herald.