The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1895-03-07
VITAL RELIGION.

Sturdy Faith Founded Upon CoDvic-
tion Better Than the Emotional.
From the New York Herald
Whenever man is more emotional
than thoughtful he runs the risk of
grave dangers. The brain is as val
liable portion OF he human anato-
my as the heart, aud unless your
feelings aud your convictions run
side Ivy side the race will never be
won. La religious matters, more
than elsewhere, YOU should use your
mind reverently and boldly, for when
the time OF trial comes, if you are to
bear your burden braveiy, YOU must
know as well as feel that every thing
is right. L he reason why the re-
ligion of SO many fails them when
they most need it-when i'll fortune
visits the household or the bells toll
at the departure of loved one is
that they have never been thorough
y convinced that what they profess
is an eternal verify.
When the mariner is on lea shore,
his vessel enshroudtd in an impene-
trable fog, he noise of breakers in
his ears, he trusts in his compass
more implicitly than ever Standing
at the wheel with trembling heart
and hanfs, awestruck at impending
peril, he will stake his life on the
tru' hfulness of the needle. He does
not depend on his feeling that it can
not deceive him, but on his knowl
fdc" that it never has deceived him.
l hat compass lie the one thing he is
absolutely sure OF, ami, being suta,
he does not hesitate even wien the
luttiTg rocks are uud r the bow o!
his Vi ssel.
That kind of faith is what We need
i'll our religious li'e-sturdv, stead
fast, nnyielding Snch faith alone
can make us heroes and heroines
When you have reached the eminence
from which your whole mind goes
out to God, from which you can look
down on the events of life and see
His ruling hand, a thousand evil
dences OF His interest in and His love
for yOu, it will be impossible for you
not TO love Him with all your heart
On the contrary, if you simply send
your emotions, your hopes-which
sometimes fly with weary wings
your lodgings, on the way to Heav
en-, suspicion may arise some dark
night wheu the candle feebly lights
the room of death that possibly
/ these hopes are false and these long
ings not trustworthy. Such an ex
perience is fatal to happiness, for it
changes your dismay into despair.
Your religion deserts you and your
resignation bids you goodby God
pity you in time like that, for your
heart we'll nigh breaks.
! You cannot build a safe bridge
without sinking the piers to the solid
granite in the bed Of the river.
Your faith is not good for much
unless it is founded on reason.
| The man who thinks he believes is
not the equal of the man who not
only knows that he believes, but why
he believes.
A doubt concerning the providence
OF God when you are in the deep
waters makes your heart SO heavy
that you are likely to sink
1t is impossible tor you to clog to
something unless you are sure that
it exists and sure shat it will hold
you up.
fy0u first love God with all your
heart, neither temptation nor sorrow
/ can Overmaster you.
II your religion is based on knowl-
edge as we'll as feeling, on conviction
as we'll as emotion, you are beyond
| the reach OF harm in this world and
| close to the joys OF Heaven.