Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1899-12-13
shake hands. lest dnrinr ,he nirh, honrs

shake hands. lest during the night hours
my spirit dismissed TO other realms.
should, because of my uuforgiving spir-
il. be denied Divine forgiveness.
But. says one woman, there is a
horrid creature that ha. so injured me
that rather than make up with her I
would die first" Well. sister. you may
take your choice. for one or the other il
Will be-your complete pardon of her
or Gods eternal bauishm ent OF YOU
But. says some man. that fellow who
cheated me out of those goods or dam
aged my business credit or started that
lie about me in the newspapers by
his perfidy broke up my domestic hap
p'ness, forgive him | cannot. forgive
him | will not" Well. brother, take
your choice. You will never be AT peace
with God till you are u, peace with man.
Feeling as you now 60, you would not
get so near the harbor of Heaven as TO
see the lightship. Better leave that man
with the God who said: vengeance Is
mine. will repay" You may say: ~
VIII make him sweat for that vet; will
make him squirm; l mean TO pursue
him TO the DEATH" but you are damag-
ing yourself more than you damage
him, and you are making Heaven for
your soul an impossibility. If he will
not be reconciled 10 you, be reconciled
TO him. In five or six hours il will be
shutdown. The dahlias will bloom
against the western sky. Somewhere
between this and that take n shovel and
bury the old quarrel ut least six feet
deep. Let not the sun GO down upon
your wrath"
Oh, IT makes one feel splendid TO be
able by Gods help TO practice unlim-
tied forgiveness. II improves ones body
and soul. My brother, ii will make YOU
measure three or four more inches
around the chest and improve your
respiration so that you can take deep
er and longer breath. 1t improves the
countenance 10y scattering the gloom
and makes you somewhat like God
himself. lie is omnipotent. and we
cannot copy that. He is independent
oil all the universe. and we cannot copy
that. He is creative, and we cannot
copy that. He is omnipresent, and we
cannot copy that. But He forgives with
broad sweep all faults. and all neg
lects. and all insults, and all wrong
doings, and in that way we NAV COPY
Him with mighty success Go harness
that sublime action of your soul to the
sunset-the hour when the gate OF
Heaven opens TO let the dav pass into
the eternities, and some of the plories
escape this way through the brief open
ing. We talk about the Italian sunsets
and sunset amid the Apprentices and
sunset amid the cordilleras. but | will
tell you how you may see grander sun
set than any mere lover of nature ever
beheld; that is. by hinging into it all
your hatreds and animosities. and let
the horses of fire trample them. and the
chariots of fire roll over them. and the
spearmen of fire stab them, and the
beach Of fire consume them, and the bill
lows OF fire overwhelm them.
Again, we should not let the sun go
down on our wrath, because il is of lit
tie Importance what the world saws of
you or does to you when you have the
affiuent God of the sunset us your pro-
WIDER and defender. People talk as
though ii were fixed spectacle of ma
ture and always the same. But no one
ever saw two sunsets alike, and if the
world has existed 5000 years there have
been about 2.190,000 sunsets, each OF
them as distinct from all the other pic
lures in the gallery of the sky as
Iitian's Last Supper" Rubens' DE
scent From the Cross" RaphaeIs
TRANSPORTATION" and Michael Angeles
Last Judgment" are distinct from
each other. If that God is OF such infinite
resources that he can put on the wall Of
* 4
Louvre and Luxembourg galleries all
in one is my God and your God, our
provider and protector, what is the use
of our worrying about any human an
tagonism? If we are misin1erpreted,
the God of the maDy-colored sunset
can put the right color on our action.
If all the garniture Of the western heay-
ems ut eventide is but the upholstery of
one OF the windows of our future home,
what small business for us TO be chas-
ing enemies! Let not this Sabbath sun
go down upon your wrath.
Mohammed said: "The sword is the
key OF Heaven and hell" But, my hear
ers. in the first day we will find just
the opposite Of that 10 be true. and that
the sword never unlocks Heaven, and
that he who heals wounds is greater
than he who makes them. and that on
the same ring are two kcys-God's for
givcuess Of us and our forgiveness Of
enemies-and these TWO keys unlock
paradise.
And now ! wish for all Of you n beau
tful sunset 10 your earthly existence.
With some OF you il has been long
Gay Of trouble. and With others Of YOU
IT Will bo FAR from calm. When the sun
rose OF six o'ciock. SO was the morning
Of youth. and fair day was prophesied
but by the time The MONDAY or middle
life had come and the clock OF your
earthly existence had struck ~ cloud
racks gathered, aud tempest beloved
in the track Of TEMPEST. But as tie