The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-30
THE VOICE. OF THE PULPIT
FULLNEss OF LIFEs METHODS BY
WHICH 1T CAN BE ATTAINED.
By the Rev. william Hayne Leavell,
ID. D., Pastor First Presbyterinn
Church., Houston, Tex.
81 came that they may have life. and
may have it STANDARDIZATION X, 10.

L came rndt they may nave Hics anu
may have it abundantly.'-John X, 10.
To "see life" is either the reason or
excuse for a vast multitude of the ex-
cesses of crimes. frivolities and fiirtations,
reckless adventures and hair-breadth es-
capes of uncounted multitudes of eager
spirits. Again. the student over his books.
the scientist in his laboratory. the explorer
In the frozen north, each seeks TO enlarge
the scope and enhance the zest of life
The man born tired" who is merely a
detached vegetable, alone fails to respond
to the appeal to his innermost and outer
most nature which is made by the promise
of an abundant life.
What then constitutes life? Doubtless it
is the power to exercise all ones faculties
fully, easily, freely; and the exhilaration
which accompanies and flows from such
power and exercise.
Obviously then nothing which stunts ones
nature. nothing which limits its capacity
for the strongest and fullest use on all
Sides, nothing which narrows the intellect,
dulls the sensibilities, weakens the Will,
can truly conduce to life. The question is
of vital Importance: How can 1 get the best
and fullest life?
The sage of old said in effect, "Change,
change, all is evanescence and vexation of
spirit,' He had set himself to know and
experience life, in the pleasures of appetite
and luxury, in the exhilaration arising
from the sense of power over his fellows,
in the knowledge and investigation of the
whole field of then-existing science, in the
moral insight which discriminates between
righteousness and unrighteousness.
Tlro,,c1 htc ,,nnoro1aI axnorianaa Of life
he learned that all is vanity and vexation
of spirit"
A famous naturalist and philosopher de-
clared that religious aspirations and the
emotions reused by poetry which were
wont to stir him in his youth had passed
wholly out of the experience of his later
years, and he did not regret the change;
yet it is evident hat some part of his ma
ture had been starved, either to death or
Inconsistencies
All lower nature points upward. The very
word universe indicates its own solidarity.
The evolutionist, seeking to verify the law
that all things have one source and strive
toward higher development, logically claims
for man the whole experience Of that sys-
tenn of nature of which he is the crown.
Does man, then. look no higher than him
self? If so, what an imperfect ideal is pre-
scented, even if the best man one has known
be selected. We are each conscious of an
ideal better than any one or all of our ac-
quaintances have attained-an ideal not de-
rived from our observation or experience.
A SATISFYING LIFE.
But we have sketches of a life which
both satisfies and outruns our ideal. In
49,. .eoI ~ = u-ho bod oil tho nv
periences of infancy, childhood. youth and
manhood, and a depth of nature which
left no human condition outside the range
o. it's sympathy, compassionating the
scribe and the publican, the rich young
man who had kept the commandments
from his youth, and the S~ssinner' as we'll as
the common people.
NJ experience of excitement and strug-
gle can compare with His personal en-
counter, when exhausted and famished in a
wilderness beyond the reach of human
succor, not only with wild beasts but with
the Prince of Darkness-no reaction of re-
lief after victory be placed beside the
ministry of angels which followed.
This man possessed a knowledge OF men
and a power over nature which were never
at fault. Appreciation of home and hos
pitality were traits of Him who had mot
WncTc 10 lay his mead. ne DltSSeu I'LL
dren with more than paternal tenderness.
He purified politics and religious worship
with strong Indignation and a scourge of
cords. "A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief" such divine rapture radiated
from Him on the mount that His dull and
timid followers could only say: 1T is good
for us to be here" yet He was discussing
the death which He should accomplish at
Jerusalem
His was the sensitive soul Of the artist
who recognizes the superlative beauty of
the flowers and the secondary. beauty of
kings clothing. Behold the lilies of the
~feld-Solomon in all his glory was not ar
rayed like one of these" His dying,
thoughtful love made provision for His
mother in His own death agony. Friend
true friendships could suffer no diminu-
ton because of the betrayal. denial. de-
sertion of those He loved. Accepted the
inadequate return Of inferior natures. He
raised their friendship to heroic stature.
The agony OF the garden, the darknes
and infinite desolation of the cross, the
silence of the tomb, were crowned by such
contamination that earth could hold Him
no longer. God with u.s. is God blessed
forever" and this is He who says, BE
cause 1 live We shall live Also" "I came
that they might have life a~bundantly."
The abundant life He offers is an in
creased capacity for living; so radical that
1t Is, In fact, q new life-a new birth. faint
and Pickering doubtless in its beginning,
because it is birth. but containing the pos
SiDlnlleS OF lnuellnlle expansion, because II
is life. Every department of action, of
thought, of feeling is transformed by this
new life. This free and joyful power, this
life, is ito know God and Jesus Christ
whom He hath sent"
There are few human beings whom one
really knows, and even in them may APP
pear development setting at taught the
hardly won knowledge OF half a century's
acquaintance. Such knowledge is, how
ever, an element of human friendship.
RESULTS OF FRIENDSHIP.
The free interplay of two spirits which
friendship implies results in a growing
likeness between them in that which con-
stitutes moral and spiritual worth, while
simultaneously the personality Of each is
enlarged and accumulated. Each friend
gives "~lavishly, utterly, carelessly,'
looking for nothing again." realizing only
how much he receives from the other. HUI
man friendship enriches and enlarges life
more than we can estimate; divine friend
ship is utmost life-life eternal.
The divine friend we may have with us
in all the daily routine Of counting house,
kitchen, office, parlor. social or business
gathering. sickroom, schoolroom or place
of amusement under every conceivable cir
cumstance. in every conceivable place. In
the atmosphere of such a friend our mean
and unworthy traits cannot hide them
selves nor can they abide the light-they
pousf die Our fal1ow-nan IN ubofavar 70