The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-05-07

Rev. George II. HepwOrth in New York
Sunday Herald.
Whose trusteth in the Lord, happy is he
Proverbs, xvi, 30.
In this world we may, under pecu-
liar circumstances, have moments of
unalloyed happiness, but only mo-
ments. The human mind seems to
be SO constituted that it is impossible,
SO far as material things are concerned,
to be satisfied with that which is pos
sessed. The unpossessed alone is de-
slrable. What we attain to seems, for
a little time, to be the highest rung in
the ladder, and during that brief Pc
nod we may be content; but when we
discover that there are other rungs still
higher up ambition gives birth to dis
content, and we begin once more to
climb.
There is absolutely nothing in this
lower world in the way of wealth or
riches or honor which can do more
than merely contribute to human hap
piness, jus. as a slender rill that rip
pies through the forest contributes to
the lake into which it flows. You
can't make man happy or satisfied
or contented by giving him all he
wants, for the simple reason that he
only thinks he wants certain things,
but would find himself mistaken if he
had them. A youth, with the great
glow of fire in his heart, looks toward
the heights and believes that the I'M
fathomable bliss would be his if he
were only there. Then, with sturdy
effort that stretches through years, he
tolls along the upward path, and when
he reaches the summit discovers, to his
great disappointment, that his happi-
ness was in climbing and not in at
tanning. There is a great deal of a
certain kind of satisfaction in the sue
cessful struggle for wealth, but there
Is no more miserable class of men in
the world than those who have won a
fortune and given up the struggle in
order to enjoy it. The whole purpose
of life seems to have fallen away, for it
was the struggle and not the money
which made them contented, though
they knew it not.
| find that the community may be
divided into two Classes-those who
have very little money and a good
deal of happiness, and those who have
a good deal of money and very little
happiness. That fact proves that, to a
certain extent, money and happiness
are independent of each other. The
former is by no means the source OF
the latter. They may flow together,
like the Ohio and Mississippi rivers,
or they may flow apart.
II is therefore perfectly safe to con-
clude that what is inside of the soul is
not put there by anything that is out
side Of it. If wish to find out whether
a soul is happy | shall not make the
| discovery by exploring its environ
ment, for l may feel assured by the
nature of the environment that the
soul is quite contented and yet be
greatly mistaken. In order to satisfy
myself | must knock at the souls door
and examine the inside of the house.
This is SO strangely true that you will
sometimes to your surprise find utter
| wretChedness in palace, and some
times the sweetest Contentment in
hovel.
Wherein, then, does the secret lie,
for secret it certainly is, and not
everyone has learned it? OF course
there are extreme and exceptional
cases which require special considera
ton, but what does the average en-
vronment need to make him at peace
with himself?
Well, tell me what the lover needs
who is separated from the loved one?
There has been a misunderstanding,
and the one has drawn apart from the
other. He can never be himself
again until the TWO hands are Clasped
and the dear confidence has been
restored After that their daily inter
course smooths the rough path Of life
and the air is filled with music.
The soul of man finds its strength
and happiness in its love Of God, and
without that love it is as aImless as a
ship on the ocean that has lost its rud
der. No matter how much love you
may give to wife and children and
friends, it is absolutely imperative that
your love shall also soar from the
earthly to the heavenly home before
you can be entirely satisfied. Love is
religion and religion is love. When
YOU get down to the root Of the mat
ter you will find there is only one
proposition in the creed which Christ
revealed, and that is love for and con-
fidenCe in God. If you have that you
have almost everything else, for it is tC
the nature Of a man precisely what the
sun and showers are to the earth in
Spring time. If God has your hear,
He has the whole of you, for out of the
heart proceed all things-the bliss OF
heaven, the pangs thousand hells.
Oh, the divine simplicity of it all
and at the same time the strange dit
ficulty of it all. The Hand IS there
even underneath you in time of trouble
but you will not see it. God and the
heavenly hosts are round about you
Dear ones are never far away. True
love never dies, and is not disturbed
| by death. Believe these things and
your soul will be as quiet as the Sea o
Galilee when He cried, "Peace! BIZ