The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-09-04
THE SUNDAY PULPIT
MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE.

Under Ills wings shalt thou trust
Psalms, xci., 4.
While travelling in strange country
last winter / very soon learned that
my first duty was to be prepared for
anything that might happen For that
matter, it was not simply duty, but
IL necessity.
There were serious incOnveniences at
every turn, and on more than one occa-
sion imminent danger to limb or life.
But after | had taken myself well in
hand and begun to make a practical
application of my religious belief, con
vincing myself that God would take
care of me on Il bleak wintry night as
easily as on a tropical morning, and
that if any catastrophe occurred it was
just as near to heaven from the Persian
border as from my little home in New
York, my mental attitude produced Il
result which was exceedingly gratifying.
| was not only more serene in temper.
but better equipped to bear discomfort
with patience, if not with Indifference.
Hardships became less hard and eX-
treme WEAKNESS less weariSome from
the moment | came to regard them as
Il slender price to be paid for valuable
information.
| indulge in this personal Renaissance
because my journey from sea to sea rep
resents the journey we are all making
from the cradle to the stars, and be-
cause the State of mind that gave me
Il power of endurance which oftentimes
eXcites my wonder is precisely what
is needed by every one who would get
the best results from the various ex-
periences of our human life.
To brood over evils and obstacles is
to magnify them. To magnify them is
to diminish your ability to resist or
overcome. If you convince yourself that
you can do whatever stint God may
see fit to apportion, the conviction makes
the heart bold, and so reacts on the ply
steal system that you literally possess
additional strength.
The moment you persuade a man that
his life is good for nothing you perform
a disastrous miracle ana as certainly
rob him of energy as the shorn locks of
Samson changed him from a giant tol
Il pigmy.
\ theory of religion which begins with
depressing your ambition and your con-
seriousness of power is sure TO end by
depriving you of the ability to live nobly.
But the simple and fascinating and up
lifting religion of Christ, which con-
stantly whispers, II will be with you
unto the end of the world, and "Ye are
of more value than many sparrows,
and yet Not even n sparrow can fall
to the ground without your Fathers no
tice," and Come unto Me all We who
labor and are heavy laden and | will
give you rest''-that religion is the un-
clouded sunshine of every day and the
glory of every starlit night. There is
not only hope i'll it, but continual JOY
and not only JOY. but a mysterious some
thing which paints rainbow on your
griefs and sings a song of triumph overI
the grave.
Christ is the most encouraging preach
er of wnom history bears record. What
more sublime or stirring picture can be
found than that which tells of God
who will leave the ninety and nine who
are well housed and roam over the bleak
hills in search of the poor homeless
creature who has rendered himself
homeless by some fault of his own?
No, we know nothing about Christianity
as yet. 1t is still an unexplained miracle
of revelation. We have theological
belief in God, but it is confusing and
What we need is that kind
of a glimpse of Him which the babe
has of its mother when she bends over
it with the glow of love in her face and
so draws the child that it throws its
arms about her neck, not for protection,
but in response to the hearts deepest
Life's journey will lead you over the
tops of estasy and happiness
and through the valley of defeat and
misery. Our years bring us strange ex-
periences, many of which seem to in |
volye unfairness and injustice on the
part of Providence There is hard work |
to be done, there are burdens to be /
borne, there are Affections to be en-
dured. No one is wholly content or can
expect to be on this side of eternity. II
think the Lord understands why in our
ignorance we should on occasions feel
even bitterly toward Him, and / know
that a great deal of patience is required
on His part to bear with our wrong
doing and our complaints If He were
not patient the world would have come
to an end long ago. This is q fact not
to be forgotten.
Let us search for the truth of the
matter, for truth is the concert pitch Of
the music of the spheres. And that
truth is that the one great desire of
God is that we shall so use our lives
that we shall feel at home when we get
to heaven. In the accomplishment of
that purpoSe-I say it with reverence
He has made great sacrifices. 1t is His
wish that your soul shall be disciplined,
developed, ripened, sweetened. by what
ever happens to you, and you cannot
doubt that unseen agencies are round
about you to give you help when help
is needed and to give you good cheer
always. You are not alone in your
struggles, nor yet in your defeats. The
angels of heaven are never far away.
They are with you in your trials, butt
hidden from view, for if you were toI
see them it would be no longer possible
to live.
With this holy faith in your heart you
Will become a new being Your fears
and doubts are like the slender cords
with which the dwarfs pinned CULVER
to the ground and held him captive.
But faith is to the soul what the ozone
of the mountain summit is to the body
1t stimulates, it rouses enthusiasm, it
renews your youth, it keeps You young