The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1898-05-27
Secular Sermon.
LESSONS FROM SOWING.

My text, beloved, is taken from the
proverbs Of men, 'Sow a deed and reap
habit. Sow habit and reap a charec-
ter. Sow a character and reap q desti-
n.y." We are in the season of seed SOW
ing. On every hand it is The sower who
goes forth to sow. Some seed will fail
by the wayside, and some in stony plac-
es; some will find the thorns springing
up to choke it and some will grow rank
and luxuriant in the good ground to
son and the service has lesson for the
thoughtful man. For life is a seed time
and from our sowing of deeds come hab-
its, character, and destiny. Listen then
to the voices from the soWer.
To begin with the sower is dropping
seed that he can never gather again. I6
seems an easy thing to scatter the seed
over the plain or into the furrow. But
when once dropped who can collect it
again? Is it OF 8 picture of life? Our
words are seeds. We SOW them in the
hearts and lives Of men. But you can
not recall what you have said. Every
unkind word or cross word or impure
word, is in a sense when spoken, sealed
| up unto the judgement. No man knows
what a harvest of thorns of sorrow and
thistles of heart breaking may be reaped
from his scandalous stories or his mean
insinuations against his neighbor.
Words are easy to speak but impossible
to recall. We say sometimes that we
Twill take it all back' when we have
| said something in haste at which we re-
pent in leisure. But you cannot take
back the impression made on another
mind by your words. We SOW the seeds
of deeds, some good and some bad. There
never was a time when there was such a
large opportunity to sow good deeds in
| the fallow soil of the worlds life. Men,
to-day, applaud the "Good Samaritan"
He Is one of the ideals of modern life
Just as Judas in an ideal Of treachery.
And in this thought of the impossibility
of gathering again the seed that is sown,
| marian deeds than it ia Judas deeds. It
pays to be kind even to dog for his
friendship is better than his enmity.
How much more does the law of kind
ness need continual application in the
seed sowing of the deeds Of life. We
of daily life. You cannot stop the re-
suit of your sin of yesterday. You can
| not prevent the brain from registering
the evil thought of upkindness which
you allowed the heart to cherish. Low
ell has given US whole sermon in one Of
his stanzas.
"Once for every man and nation, CO mes the
moment to decide,
| In the strife of truth with falsehood for the
good or evil side;
Some great cause, Gods new Messiah, offer
ing each the bloom or blight.
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the
| sheep upon the right;
And that choice goes on forever twtxt that
darkness and that light"
Another lesson from the thought of
the sowing ia that after the seed time
comes the harvest. 1t Is q great lesson
for the youth. You cannot have a hale
! and hearty old age if you abuse the body
in youth. You cannot be rowdy when
young and gain respect by it when you
are older. You cannot practice immor-
atty to-day and then expect harvest of
virtue tomorrow. The greatest harvest
of ones deeds is in the effect on your
own soul. Some one once talking with
man who was notoriously wicked
heard him give this testimony. He said
that he had not prospered by his evil
course. He had been twice in states
prison. He bad failed in his wicked
plans. But he inside this significant
statement. II tell you my worst pun
ishmeDt is In being what am" It is q
momentous thought that we must live
hereafter with our souls. So If we are
living, trying all the time tor do some
mean thing or some unkind thing, what
an eternity OF sorrow it will be to have
TO live with such disposition. Mrs