The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-25
Sunday Sermon.


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Strive to enter in at the strait gate
Luke. xiii, "a.
An ordinary magnet is a very fair SYM
Dol of human soul. On certain occa-
sions when l have used the magnet for
my amusement l have found that it has
one pole of attraction and another of
repulsion. The substance which are for
elgn to it are never attracted, while
those which are akin cling to it with a
strange tenacity. 1 have noticed also
that when its subtle power becomes weak
1t can be easily renewed by passing
through it a current of electricity
1t is just so with the soul 1t draws
to itself what is like itself and repels
what is unlike The pure soul does not
draw impurity; neither has the impure
soul any attraction for purity. Good
thoughts come to the man who invites
them, and evil thoughts to him who calls
Tor them. You can have whatever you
want, whether it is high or low, be-
cause your desire for it is the messenger
who brings it to you. Angels and devils
are alike subject to your command, and
you can have the companionship or the
one or the other according to the pur-
pose in your heart. We are never our
selves alone, but ourselves plus an mex
plicable something which comes usward
from the unseen world of forces. II we
cultivate what is good and noble, then
goodness and nobility knock at our doors
and ask to be received as guests. Our
development in that direction is then as
certain as are the laws of evolution, and
we come at last to live on such a spirit
ual eminence that an impure thought or
action will be as distasteful as worm
wood to the tongue. We can even reach
height on which an immoral action will
be an impossibility, just as it is impossi
bic for man of honor to become a COM
mon thief. And on the other hand, if our
pleasures are mean and contemplate, in
furious to spirit as to body, we draw to
ourselves only corrupting influences, and
our whole outlook on this world and the
next is unworthy of our destiny. The
evil minded man loses all zest in spiritual
pleasures. the holy ambition of his early
youth, the sweetness of his nature, and
dwells in bottomless pit of selfishness
unrest and personal degradation.
These are undeniable facts of expert
ence. We have all verified them to
greater or less extent and know, either
to our joy or sorrow, that eevating
thoughts lift the soul above itself, while
low indulgence degrades and depresses.
There have been moments in all our lives
when our aspirations have been like eagle
wings, bearing us close to the Throne,
filling us with a longing for the ideal,
the possible life and other moments when
~
despise ourselves and even hate our
selves. We have spent hours in heaven
and we know what hell is, because we
have been there.
Now, it is just as possible to cultivate
good thoughts as it is to cultivate an or
chard. You must first plant the shoot,
then watch it until it becomes a tree,
and after that you can pluck the fruit
and the tree will take care of itself. So
if man wishes to be noble he must
make the acquaintance of noble purposes
and lofty views, and he must develop
that acquaintance until it grows into in
timacy, or until the habit of looking for
the true and good and OF finding supreme
pleasure in them has been formed. A
man should make a distinct effort to be
honorable. unselfsh and self-s sacrificing
just as he makes that kind of an effort
to be rich or famous People are under
the impression that If we are not good
by nature we cannot be good at all The
truth is every man is like a wild colt on
the prairies, useless and worthless until
he has been caught, trained and disci-
plined. Those same wild elements are in
every soul, and we cannot be at our
best until we have caught, trained and
disciplined ourselves. Religion teachers
us how to accomplish this task, gives
us a high aim and a worthy motive.
Christ's words contain the profound
philosophy of success, the means by
which the ideal is attained. He is our
divine Teacher, but for many a century
the world has given all it's attention to-
physical and political and commercial
science to the almost utter exclusion of
spiritual science. That is the mistake Of
the ages. We struggle to obtain knowl-
edge in all other directions, and leave
all knowledge of soul culture to come to
us without even the asking. We watch
the development of a rare plant, and
think no pains too great if we can bring
it to blossom, but as to the immortal
and therefore most important part of US,
IL Is ike the W0SQS III uHCuitlNoISu
garden. No man, however, can be good
without striving to be good.
We ought to spend a few minutes each
day in serious sober thought Of duty, re-
citing to ourselves the reasons for graft
tude, preparing ourselves to be calm
amid the cares and anxieties which the
coming hours are sure to bring, opening
the soul by meditation to the higher in
fuence which will be only too glad to
enter by that open door. Every home
should have one room for retirement
and solcitude, in whose silence we could
feel the approach of angels and the
presence of God Himself, for nothing so
strengthens the soul as restful quiet
where none can intrude and the spirit can
commune with the unseen. Jesus went
into "a place apart" for that purpose.
and if we follow the example we shall
find courage hope, resignation, as we'll
as bodily and spiritual health. Better
than all, the other world will be open to
us because this world has been shut out.
GEORGE H. HEPWORTH.