The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1895-09-13
A MAN OF THE WORLD
AND HIS RELIGION.
New York Herald.

New York Herald.
They that use this world, as not abusing
it, Corinthians, VIII, 81.
You say you are a man OF the world,
and you wish to give the impression
that you go through life with your
eyes open with suspicion enough to
keep yon from falling into a trap laid
for the unwary.
A man of the world That is. you
are wont to declare, a man well pro-
yided with common sense, thor
oughly practical man, who accepts
neither politics nor religion at second,
but submits both to his own judg-
ment.
A man Of the world! And, making
no pretenslons to being better than
your neighbor, you indulge such
pleasures as suit your fancy, and
rather expect that the fact that you
have never pr0fessed to be good will
be some sort of excuse for not being
so. Having never accepted any moral
obligations, or promised to govern
your life by them, you have vague
notion that your accountability is
somewhat modified.
Well the matter is worth looking at.
Suppose we exercise this common
sense which is very properly your boast,
and try to discover what is absolutely
necessary to your growth as a man
and to the development of your char
acter, for then we shall find out what
you are under an obligation to do,
whether you have promised to do 1t
or not.
In our civil society we are governed
by certain laws. Some things ought
to be done because the general welfare
demands it, and society cannot be held
together unless they are done. For
instance you have no right to anoth-
cr mans property, neither have you
any right to invade his family circle,
nor have you any right to revenge
yourself upon him by assault or assas-
sinatiOn. When you have made a
breach Of the law you cannot plead
that you never assumed any Obliga-
tion to respect it, and are, therefore,
to be held guitless. You are a part
of the whole. and the part has no
right to do what will injure the whole.
You cannot he allowed to do as you
please on the ground that no promise
to obey has ever passed your lips. 1t
is very reasonable that this should be
so. While it is well enough that you
should be a man of the world, the
phrase does not include any independ-
ence Of the world or any privilege be-
slowed upon you to do as you please,
irrespective Of the welfare OF others.
Now, in spiritual concerns the same
rule holds good. Here, however, the
moral obligation is two-fold. First
you are bound not only to refrain
from doing what will injurc others,
but, Furthermore, bound to do what
will be helpful to them. If you were
on a ship wrecked on lee rocks you
would be an odd sort of man If you
simply tried to get yourself ashore
and refused sympathy or assistance
to your fellow passengers. 1t would
not be an act Of generosity to haul
some sinking creature on to your raft:
it would be plain duty, and to omit
such duty would be equivalent to a
crime. This Is the common sense
OF the situation, and unless it were
so there would be neither manliness
nor honor in the world.
In the second place, you have not
merely the appetites and pleasures of
the body to provide for, but also, and
most of all, the well being of the soul
You may never have prOfessed relig-
ion, possibly you may have systemat-
ically ignored it, but that makes no
difference whatever. The obligation
to look after yourself with due econo-
my and to pursue such course that
in your old age you will be a healthy,
clean hearted and honost man rests
on you just as securely as though you
had joined dozen churches. You
can't get rid of your soul, and there
fore you can't get rid OF the duty of
taking proper care of it. When you
reach heaven the Lord will not ask
how many prayers you have said or
examine into the regularity of your
attendance ut church, for these things
are only spiritual Incidents. But He
will ask what you have been doing
with your spiritual nature and what
has been the result OF your doing.
You may 90 to all the churches of the
land, but if you are not an honest
soul you will be condemned. You
may never have gone to any church at
all, but II you have led pure life
and humbly worshipped the Giver Of
life, no matter In what way, whether
1t be by form or ceremony. or without
either Of them, you will be welcomed,
for, after all, heaven is for those who
have done good, and there is no other
place where they can possibly go.
What we insist upon, then, can be
summed up In u few words. You are
man and your destiny includes i'm
mortality. You arc to live somewhere
else when the scroll Of the present
has been entirely unwound. Some
things will render you tlt to enjoy that
other life--will prcDare YOU for it.