Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-02-28
FULFILLs HER VOW.
MRS. MARY {. LEASE slcNALfzEs RE-
TURNED HEALTH BY PREACHING.

ness
Some weeks ago Mrs. Mary e. Lease,
who achieved much political notoriety
by her vigorous campaign as candidate
for mayor Of Wichita, Kan, fell danger
ously i'll While ON her sickbed she
vowed that il she recovered she would
signalize her return TO health by preach
ing pure, doctrinal sermon as the best
public means of expressing her thank
fulness She fulfilled that vow by de-
livering the following sermon at the
Central Christian church of Wichita,
Kan, the other day, and the multitude
that went to hear her not only crowded
the building, but extended out into the
middle Of the avenue. 1t was said that
everybody was there except the husband
Of the new preacher, who shocked the
religiously inclined by opening his store
ON a main street during the sermon of
his wife and proceeded to do business as
if it were a week day. Among the at
tendants at church was delegation of
deaf mutes, who had the sermon inter.
preted to them.
Mrs. Lease took for her text the TWEEN
ty-seventh verse Of the ninth chapter Of
Sc. Mark" But Jesus took him by the
hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ("
After reading the text she spoke as fol
lows:
More and more IL Is dawning upon
the hearts of men that Christianity is
not the passive acceptance of me theo-
logical dogmas, but the living of life.
It is not dream, faraway, earnestly
wished, ideal condition, but living, ev-
eryday reality, the solitary and sublime
functions which alone make men equal
to their duties and responsibilities. 1t
is not complicated, tiresome network
Of oreeds and isms, that needs must be
contracted or expanded, patched or re-
paired to suit the ever varying moods
of men, but a doctrine so simple, go
wise and so beDeficent that all may un.
derstand. Nowhere in the teachings of
Christianity do we find mystery no.
where uncertainty as to the meaning Of
life or perplexity as to its duty; no.
where q balancing between probable or
improbable, but everywhere directness,
clearness, simplicity. God is the Father.
All men are his children. The human
race is one great family. Love is the
one duty, the fulfllmento Of the law the
one command upon obedience to which
hang all the law and the prophets
For long centuries the church STUN
bled and struggled through strife and
error, laundering forth but half truth,
Thou shalt love thy Lord with all thy
heart, shalt love the Lord thy .God with
all thy mind, and while this half truth
was preached to the world the robes of
religion were stained with blood, the
Sabbath air was vexed with hairsplit-
ting theological controversies. and a
yawning sulphurous hell was ever ready,
into which an awful avenging God
might consign the hapless mortals who,
failing to appreciate his Fatherly kind
ness, should fail to love him properly.
1t is hopeful sign for the future that
man made oreeds and theological rub
bish are being banished to the worlds
garret, where we sometimes pensively
gaze upon them with the same degree
of solemnity and reverence that we be-
stow upon the spinning wheel and dis
taft Of colonial grandame. They serve
the purpose of humanity in an undeyel-
oped condition, but better things have
taken their place, and the human race is
striving toward a higher ideal. The
world is to be congratulated that the
number of ministers is daily growing
who have the courage to break away
from dogmas and doctrine, and who
preach Christ and the love which Christ
taught. The world is to be oongratulat-
ed that that other command to which
the first is but Introductory and prepar-
atory, the other half of the truth, is be-
ing presented, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself, and with the pres
entation of the whole truth-truth and
love combined, invincible and forever.
can angry God, an endless hell, tor
menting flames and martyrs groans sink
below, down the low horizon of the
past. Strange that we had not discover
ed it sooner, but the whole structure Of
Christianity is based ON love. The won
drous warp and woof of the life and
teaching of Christ is woven through and
through with that vivid, golden strand.
1t is the helpful sympathy. the loving
kindness of Christ, that endears him to
our hearts and makes his memory o
benediction radiating through 1000
years Of ignorance and wrong.
1T is this love, as preached and prac-
ticed by the Great ,Exemplar, that dis
tinguishes the religion Of Christ from
the religion of Buddha, Brahma, Con-
fucius and every other religion the
world has ever known. Buddha, said a
student Of religious philosophy, taught
woman a great scientific truth. He
taught her that the law of life is death,
and in doing so conferred more benefit
upon the race than Christ could have
done.
"But let us look at the other picture.
Go with a broken hearted mother bear
ing her loved dead to the pitying Christ.
The little form is rigid the dimpled
hands are still death has placed the
seal of silence on its dewy mouth and
given to its waxen face that pallor that
death alone can give. Kneeling before
him and drawing back the face cloth
from her dead she cried. % Master, /
have travelled far that thou mightest
look upon with gentle gaze and touch
with plying hand my child. long cold
in death. There was no desire in that
Christly heart, SO filed with love for
humanity, to teach that anguished soul
an abstract truth or a scientific fact
Bending upon her look Of divine com
passion, be placed his hand upon the
child, sending through that inanimate
clay the divine currents Of life and love.
The babe looked into its mothers face
and smiled. Could there be a more for
chile illustration Of the difference be-