The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-03-21
OPPORTUNITY" "
Rev. DR.. Talmage Discourses Upon
VERSATILE Word.
rhe scriptural Significance of the Word
"Opportunity''-A Staccato Passage
In the Great Gospel Harmony
and Its Mission.

The following discourse upon "Op-
portunity'' was delivered by Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage in the Academy of
Music, New York city, being based on
the text:
AS we have therefore opportunity, let US do
good.-Galatians vi. 10.
At Denver, Col, years ago, an au-
dience had assembled for divine
worship. The pastor of the church,
for whom 1 was to preach that night,
interested in the seating of the people,
stood in the pulpit looking from side
10 side, and when no more people could
be crowded within the walls he turned
to me and sale, with startling emphasis:
What an opportunity" Immediately
that word began to enlarge, and while
a hymn was being sung, at every
stanza the word opportunity" swiftly
and nightly unfolded. and while the
opening prayer was being made, the
word piled up into Alps and Himalayas
of meaning, and spread out into other
latitudes and longitudes of significance
until it became hemisphere, and it
still grew in altitude and circumfer-
ence until it encircled other worlds,
and swept out, and on, and around un-
til it was as big as eternity. Never
since have read Or heard that word
without being thrilled with its magni-
tude and momentum. Opportunity!
Although in the text to some it may
seem mild and quiet note, in the
great Gospel harmony it is a staccato
passage. 1t is one of the loveliest and
awfulest words in our language of
more than one hundred thousand words
of English vocabulary.
Gas we have opportunity, let us do
good"
What is an opportunity? The lexi-
cographer would coolly tell you it is a
conjunction of favorable circumstances
for accomplishing purpose; but
words can not tell what it is. Take
thousand years to manufacture def
milton, and you could not successfully
describe it. Opportunity! The meas
uring rod with which the Angel of the
Apocalypse measured Heaven could
not measure this pivotal word of my
text. Stand on the edge of the preci-
pice of all time and let down the faith
oming line hand under hand. and
lower down and lower down, and for
quintillion of years let it sink, and
the lead will not strike bottom. OPP
portunity! But while do notattempt
to measure or define the word, will,
God helping me, take the response
bility of telling you something about
opportunity.
First, it is very swift in it's motions.
Sometimes within one minute it starts
from the throne of God, sweeps around
the earth, and reascends 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 oppor-
tunity very much like it may arrive,
but that one never. Naturalists tell
us of insects which are born, fulfill
their mission and expire in an hour.
but many opportunities die so soon
after they are born that their brevity
of life is incalculable. What most
amazes me is that opportunities do
such overshadowing, far-reaching and
tremendous work in such short earth
ly allowance. You are a business
man of large experience. 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
7 Ial
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, fraudulent
turn to get out of his despairful posi-
tion. Your hopefulness inspired him
for all time, and thirty years after you
are dead he will be reaping the ad-
vantage of your optimism. Your op-
portunity to do that one thing for that
young man was not half as long as the
time have taken to rehearse it. In
yonder third gallery you sit, man of
the world, but you wish everybody
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 meeting in the Metho-
dist church?' While it is being talked
over you say: WELL. 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. / wish our men would keep
away from those meetings." Do you
know. oh man, what you did in that
minute of depreciation? There were
two young ,nen in that group who that
night would have gone to those meet
ings and been saved Tor this world and
the next, but you decided them not to
GO. They are social natures. They
already drink more than is good for
them, and are disposed to be wild.
From the tim. they heard You say that
they accelerated their steps on the
downward road. In ten years they will
be through with their dissipations. and
pass into the Gre.t Beyond. That lit
tie talk Of yours decided their destiny
for this world and the next, You had