The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-07-31
THE SUNDAY PULPIT
WE BELONG TO TWO WORLDS.
New York Herald.)

God abideth forever.-I. John, H.. II.
II am a man of the world That is
your boast. But it is really nothing to
boast Of for you have dissipated one half
of your heritage Or perhaps you have
! never known anything about that lost
half. The ideal man is not simply ana
only man of the world, but man of
two worlds. Until he recognizes that
fact and governs himself accordingly he
cannot sing his song with Il clear voice
or do his own soul justice.
There must be two sides to a twenty
dollar gold piece or it is not genuine In
like manner genuine life must have
two worlds in view all the time.
This lower world is mans field of ac-
ton. in which he shows his mettle, and
in which he not only forms his charac-
ter. Just as a boy learns his lessons 1T
school. but adds to the aggregate strength
or weakness of his fellows. If he IS
ablaze others will light their candles
at his fire: if he is merely cold ashes
they will blow into peoples eyes and so
blind them that they cannot see the
truth.
The other world is reservoir from
which he draws daily inspiration, pa
thence with which to achieve under diff
ficuties. hope. checrfulness. spiritual re-
pose and resignation which sweetens the
| soul that would otherwise be embittered.
When a man is only half himself he is
satisfied with to-day, its ambitions and
pleasures. When he is his whole self
this world is too narrow for his soul and
he finds peculiar happiness in the
, contemplation Of another sphere which
will furnish him the opportunity to attain
his manifest destiny.
1t seems very odd to hear n man argue
that he is under no obligation to obey
n God whom he has never publicly con
fcssed. He is man of the world, Meth
or knows nor cares anything about re-
ligion. and therefore claims the right to
, do rs he pleases.
Now it is Il mans business to know
something about the laws of the world
he lives in, and it will not help him in
the least to shrug his shoulders and
declare that he does not believe in those
laws. The stern fact is that the laws
will act whether he believes in them or
not. They are quite independent of
anything he may or may not believe. and
after while he will learn that it is
very much more to his interest to know
what they are and to give strict heed
to them than to ignore them or deny
their existence.
He sees this with regard to physical
law and is very careful about breaking
it. When standing on the edge of preci-
pice he may deny the existence of gravi-
tation. but he will not take the leap
and thus show the courage of his con-
victions. The law does not care a
iot or title about his personal theories.
a l., Il e /,
ments. and he will certainly suffer the
consequence of his rashness.
The spiritual law is equally rigid,
though it acts more slowly. For that
reason some men are deceived. You
may not believe in purity of body, but
still the revenges OF time are awful. You
may ignore all moral principles, you may
even succeed so far as to make a for
tune based on evil practices, but when
you investigate your own character. if
you ever dare to do so. you will be
forced to acknowledge that you know
little about the sweetest and most re-
poseful and joyous part of life. and that
you have been feeding on 1.-THE husks
which the swine did eat"
/ know of no spectacle more painful
to contemplate than that of man who
poses of selfish gain, ignoring all obliga-
tons of honesty, charity and generosity,
and then in his old age sees himself just
as he is-dwarfed, twisted. incapable of
holy emotions or high aspirations; a poor,
miserable creature who has lived a mis-
| take and reached a period beyond which
recovery is impossible so far as this
| life is concerned. For such a man to
| see himself just rs he is, to measure his
| own exact weight, to know wildly how
| he is regarded by his fellow men, to
| be conscious that his example, as bad
as it is brilliant, has led scores astray--
| that must be n doom too dreadful for
words to express. / have heard q great
| deal about hell, but that man can tell
me of more horrors than | have ever
conceived.
| To have your soul take you in hand
| and show you how You have abused it,
| to have some angel paint the picture of
what you might have been and then
force you by divine compulsiOn to com
pare it with what You really are, that
would be simply awful.
! If you answer the charges of the angel
| by saying that you are man of the
| world the reply will be forthcoming like
peal Of thunder:-"Y were not born
to be a man Of the world, but a man
Cod If you know enough to use this
world you should know enough to use
it in such way that if there is any other
world You will be fitted to enter it with
out shame.
| No; there is but one way to live, and
that is to live justly. The world is large
and wide, but there is no spot where a
man can hide from the moral con
sequence of dishonesty. A noble char
acter is not created, it is made. Even
on the low plane of pure expediency il
is better to be true to yourself than to be
/ false. You cannot ignore II tornado, you
must protect yourself against it. You can
not ignore God or His laws, for they re
fuse to be ignored.
Religion is only another word for com.
mon sense. 1t is not a mystery it is
a plain and simple fact. If you live
grandly, nobly, justly. if you direct your
voyage by the stars. if you can look the
world in the face without blush. know
ne that the world can see your soul and
your motives as well as your actions. you
have the kind Of religion which is con-
tanned in the Sermon on the Mount, and
it will suffice for here and hereafter.