Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-11-05

and he falls into it.
Then it is in after life that the great |
temptation Of success comes. If man
make fortune before 80 years of age, |
he generally loses it before 40 The sol /
id and the permanent fortunes for the |
most part do not come to their climax /
until in midlife or in old age The most |
of the bank presidents have white hair
Many Of those who have been largely |
successful have been flung of arrogance /
or worldliness or dissipation in old age |
They may not have lost their integrity, !
but they have become so worldly and |
so selfish under the influence Of large /
success that it is evident TO everybody |
that their success has been temporal |
calamity and an eternal damage Con.
cerning many people. it may be said 1t |
seems as if it would Lave been better If
they could have embarked from this life |
at 20 or 30 years of age
Do you know the reason why tile vast |
majority of people die before 80? 1t Is
because they have not the moral endur-
ance for that which is beyond the 30,
and a merciful God will not allow them
to be put TO the fearful strain.
On the Defensive.
Again, there is a blessing in an alb
breviated earthly existence in the fact
that one is the sooner taken of the de-
fensive. As soon as one is old enough to
take care of himself he is put on his
guard. Bolts on the doors TO keep out
the robbers Fireproof safes to keep off
the flames Life insurance and fire in
surance against accident Receipts lest
you have to pay debt twice Lifeboat
against shipwreck. Westinghouse air
brake against railroad collision. and
hundreds of hands ready 70 overreach
you and take all you have. Defense
against cold, defense against heat, de-
Tense against sickness, defense against
the worlds abuse, defense all the way
down to the grave, and even the tomb
stone sometimes is not a sufficient bar
ricade
If soldier who has been on guard
shivering and stung with the cold, pac-
ing up and down the parapet with
shouldered musket, is glad when some
one comes to relieve guard and he can
20 inside the fortress. ought not that
man to shout for JOY who can put down
his weapon Of earthly defense and 60
into the kings castle? Who is the more
fortunate, the soldier who has to stand
guard I2 hours or the man who has TO
stand guard six hours? We have common
sense about everything but religion
common sense about everything but
transference from this world
Again. there is a blessing in an abb
breviated earthly existence IN the fact
that one escapes so many bereavements
The longer we live the more attach
ments and the more kindred, the more
chords 10 be wounded or rasped or sun
dered II q man live on to 10 or 80
years of age, how many graves are cleft
at his feet In that long reach OF time
father and mother 90, brothers and sis
ters 10, children 90, grandchildren 60
personal friends outside the family cir
Gle whom they had loved with love
like that Of David and Jonathan Be
sides that some men have natural
,repidation about dissolution, and ever
and anon during 40 or so or 60 years
this horror Of their dissolution shudders
through soul and body Now. suppose
the lad goes at 10 ears Of age? lie es-
capes so funerals, so caskets, 80 obse-
ouies. so awful wrenchings Of the heart
II is hard enough for US to bear their
departure, but is it not easier for us to
bear their departure than for them TO
stay and bear so departures! Shall we
not by the grace Of God rouse ourselves
into a generosity Of bereavement which
will practically say, Ii is hard enough
for me to 90 through this bereavement
but how glad | am that be will never
have TO 90 through it," So reason
with myself, and SO you will find 1t
helpful to reason with yourselves Da-
vid lost his son Though David was
king he lay on the earth mourning and
inconsolable for some time Al this dis
tance of time, which do you really think
was the one to be congratulated, the
short lived child or the long lived IA
ther? Had David died as early rs that
child died he would IN the first place
have escaped that particular berelve-
ment. then he would have escaped the
worse bereavement Of Absalom. his rec
reant son. and the pursuit Of the Phllls-
tines and the tatlgues of his military
campaign, and the jealousy Of Saul. and
the pertidy of Ahithophel, and the curse
Of Shimei and the destruction OF his
family at Ziklag. and, above all. he
would have escaped the two great ca
lamities of his life. the great sins OF
upcleanness and murder David lived
} 10 be of vast use TO the church and the
world. but so tar as his own happiness
was concerned does it not seem TO you
that it would have been better for him
10 have gone earlyl
Temptation.
Now, this, my friends. explains some
things that TO you have been inexplica-
BILE This shows you why when God
takes little children from household
he is very apt TO take the brightest the
most genial, the most sympathetic, the
most talented. Why? 1t is because that
kind of nature suffers the most when It
docs suffer and is most liable TO temp