The record-union., 1899-03-06

themselves to the perusal of some of
our noblest literature. Why not feed
| your mind and soul for forty days with
the great thoughts of the worlds great
| thinkers? Take your Milton or Car
/ lyle or Tennyson, your Emerson or
Lowell or Whittier, and walk with
them for forty days on the high and
holy table-lands Of thought and feel
ing. Take that grand old poem, the
| Book of Job, and familiarize yourseiI
/ with it's lofty poetry on the highest
themes Of human thought. Girdleu
round with the choicest literature ever
bequeathed to a people, it is our SIN
and shame to neglect it, and live as
though it did not exist. Communion
with our great authors will do mueh
to keep the mind clear, the
heart pure, and the life beau
/ tiful and strong. Our great master
pieces of literature are filled with the
religious spirit as the atmosphere is
filled with light Their messages are
an essential aid to the spiritual ana
devout life. God who spake through
|poet and prophet of olden time, sun
speaks to us through similar chan
nels.
I. The Ilenten season is to be commend
led because it means increased ATTENTION
to religion. 1t enjoins on US the care
and culture of the soul. 1t bids us
take time to be holy It is an effort
to attain increased spirituality OF
thought and character 1t is recog-
milton of the fact that
Flesh is dangerous foe to grace
Where it prevails and rules; obad
| Flesh must be humbled, pride apased'
| Lest they destroy our Souls.
There is a treatment of the body for
spiritual ends We know that fasting
is favorable to bodily health. AS
rule, the body is overfed rather than
underfed. Some diseases have their
origin in an overfed body Dieting IN
many cases is the best Of medicines.
A forced fast would cure some people
of dyspepsia, with it's accompanying
moodiness and gloom. Fasting Is Ia
vorable to the mind. The highest IN
tellectual activity demands the DIS
cipline of the body. We associate high
thinking with plain living An overfed
stomach, an INDUCED appetite means
a clogged brain and a clouded intellect
Literary men reduce and simplify thelr
diet when they have special mentai
work to do. Fasting is favorable 10
intellectual vitality and vigor.
AS there is a treatment of the body for
physical health and for mental vlgor'
so there is a treatment of the BODY
for spiritual health and vigor. AS the
quality of the music is affected by the
condition of the instrument so our
spiritual life is affected by, and to a
degree is dependent on, the condition
of the body A gluttonous man is never
a spiritual-minded man. He who be-
fouls his body taints his soul. He VINO
gives loose rein to the qualification OF
his animal passions cannot attain 10
eminence in things spiritual and d.
vine. If you apply hot and rebelllous
LIQUORS" to your blood, if you saturate
your system with drugs. as opium or
nicotine, they will react on your moral
and spiritual life, so intimate is the re-
lation between soul and body ne
Bible recognizes the influence of the
physical over the spiritual in such ex-
hortations as: Abstain from heshly
llusts which war against the souP; BE
not drunk with wine wherein is excess.
but be filled with the Spirit" ne
Shirt of God does not dwell where
the spirit of wine holds sway. Pau
said: ..sI keep under my body and bring
it into subsection, lest that by any
means when I have preached u others
1 myself should be a castaway we
are taught that our bodies are the
temple of the Holy Ghost ana the
members of Christ Therefore gloriiy
God in your body and in your spirit
which are Gods. We cannot ignore
the physical conditions of spiritual
health. Fasting is not an arbitrary
rite or rule. It is based or reason II
is an effort to turn from carnal de-
lights and seek a closer walk Win
God.
1t is we'll at times to fast from food
from business, from society, from
amusements, from luxuries, that we
lmay open our souls to the trapscendent
realities of the eternal world. Wakln
and sleeping. this world is too much
with u.s. We are SO absorbed IN It's
business and pleasures and ambltlons
that We have no time and hardly any
desire for the cultivation of the devout
life. We need to be alone with Goa
more 1.-THE hottest of all holidays are
those kept by ourselves in silence ana
alonen where we commune with our
own hearts and realize anew the SIM
fulress of sin. the need of divine help,
and the possibilities of life In 1elioW-
ship with God. We need to pray
more
Take time to be holy Speak oft with
Abide in Him always, and feed on His
word. s,,as
Take time to be holy. the world rusnes
Spend much time in secret with Jesus
alone; -. 49,,
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness
shall see.
We need to follow the example OF
Jesus, who in the morning rising up
great while before day, went out into
a solitary place and there prayed. we
read that He went out into mount
ain to pray, and continued all night IN
prayer to God" We need to pray
more. We need to worship more. The
saintliest and strongest lives have been
lives of communion with God. we
might as we'll expect to grow strons
physically by neglecting food ana
sleep as to expect to grow strong
spiritually by neglecting prayer ana
the word of God. Some one has sald
that the greatest and best talent that
God gives to any man or woman III
this world is the talent of prayer Ana
the best usury that any man or wonla n
brings back to God when He comes 10
reckon with them at the end OF TINS
world is a life of prayer. He who mas
learned how to pray has learned how
to live.
santa Teresa of Spain lived three
hundred years ago, but she still lves
as holy influence and memory be-
cause she knew how to pray. Men of