The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-08-16

ment out Of his personal experience and
making such a remarkable confession,
draws us into confidential relations
1 with him as worthy teacher, His
hopes. his fears his struggles after the
/ ideal and his conscious failure to attain
e. exactly represent the difficulties
which we daily encounter, lf therefore,
he acquired any measure Of spiritual
success, We are curious to know how {,
was done, for we may thereby be en-
couraged to so and do likewise.
There is a large grain OF comfort
IN the fact that he found it so easy to
do wrong and So hard to do right, for
we long since discovered the same pc
Z culiarity In ourselves, II he found the
secret by which the higher lie can he
reached. or this lower life tranSdgured
and is willing to mpart it. we shall
listen to him very attenuvely.
He tells Us that d, knew perfectly
well what he ought 10 do, bV' did 't0
not, That has been true ~ NNn.a va.
ture ever since the be ..ai?s OF the
world We know enc s3 J-' 10 toC
little. o. rls, ther, -.e ,.,.n
stances ... s,.a,a Ne are perpleNed as
to our dlty. but as a general thing
and in the ordinary concerns ot life our
knowledge Is sufficient Instead of mo.
al courage. however. ", have moral
cowariicc ~ac -y,a, uee- ? the hour
is not edit alton g. the mind, but de-
velopment q ;ae heart. OF the ave- I
tons Of the aspirations II Is our love
Of God. not our biological thetsy, that
makes US noble
The thief will not argue that thiev-
cry is right but. on the contrary, will
agree with you that in the long run II
is fatal TO happiness, and yet at that
very moment he will steal in the full
expectation that what he steals will
render his happy. That is one OF the
contradictions Of human nature. The
poor drunkari needs no one to tell
him about the logical consequences Of
indulgence. His head is clear on that
subject. but his heart Is duh. He will
even weep over his own folly and de- /
spise himself as no one else can possi- .
bly, despise him. But what hate, /
that do l." This is another Instance in I
which human nature is a puzzle to
itself.
You would naturally say that when
a man is convinced Of the terrible char (.
acter OF evil habits and the inevitable
results which follow on their heels, 4
he will abstain on the purely selfish .
principle OF self preservation. Win a
man voluntarily injure himself? Ger
tainly he will. He will not only ruin .
his own life, but bring disaster upon
those whom he honestly loves with
deep and pure affection.
The passions, and l use the word in
its broadest and most inclusive sense,
are like a span OF high strung horses
who take the bit into their mouths,
dash along the highway with madden
ed fury. and end by breaking the car
riage TO pieces and laming or even kill
ing themselves. Many a man has run
away with himself in like manner and
closed his short career by utter de-
struction OF both soul and body,
After death such a soul will awaken
to the recognition Of what It has
done and will have to unlearn what is
false before it can learn what is true
In other words. man may so COM
pletely waste the whole of this lower
life that he must needs begin the other
life at an infinite disadvantage. No
miracle will make good soul out Of
bad soul-let that not be forgotten.
Unless we make a profitable use Of the
earthly season we shall defeat the pur-
pose Of God in giving us our opportu-
mites, and will find ourselves dazed
and unprepared for the grander oppor-
tunities Of the life 10 come. The AL
mighty means something by putting US
here in this primary department Of
eternity, and II we misuse our privi-
leges or wantonly abuse them we shall
enter the other home on a lower level
spiritually than though We had died in
our infancy, and our regrets Will be
more poignant than tongue can tell.
What, then. do we lack? Evidently
moral courage, and nothing else. We
do not dare to be equal TO our convic-
tions. That is the fatal fact The
mind recognizes this truth, the heart
ignores It. Our vision is entirely clear.
We really have no doubts as to what
will make our lives noble. Our infor-
nation on the subject need not be en-
arged. II we would do what We ought
to do. Millennium peace and content
nent would fall on the world like a
7anediction NCt q larger head, but
arger heart, is wanted. ,
Saint Paul took the Christ and the
christ principle into his life, and 50 ,
became self-contained and brave. Moth .
ng daunted him, for the spirit Of God
rave him power. Death had no ter
'ors, for he was sure Of seeing the dear
mes in whose cause he had labored
md suffered. He did not dream of re-
igion, he lived it. 1t was to him a law