Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-07-10
ThistlaS and Corn.

Regardless of the heat,
And you will find that every day
Your life will grow more sweet.
-Somerville (Mdss.) Journal
ThiStles and Corn.
By their fruits We shall know Them
Matthew, vii, ~.
These two things are true-no man
can rightly appreciate this present life
until he has unwavering faith in the
life to come, and no man can rightly
appreciate heaven until he assures
himself that what he is now doing and
sacrificing and suffering will have a
distinct bearing on his character, and
therefore on his happiness or misery
hereafter.
When gardener plants vegetables in
the spring he knows just what kind OF
crop he will have in the autumn. His
potatoes will never become turnips and
his radishes will never become beets.
If he is careless in his planting he will
be lacking when he reaps. There is in
nature only that kind of necromancy
which reproduces in larger quantity
the exact kind of wheat which you
SOW. Nature is never capricious, and
if you expect generous returns you
must make generous investment.
Physically, we know this by expert
ence; spiritually, we know it by Undue
ton. If oats reproduce oats it is safe
to infer that noble thoughts and en-
deavors will result in happiness and
profit, and if neglected farm goes to
waste you may be sure that neglect
ed soul will follow the same rule.
Religion, therefore, is merely the
science of successful spirit culture, with
heaven for your reaping season. There
is nothing mysterious about it except
as the processes of growth are always
mysterious.
Theology is very different affair, for
it consists merely of series of specula-
tions, or. in some cases, of vagaries,
whose influence on life is very remote
and obscure.
You can live long and well without
theology, but you cannot live at all
without religion. The electric current,
for illustration, runs along the wire
and carries your message to the other
side of the continent-that is practical
religion. You have theory as to what
the electric current is-that is theology
You can do without the theory, but you
cannot do without the current. The
learned may, with more or less profit
discuss the nature of electricity; but
the poor man, who will be befogged by
YOUR definitions, knows as we'll as you
do the value of the mystic fluid which
traverses hemisphere in the twinkline
of an eye.
Now, it is a fundamental law of re
ligion that no man can SOW thlstles anC
reap corn. The experiment has beer
tried SO often, and so often failed, tina
it would be foolish to try it again. Life
therefore, becomes serious affair, fol
some one is keeping debit and credi
account with your soul. Not serious
in the sense of awfnl, but in the sense
of grand and glorious. This is not {
vale of tears, but rather rugged
mountain path up which you bare clin
ing to the summit. There are hours o
exceeding pleasure, when you rest TO
while to enjoy the prospect and gath
er inspiration therefrom; when thu
genial sunshine fills you with bliss an(
the flowers spring at your feet; wher
you are thousand times glad that you
undertook the journey, and your hear
beats high with JOY and rapture. Their
are other hours when it seems al
though the storms were fends to blocl
your passage; when heaven above ant
earth. beneath are black with discour
aging shadows, and when you wonde
If there is any summit, or if it is wOrtl
while to struggle to attain it.
All these experiences are working
their effect on you. They are making
or unmaking you. They are your dis
cipline, your trial, your education
Laughter and tears are equally neces
sary, and if the Lord had denied tn
capacity for either you would be onl,
half a man. You yield yourself Z
times to gleeful hilarity, and at time
you bend your shoulders to a terrible
burden and stagger under it. The sam
God listens to your happiness and you
misery, simply asking you to be brav,
and do the best you can.
Does this logic of cause and effec
cease at death, and is the other worlC
wholly unlike this? There is no hin
of any such change to be found any
where. On the contrary. there is ev
cry reason to believe that you will take
up, the day after death, the same char
The air is full of myths and fables with
reference to this matter. There are nc
more harps in the future than there
are in the present. You simply ford the
river, leaving your outer garments be
hind-nothing more. Your environ
ment may be different, but you will be
the same person in every respect. 1t
must be SO, or Immortality is itself a
fallacy
Live, then, like man. and you will
be a man hereafter. Fashion for your.
self noble character, because that
character is to last, and will not be
changed except as-you change it of
your own free will. Crying Lord
Lord !" will-5e of no service to you un-
less yeetE. propose to do the Lords will,
and if that is your desire it is better to
begin here and now. The notion that
you can do as you please for many years
and then receive the mercy which you
do not deserve is a grave mistake.
Ii in this life you cannot plant thistles
and reap corn, you certainly cannot
plant thistles here and reap corn here
after. You must come to deliberate
conclusion as to what your life is given
to you for, what are the objects most
worthy of attainment, whether money,
or fame, or honesty, or purity of soul;
whether you will have your own way
or give God His way ''Getting relig-
ion," as it is called, is merely reaching
right conclusion, debating with your
self until you can see that the Christ
spirit is worth more than anything else.
Then you will rightly appreciate this
present life, because you have an I'M
wavering faith in the life to come, and
the glories of that other life shed their
radiance over every joy and sorrow,
and give you foretaste of heaven long
before you reach the heavenly shores.
~. Y. Herald.
What the South Can Do.
IT. il avidant that tho South hoe o4