The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1896-11-26
WE ARE THANKFUL.
SOME THINGS WE REMEMBER.
Some Rambling Thoughts.
BY "NEMO." J"
(Copyrighted.)

(Copyrighted.)
(These Thoughts" by a Iayman, ar
}. read in five hundred thousand homes
y scattered In every State of the Union
In this county they will be found il
D the columns OF this paper only, as ",
+ have made arrangements with the au
thor for their exclusive publication.)
A LAyMAN's THANKSGIVING.
Oh, great Architect of the infinite
to whom thousand years are as day
we ephemeral, vanishing creatures bow
; before Thee in quiet. humble thanks.
| For immeasurable space, SO extensive
that tie most cunning devices of men
turn us back defeated from all attempts
to set Its bounds for the weight of our
world and of all the other wondrous.
unsupported, clrcling bodies, so pom
derous that the human mind reels in
computation, we thank Thee, Thou who
art power.
For the accurate movement of each
star, revolving IN its orbit with precis-
ion indescrlbable for the visible voice
of the heavens, our perennial time
piece for the inclination of the axis of
our world, so cunningly devised to give
comfort and advantage in the chang
| ing seasons and the broadened area of
habitation, we thank Thee, Thou who
art order
| Oh, thou Mechanic OF the ininitesi-
| NAL, we who are not the least of all Thy
| creatures enter Thy presence with
praise.
For the perfect detail in the short
lived gnat, dancing in the light of the
dying day for the structural adapta-
ton of those creatures that escape our
vision save as the eyes are aided by mi
croscope for the peryasl veness of life,
things even that die being the sustain
ers of things that live; TOR the evasive-
ness of life, so that after all research
we give up foiIed in every attempt to
find natural origin Tor life in the IT,
niest atom for all these things we
thank Thee, Thou who art life.
For our own bodies, sacred because
they are Thy handiwork, SO brief IN
endurance and yet SO potential because
of the blessing Or sorrow we pass to
to those who come after us; for our
brains and their power to set us on the
apex of all living things for thought
aud its products in solid form that are
seen in every direction; for the chal-
lenge to effort that comes from the
elusive secrets of nature; for the power
to conquer and transform this inert
world beneath our feet, we thank Thee,
Thou who art supreme intelligence.
Oh, thou Mind of the universe, we
who detect In ourselves free-will and an
individual consciousness that separates
US from the beasts and gives us a sense
of kinship with Thee, we approach Thee
with assurance.
For the protest of the human mind
against the claim of any human knowl-
edgesto be final and complete; for all
honest doubt that drives us steadily for
ward to clearer apprehension for the
great scientists who have helped to
shake the dead husks from creeds and
opened the eyes of their makers and
preachers to fuller religion, wherein
the unity and comprehenslveness OF
Thy plan for onward movement, both |
in nature and in revelation, are more |
fully recognized, we thank Thee, Thou
who are not far from any one OF us.
For all passing away of forms and
ceremonies for the universal execra-
ton of hollow Pharisaism, for the grow
ing understanding that sanctity is new
er more to be measured by mere atten-
dance at worship for the spiritual and
material progress of our race; for Thy
stately steppings in human history,
making life seem no longer a thing of
chance but the possible opening notes
of grand eternal symphony, we thank
Thee, Thou who dwellest not in temples
made with hands.
For all SORROWS that break down our
se.f-satisfactlon for the furnace of al
Fiction that destroys the dross and
makes OF the residue golden challce
Tor bearing solace to our fellows for all
agony that touches us with the feeling
of others infirmities; we thank Thee,
though Thou affiict us sore, bending
over us as fryer and lefner of pre-
cious things.
For all great disasters that electrify
us with the feeling OF brotherhood to
men for famines and pestilences that
turn us for the time from the rakings
of selfshness to the works of sympathy
for sudden death and its warnings that
our own time is limited, we thank Thee
Thou who hottest the tall of the spar