The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-10-08
Sunday Sermon.
REL DICE ALWAYS.


holdS.-Deuteronom xii, {.
It Is just as much our duty to enjoy
HE as 1t it to work or sleep 1t is
therefore very important that we should
SO arrange our lives that they viii fur
nlsh the largest amount of enjoyment.
90 not say that any one can be per-
fectiy happy all the time, for no part
OF our discipline is more needed by the
soul than that which comes from the
trials and diappOintments and even the
profound sorrows through which We
forced to pass.
One may even say that he who mas
never Wept does not know the value of
laughter, and that ne who has not
toned along the hot and dusty road
does not appreciate the bliss of sitting
under the friendly branches OF tree,
with a cool spring bubbling at his feet,
for Il short period of rest.
1t is only when we are deprived of a
blessing that we discover its worth,
and he alone is grateful in its possession
who knows what it is to get on without
it.
| have heard an aged saint say that
no man can rightly define the word
grave. One may sometimes see more
through his tears than when looking
through the largest telescope that was
ever made.
! do not ignore the serious or solemn
side of life, but | assure you that #
you add to the gloom by gloomy
thoughts you not only make a mistake
so far as your own comfort is concerned,
but you are to that extent irreligious
On the other hand, when you preserve
cheerful attitude, when YOU brighten
your life by dwelling on the good things
you have, rather than on those you wish
YOU had, and make yourself as happy
as your circumstances allow, you are
in the proper frame of mind to receive
religious truth, you are i'll accord with
the eternal plan and have taken the
first step in the direction of true reli-
gion.
So long as you regard your environ
ment as all wrong and untitled to you,
so long as you find fault because you
think you are not where you ought to
be, just 50 long do you bar the way
to a higher level and chain yourself to
d dungeon floor. The angels, with their
soothing and encouraging influence, can
no more reach you than the sunshine
can get through window which you
have deliberately bricked up. / had
almost said that human soul can 50
surround itself with an atmosphere OF
discomfort and doubt that the Lord
Himself cannot effect an entrance, while
what is injurious because it is evil is as
much at home as a poisonous plant that
thriyes on miasm. Ii you long for thu
light you will 90 to the spot where the
light can reach you, but it is foolish
to declare that there is no light when
YOU, sit III Il dark corner where only
ghoStly shadows dwell.
There are very few lives in which
a degree of happiness may not be found
if it is sought for. But we must not
forget that we must work to be happy,
just as we work to be rich. If we
want health we fix our minds upon it.
We know that if we can discover its
hiding place our dreams will be real
lied. We plan TO get it, and have suffi-
cie1t confidence in ourselves to keep us
on the alert. No opportunity escapes
us, and we make the most of every one
that presents itself.
| cannct see why this principle should
not be applied to religion, neither can
see why it should not be equally sue
cessful We go to get riches, but we
expect happiness and contentment to
come to u.s. We work for fame, for so
ciaI influence, for all worldly good
things, but it seldom occurs TO us that
we must also work. for mental and
spiritual condition in which life is eX-
perienced at its best. Ana yet a man
that is the law as | understand it
should be as keen in his search for peace
Of mind, for resignation, for self-con-
troll, as he is for dollars, and should be-
gin the task in the conviction that God
wants him to be happy rather than mis-
cradle, and has so made the universe
and arranged our environment that we
may spend contented years in this lower
sphere and be joyfully raised to a high
er level after death.
If you look at life from your own
standpoint, then you will say that | am
a mere visionary: that | have dreamed
dreams which can never come true. But
il you look at it from Gods standpoint
you will admit that you are in the
wrong and that | am stating startling
facts.
does not Tighten human burdens. | do
not believe that God ever spoke word
in the way of revelation which was not
intended to make the soul serene ana
happy. Ii we do not interpret the Bible
after this fashions, then we misinterpret
it. 1t is a closed book to us, and we
have not learned to read it.
Never look on the dark side with
lark feelings in your heart, for you
thereby make the darkness darker still.
COX at it from the conviction that God
is overhead, conviction which is like
the lantern which the traveller carries
in the night time and you will find rea-
son to rejoice even when the clouds are
heavy and the path is steep.
If Christ could walk with unfaltering
steps to the place of crucifixion, because
He knew that that was tine road-the
only road-to heaven, surely we can
lay aside this unworthy habit of mag
nifying the petty ills of life, and, by
faith in the Providence which has never
yet deserted us and in the watchful
care of the angels who attend us, can
find occasion to rejoice every day until
the setting sun ushers us into world
to which this is as the portico of the
cathedral is to the cathedral itself.
~