The Monte Vista journal., 1898-02-12

Al Suc AuIy>tuNu H1o1m you wiz
ind this sentence: "He fashioneth their
hearts alike"
In an Illinois town Of 100 people
there were eight churches; each church
stood FOR an angle or corner Of be-
lief. The 1900 people As u rule b.
lieved In God and were good to their
neighbors. but ON Sunday they could
not assemble on their agreement. They
assembled on their differences. In
eight places they worshipped one God.
II struck me as q curious thing In the
way Of waste, that eight men were EN-.
ployed to do what one could do. re-
member my little wooden church. It
was a box Of a building made Of wood.
There was long stove and much wan
dering stove pipe. The stove pipe me-
andered all over the place, and there
was some wire. On the top of the
building and astride of the roof was
steeple as thin and sharp as a tooth
pick. 1t was q ridiculous little house.
The pulpit had been imported from
New England. A short man was lost
In 1t like a teaspoon In a tumbler.
When l suggested that we cut away
and down two-thirds Of that pulpit SO
as to give man a chance. the older
members OF the church, male and fe-
male, were grieved. An orthodox
Christian is never mad; he Is "grieved."
When In the old days Christians
burned one another at the stake they
were ''grleved." Calvin was ''grieved'
when he assisted at the burning Of Ser
netus. 1t Is an ecclesiastical word,
and means all manner Of prejudices.
hate and malice. Eight preachers are
heavy tax on little village Of ! 200
n I'm l,i itan -, n,,t oh
full about 1t. Each congregation
formed hollow square about a little
ISM, like the BLACK watch" In the Sou
dan. There was much self-denial and
self-sacrifice to protect the ISM"
As see II now 1t was not love Of God
or love Of man that was the motive. 1t
was love Of an opinion. have bap-
tized woman by immersion in n creek.
both shores lined by people curious to
see me do II. 1t was easier TO do 1t
than to convince her that 1t was unnec-
esSary. chose the easier task. los:
shoe In the enterprise. Bu, her con
science was at rest and mine was par
tally
There is n great waste in this going
of one side on differences There are
at least seven kinds of Bap,Ists in In
diana. There are nearly 400 different
sects in London. There are 153 sccts in
Great Britain. No wonder the heathen
In his blindest bows down to wood and
stone. He must be much perplcxed at
the various kinds of foreign mission
ary. have been mildly criticised for
what l have chosen to say Of the for
eign missionary. We have about
eighty churches here In Denver and
about 1000 Cinnamon. How many OF
them have we soundly converted?
Reckon that up and tell me the pros
pect for the conversion OF China. II
we can do anything anywhere, Denver
Is the place. Let us try Denver before
we try China. Here there can be
circle Of missionaries ten deep around
every Celestial. We have every ad-
vantage. There will be no collection
taken this morning for foreign mis-
sions. There are snvages around here.
But II talk with an intelligent China
man find that he agrees with me as
10 sense Of dependence upon God
and sense Of obligation to some one,
not himself. He is not lacking In love
to God and his neighbors. We can as
semble on the two essential things on
which Jesus said "hang all the INV and
the phOphets." COnfucius was a sort
Of Chinese Ben Franklin. I do not
think that he would have liked the
Westminster cntechism. do not
think he would have objected TO the
Sermon on the Mount. Jesus and Con.
fuciux would have spent an evening
together. As long as the Christian ma
,ion Of Russin and the Christian ma
ton Of England nre plotting together
10 dismember China and divide It up
like a pie at n picnic. progress Of mis-
sionary work will be slow. Opium,
rum. gunpowdcr and missionary are
bad combination. The heather In his
blindness bows down to wood and
stone.
lie does not need conversion In one
point. He believes mos, heartily In
the devil. That serpen'.dragon that
was here awhile ngo trailing along the
street made me think OF an old-fnsh-
ioned protractcd meeting. Five times
day several millions OF our brethren
pray to one God-"God only is great"
Prayer In better than sleep" The
Calvinist agrees with the Mohammctinn
ns TO the main thing. do no, think
would be seriously out OF place In
mosque. Never mind the side issues.
There is grcat agreement. u sympa.
thy In nli religions. Nearly all men
can come together on the essential
things.
I believe In the continuity Of life. !
do not believe that life ends In any
hole In graveyard. remember Gins
gov and Boston courts. They are
streets that run In and end In = blank
wall. Life is not TINT way. II In q
prnirIe road. The longer you travel Il
the more II branches on: there u NO
end 10 1t. but the ocean. and there are
the stately ships. OF course. you come
round ngnln TO the point Of departure.
but still alive and you know more.
And ngnin tho prairie and the sea. Now
have read books: reckon have read
the bcs, that has been said ON life and
death. I have been very curious about
the tomorrow Of death. hut ] was
30 miles south Of Lake Superior at
the funeral Of a blanket Indian. n ia.
gan. if you please. His people buried
him. II wna ~ cheerful ns Que Of our
funerals. The father Of the man who
was dead nnd myself fingered AT the
grave. And he said: "He In there"
pointing down. hut he said: "Thc
culver II there. hat the arrow In shot.
His poncmnh tdrcamD has gone to the
sky" Perhaps soine doctor Of divinity
on Easier sunday will improve on thai.
How did that come to that poor nav.
agcf God knows how TO tell his chill.
drcn the thlngs they need to know. lie
instrueis them as he instructn his birds
of passaEe. Very soon We will bear
them Ia the night encouraging one an.
other. THE Gulf Of Mexico was veey