The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-04-29
PULPIT EDITORIALS.
Delivered by DIR. Frank Crane at Trinity
Church, Chicago, Preceding the Usual
Sermon Sunday, March o, 1898.
THE OBSERVATION OF LENT.
copyright. 1881

Chrysostom in the fourth century, and
even Victor and Irenaeus in the second,
mention period of fasting and prayer
as preparation for Easter as being
In vogue among many churches in their
day. Laws enforcing what was once a
voluntary exercise were afterwards
passed and the season became a fixture
In ecclesiastical life. Today it is not
only kept by Catholics but by the
Church of England and it's daughter,
the Protestant Episcopal church of the
United States, and also by many nom
Episcopal churches-especially the
| Lutheran-in Europe, and 1t seems to
be coming more into favor in America
among all churches.
| Mans pendulum that escapes from
one extreme only to fly to the opposite.
Revolving from the Roman church the
| tendency among Protestants has been
| to go even to plainness, confusion and
| ugliness to emphasize their separation
| from the old faith with its elaborate
ritual and routine. The heat Of con-
| troversial days Is dying out. Catho-
| lie and anti-Catholic are beginning to
| look at one another in the clarified air
| Of modern freedom and to recognize the
| good in each other as well as to find
| fault. The old church is continuously
| opening her doors to the-deas of democ-
| racy while the Protestant denomina-
lions are taking up again some Of that
| lofty ritual and order they once threw
| away so holly. In the presence of ma
| terialism, the common foe, all spir-
! itual organizations are seeking closer
union. And 1t seems to me that IL.
some modified form Lenten days are a
most convenient and tender opportun-
| ity for all who name the name of our
Lord to reach out for a friendly hand
| clasp of sympathy, even though the
| days of unity of action be not yet, be-
| cause of the hardness of our hearts.
| Remembering the sufferings Of Him
whose groanings reused the conscience
| of all the earth let us for a space for
get our petty differences in contempla-
| ton Of our vital oneness in Him.
Whatever may be our ceremonies Of
| this season the true Lent consists in
| three things, routine, self-denial and
quiet. And no other people so much
as Americans, and no other age so
much as our own, need these so en-
phatically. Laying such stress upon
the value of genuineness and spontane-
ity in our emotions we are apt to
despise those feelings which appear at
stated times and by rule. Let us love
and pray, we say only when we feel
moved to it. But we forget that IL we
are to have permanent emotions there
must be permanent channels of habit
for them to run in. Acting only by i'm
pulse our heart-life will be fitful; act
ing by principle 1t will be rich and deep.
Routine If properly used tends to de-
velop real sensibility and not to destroy
1t. Our public worship is none the less
earnest because it comes regularly the
seventh day. Our prayers need not be
perfunctory because they rise with the
opening and closing of the day. In
fact our sentiments, spontaneous as
they be, are quite as much the creatures
Of habit as are our words and deeds.
The Creator intended men to form
righteous habits for they are the only
means fully capable of counteracting
evil habits. AS the drunkard feels the
lash of desire when the usual time for
his dram approaches, so the Christian
sings
I'm seasons of distress and grief
My SOUL mas OIten 1OunQ relleI,
And oft escaped the tempter's snare
BY thy return, sweet hour of prayer"
Man lives by rule, his days are meas
ured by the mathematic sun and his
years by the regular seasons; so also
there is force in the gentle coercion Of
1.-THE Christian Year" with its recurring
festivals and holy days. Such regula-
ton is not an attempt to substitute out
g., H., 81
but 1t is an endeavor to sink deep river
beds in the life through which that sem
timent may flow, and lake-reservoirs
that may retain It. There Is something,
too, in a general keeping Of a religious
season by all Christians that is recul-
iarly helpful Just as the Fourth of July
increases the patriotic feeling Of all by
mutual participation.
The keynote of the Lenten season is
self-denial. How we shall practice
that is immaterial; If so be we act
genuinely and not as hypocrites. The
great, dominating force OF all sin, any
kind of sin, is self; the distinguishing
trait of the Christian is unselfishness.
But self is so subtle that It has crept
into much that Is called religion; and
VI oil Tic BIOtcSquS SoiiSdtdlCb thC
worst are selfish churches, preachers,
Christians, prayers and charities. IT'S
the supreme craft of the evil one that
he can make sven these things sordid.
We keep Lent in deed and in truth when
we pray not for self but for others,
when we fast not to get credit for II
in heaven but to render our selfish de-
sires less dominant, when we forego
our accustomed pastimes not to be in
style but that we may take the time
to help those in need, when we put the
bit in the mouth of all our ambitions
and pleasures not from ascetic pride but
that other lives may blossom with Joy
because ours lie fallow in grief.
There Is no virtue the American peo-
pie stand so sorely in need of as this
We are born Incorporate. The wines
and brews of the ancients we have filed
with poisons to produce quick intoxica-
ton. Our very atmosphere Is cham
payne, our business and social life Is