The St. Johns herald., 1900-09-29
GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS.
Determine Destiny A Word Coneerning Environment


 
 What thinkest thou. simons - Matthew IT: g.
 If thoughts are forces, then we mus select them with great care.
 Our thoughts are to our lives abou what steam is to the engine. If tn, steam is under intelligent control, th' hum of the manufactory will be like agreeable music and the machiner, will accomplish definite and desirabl' purpose. On the contrary, if the stean is not properly harnessed there is sur' to be disaster sooner or later.
 The way a man thinks decides tht way he lives. It is as impossible fol pure thoughts to produce an impure life as for vinegar to resemble honey to the taste. A thief can't enjoy reli zion any more than an honest man can enjoy burglary.
 In the long run man will live as he thinks. Give me the thoughts which you cherish most kindly, and it is like giving me the minor and major pre- mises of-a proposition-the conclusion Is logically inevitable. Those thoughts are as certain to make or unmake you before your sun goes down as an effect Is certain to follow cause.
 Give me the power to sow what thoughts I please in your mind, and you put into my hands your destiny here and hereafter. Examine yourself critically and you will discover that -I1 with the kind of thoughts you enter tain. This is an appalling fact of psy- chological science, and the action of the law is as memorable as the law of gravitation. No man can think high and live low, or think low and live high.
 A strong emotion-sudden fear, for example-will send the blood through the body like the water in a millrace It controls the body as perfectly as a giant handles a child. Even the phys ical features take on a new expression, and the fact of inward terror is made visible in the face. The body is mere puppet which the inner man governs at will, and it is more obedient than a slave.
 If a man cherishes the vice of av- arice, or dissipation, or unhealthy stim- ulus, or selfshness, to such extent that the habit becomes chronic, chemical change takes place in his molecules and the expression of his countenance advertises what is going on within. In the galleries of Florence are two busts of Nero. The first is of a sweet child, and the face is beautiful. It bears the stamp of innocency. It is 8 pleasure to look at it. The second is that of a youth who has abandoned himself to his passions, and the lines which indi- cate it are as plain to the observer as the furrows in q plowed field. The face is repCisiye, and you turn from it with something like disgust.
 You can be happy and useful under any circumstances if you fill them with Heavenly purposes. Greed, and envy, and selfshness are the bane of our hu- man life. We long for what we have not, and are thus united to do the best with what we have. We live in a dream of what we hope to acquire, and are always restless, uncomfortable and If we could persuade 1! ourselves that we can De happy with | what surrounds us, that our mission is | to get as much out of life as is possi- | ble, instead Of worrying because oth- CTS have more than we, and so finding 1 fault with Providence and Cur i'll luck | and reaping the misery which such | thoughts always bring.9 we should | change the color of our environment and the quality of cur character. You may be pretty sure that if you cannot be happy where you are you cannot | be happy anywhere. Neither wealth nor fame can give you what you want, for you must find it in your soul or not find it st all.
 This is Christianity rightly under stood-to do all you can in whatever position you occupy and to make your little life great with great thoughts. iod is the guest of poverty as we'll as wealth. and poverty with God is bet Ter than wealth without Him. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of love and and though you have lardships and bereavements they melt way in the presence of the Divine Lord. You bear them with patience, md patience is another word for strength. Perfect peace will come at ast to him who endures. and peace un- ocks the doors of Heaven.-George II. 1epworth, in N. Y. Herald.