Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-07-30
THE BRIGHT SIDE.
Heed the Psalmiss's Injunction to Serve
tho Lord with Gladness.

tho Lord with Gladness
Serve the Lord with gladness: come be-
fore His presence with singing.-Psalps
CO..
Our environment is one of exceeding
beauty, but it is matter of tempcrn-
ment and disposition whether we APP
preciate and enjoy it or not. The eyes
of the body may be SO defective that the
sight is dim, and the eyes of the soul can
be affected in the same way. If / had the
power, therefore, and wanted to make
man happier in his surroundings I
should not change the surroundings,
but rather the man. Nobody gets out
of life half as much as God has put into
it. Our egotism will not allow us to
blame ourselves for this, and so we
find a wretched kind of relief in blaming
the Almighty. We wonder why He does
not arrange matters differently, and at
the same time the angels are wondering
why we do not see things differently.
There is no sunset for one whose eyes
are closed, and there is no Joy for one
who believes himself 20 be badly treat
ed. There never yet was an environ
ment so perfect that man could not
find fault with it if he had bitter soul,
nor an environment so full of hardship
that man could not find some comfort
in it if he was willing TO look and knew
where to look.
The chief mission of religion, as
understand it, is, first, to change a
mans attitude toward events by faith
in Gods love and wisdom, and, second,
to so inform him that he will be able to
use his life to the best advantage. That
is what is meant by the new birth, and
in very truth the general outlook be-
comes so different from anything be-
fore experienced that no greater change
could be made if he were to be literally
born again.
It is possible to think of the good
things and lay the others aside; to dwell
on what makes orr happiness and to ig-
more all else. But our human nature
finds it difficult to do this because the
habit of>doing just the contrary has be-
| come fixed. ...- ...
The catalogue of things to be CRATE
full for is very large. What pleasure,
for instance, it is to be alive, and what
beautiful mystery lif: is. To think,
to feel, to aspire, to reach out with spec
| ulative daring toward the stars, to
dream of other worlds Ike this, to take
a still loftier fight and explore that
far away country which we call Heaven
how marvellous creature is man,
what perfect piece of machinery he is,
if regarded from the standpoint of ma
! terialism, and how much more marvel
Gus when you recognize that interior
something which is independent of the
mere machine and will live better and
broader life without it after the airy
nothing which we call death has done
its little all. ..
And then what world this body and
soul creature has for a residence. Can
ever ecstasy conceive anything more
| beautiful than the physical universe?
The changing seasons, unrolled day
| after day by unseen hands and present
ing Lew picture with every dawn;
the spr;ngtime, when the apparently
| dead earth breaks forth into renewed
! life; the glorious summer, when the i'm
| pcnetrable mysterious growths unfold
| themselves and blossoms change to
fruit; the ruddy autumn, when the
work of the year reaches its consum-
nation, and when laden trees and vine
yards and ripened harvests yield their
abundance; the frosty winter, when
| forests and fields fall on slumber, per-
haps to dream of better springtime to
come-how awc-inspiring it all is, and
with what strange emotions it fills the
heart. And as we ponder, how helpless
we are, how little, how like children
who have scarcely mastered the SIM
| plest rudiments of knowledge, and
what a vast, what an ineXpressibfy
grand territory stretches out before us
inviting us to penetrate its mysteries
and solve it's problems.
But take the next step. The chief OBJ
ject in life is not to know, but to be,
and events have been so arranged that
If we use them sllillfully they will each
one of them become stepping stone to
| higher things. The soul of childhood
is nothing but bundle of undeveloped
possibilities. The powers of an arch
angel are packed within that narrow
| space. The soul grows just as the body
does, no one knows how; but, strange
| ly enough, when the body has reached
it's maturity the soul is still in its ado
lcscence, and sooner or later you face
the curious fact that every man is a
double, and that when part of him is in
the ripe fruit the other part is still in
| blossom.
Yes, there are signs and tears, but
one may even weep with hope, and
your sorrow at the setting of the sun
is cheered by the promise of a better
morrow. There is no experience
which may not be used for your benefit
if you and God engage in the task to-
gether.-George III. Hepworth in N. Y.
Herald.