The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-07-25
AT wILLlsToN CHURCH.
Aose Sermon Preached by Rev. Ward
beecher Pickard of Cleveland, Ohio.

neV. Ward Beecher Packard of the Ed
Wor1h Memorial Methodist church in
Cleveland, Ohio, officiated Yesterday at
Winston church and an incident of in
eeres6 was referred to in his morning dis
course IN the fact that he is pastor Of the
church IN which the Epworth League
un9 young peoples society of the Metho-
dist church-Was organized nine years
ago. -
The subject of Rev. Mr.. Pickard,s able
sermon was Holy Discomfort, and his
text was taken from LIST Philippians, 3-12
| Mot that have already obtained or
am already made perfect; but press on,
if SO be, that I may lay hold of that for
which also / was laid hold on BY Christ
| Jesus.
The preacher said that human vices
and virtues were closely related Selfish
ness is self love without its running mate
love for man. Idolatry is worship blinded
| by ignorance Presumption is faith with
folly at the helm. Solid Indifference
passes for content. Men may be contented
| by the possession of that from which they
| should struggle to be free.
| There Is noble discomfort born of tor
turing ideals and aspirations that give
| us no rest. Paul the athlete, With every
muscle tense and every nerve throbbing,
exclaims, 81 press on
| 1t is suicide to attempt by repression to
destroy the longings of the soul that
mark the intirmity of human nature
| Holy discomfort for advancement. It is
the pulse beat of progress. The world
moves, and he who succeeds must not
doze on life's highway. A city street at
midday is q poor place for slumber
Emerson says: "God offers to every
man hi choice between truth ana repose.
Take which you please, you can never
have both. ?"
| The speaker then made application of
this principle to the Christian life Paul
was seeking not the rest of an endless
heaven. but likeness to Christ. He sought
| not wages as q reward for good doing,
but growth as the attainment of infinite
DESIRE In the night skies, above every
life hangs star to lure US on to the
divine. Blind is he who in gazing upon
the star does not miss the Christ. The
attainment of an ideal is the beginning
of the end.
Contentment with present experience
robes the soul for the grave, while aspira-
| tion is the mailed armor which makes
sleep impossible. Thorwaldsen burst into
tears before his completed statue of
Christ, saying: 81 am satisfied at last
with what I have done and from this mo-
ment must decline in my art.
The preacher then dwelt upon the i'm
portance of the application of this truth
to the performance of personal duty.
Skeptical philosophy attempts to pro-
claim happiness by reducing desire.
Christian philosophy finds expression in
q command to covet earnestly the best
gifts.
| An appeal was then made to youth and
age, and the argument presented that a
cure for paralyzing worry about trifies
is an overmastering ambition to do great
| things. Emphasis was laid on the fact
that the church which consumes all it's
powers on itself is q failure. 1t must be
a power house distributing force, heat and
| light through all the avenues of business,
| politics and society.
| In material life we have been too long
| satisfied with present achievements. The
| speaker thought that the war in which
| we are now engaged is essentially for
| eign mission movement in which we seek
| to show to the world a truer interpreta-
| has ever before known.
The concluding thought found express
| sion in the proposition that when life
ends, with its ideals unattainsd and it's
| last gasp whispered prayer for increase
of faith, that this does not end ALL
When Raphael died, at the age of ST.,
his body lay in state in his studio and by
| him was placed his unfinished picture of
"The Transfgurauion. The unattained
ideals of life shall yet be realized, the
| soul of the artist and the song of the
singer shall be complete in the beyond.
be, but we know that we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is.''
| A STRANGE STORY OF ACCIDENTS
A Bangor man who is often employed
| by insurance companies to Investigate
cases of suspicious fires, told a strange
| story the other day, the News of that city
says, showing deceitfulness of appearances
and the danger and injustice of jumping
| long ago sent to investigate case where
no fewer than three suspected incendiary
| fires had occurred upon the premi ses of