The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1899-12-13

Gates the worlds revenges and recon-
Smends more Of the saccharine and less
of the sour in human disposition; text,
Ephesians w., 26, "Let not the sun go
down upon your wrath"
What pillow, embroidered Of all col
ors, hath the dying day! The cradle OF
clouds from which the sun rises is beau
.tiful enough, but it is surpassed by the
many colored mausoleum in which at
evening it is buried.
Sunset among the mountains! 1t al
most takes ones breath away to recall
the scene. The long shadows stretching
over the plain make the glory Of the de-
parting light on the tiptop crags and
struck aslant through the foliage the
more conspicuous. Saffron and gold,
purple and crimson commingled. All the
castles of cloud in conf1agration. Burn
ing Moscows on the sky. Hanging gar
dens of roses at their deepest blush.
Banners of vapor, red as if from carnage,
in the battle of the elements. The hunt
er among the Adirondacks and the Swiss
villager among the Alps know what is
sunset among the mountains. After a
storm at sea the rolling grandeur into
which the sun goes down to batne at
nightfall is something to make weird and
splendid dreams out Of for lifetime.
Alexander Smith in his poem compares
the sunset to ''the barren beach Of hell,
but this wonderful spectacle of nature
makes me think of the FURNISHED wall OF
heaven. Paul in prison, writing my text,
remembers some of the gorgeous sunsets
among the mountains Of Asia Minor
and how he had often seen the towers OF
Damascus blaze in the close of the orr
entail days, and he flashes out that mem
DRY in the text when he says, LET not
the sun go down upon your wrath.
Sublime, all suggestive duty for people
then and people now! Forgiveness before
shutdown. He who never feels the throb
of Indignation is imbecile. He who can
walk among the injustices of the world
inflicted upon himself and others without
flush of cheek, or flash of eye, or agita-
ton of nature, is either in sympathy with
wrong or semi-idiotic. When Ananias,
the high priest, ordered the constables Of
the court room to smite Paul on the
mouth, Paul fired up and said, God shall
smite thee, thou whited WALTZ In the
sentence Immediately before my text Paul
commands the Ephesians, BE We angry
and sin not" It all depends on what
you are mad at and how long the feeling
lasts whether anger is right or wrong.
Life is full of exasperations. The dan
ger is that healthful indignation shall
become baleful spite and that our feel
ings settle down into prolonged out
pouring of temper displeasing to God and
ruinous to ourselves, and hence the inn
portant injunction Of the text, LET not
the sun go down upon your wrath"
Repression of Ones Temper.
Why that limitation to ones anger?
Why that period of flaming vapor set to
punctuate flaming disposition? What
has the sunset got to do with ones re-
sentful emotions? Was it a haphazard
sentiment written by Paul without spe-
cial significance? No, no; think Of five
reasons why we should not let the sun
set before our temper.
First, because twelve hours is long
enough to be cross about any wrong in
ficted upon us. Nothing is so exhaust
ing to physical health or mental faculty
as a protracted indulgence of ill humor.
1t racks the nervous system. 1t hurts the
digestion. 1t heats the blood in brain and
heart until the whole body is first over
heated and then depressed. Besides that,
it sours the disposition, turns one aside
from his legitimate work, expends en-
ergies that ought to be better employed
and does us more harm than it does our
antagonist. Paul gives us a good, wide
allowance of time for legitimate denun-
citation. from o'clock to 6 o'clock, but
says, ''Stop therer' Watch the descend.
ing orb of day, and when it reaches the
horizon take reef in your disposition.
UnIoose your collar and cool off. Change
the subject to something delightfully."-
pleasant Unroll your tight fist and
shake hands with some one. Bank up
the fires at the curfew bell. Drive the
growing dog of enmity back to it's ken
mel. The hours of this morning will pass
by, and the afternoon will arrive, and the
sun will begin to set, and, l beg you, on
its brazing hearth throw all your feuds,
invectiyes and satires.
Other things being equal, the man who
preserves good temper will come out
ahead. An old writer says that the cele-
brated John Henderson of Bristol Eng
land, was at dining party where polit-
ical excitement ran high and the debate
got angry, and while Henderson was
speaking his opponent, unable to answer
his argument, dashed a glass of wine in
his face, when the speaker deliberately
wiped the liquid from his face and said:
This, sir, is a depression. Now, if you
please, for the main argument" While
worldly philosophy could help but very.
few to such equipoise Of spirit, the grace
of God could help any man to such tr-
umph impossible you say. Il would
have either left the table in anger or have
knocked the man down" But [ have
come to believe that nothing is impossi-
bic if God help.
Aye, you will not postpone till shutdown
forgiveness of enemies if you can realize
that their behavior toward you may be
put into the catalogue Of the ''all things"
that work together for good to those
that love God" [ have had multitudes
of friends, but [ have found in my own
experience that God so arranged it that
the greatest opportunities of usefulness
that have been opened before me were
opened by enemies. SO you may harness
your antagonists to your best interests
and compel them to draw you on to better
work and higher character. Suppose, in
stead of waiting until 81 minutes after
this evening, when the sun will set, you
transact this glorious work of forgiveness