The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-08-23
room and wonders whose is that for.

dIIeT dWnlle, ne mas InaL IL Is mack
cray in the mirror. Oh, yes, this world
is cheat. Talk about man gaining
the world! Who ever gained half of
the world? Who ever owned hemis-
phere? Who ever gained continent:
Who ever owned Asia? Who ever
gained city? Talk about gaining the
world! No man ever gained it, or the
thousandth part of it. You are de-
handing that I sell my soul, not for
the world, but for a fragment of it.
Here is man who had had large
estate for 40 or SO years. He lies down
to die. You say, THAT man is worth
millions and millions of dollars" Is
he? You call up surveyor, with his
compass and chains, and you say,
There is property extending three
miles in one direction and three miles
In another direction" Is that the way
to measure that mans property? No!
You do not want any surveyor, with
compass and chains. That is not the
way to measure that mans property
now. 1t is an undertaken you need,
who will come and put his finger in
his vest pocket and take out tape
line, and he will measure five feet nine
inches one way and two and half
feet the other way. That is the mans
property. Oh, no; forgot; not so
much as that, for he does not own
even the place in which he lies in the
cemetery. The deed to that belongs
to the executors and heirs. Oh, what
property you propose to give me for
my soul! If you sell bill of goods,
you go into the counting room and say
to your partner: do you think that
man is good for this bill? Can he give
proper security? Will he meet this
payment? Now, when you are offered
this world as possession want you
to test the matter. do not want you
to go into this bargain blindly. want
you to ask sbout the title. about the
insurance. about whether men have
ever had any trouble with it, about
whether you can keep it,about whether
you can get all or the -thousandth
or one hundred thousandth part of it.
There is the world now. l shall say
no more about it. Make up your mind
for yourself, as l shall before God have
to make up my mind for myself about
the value of this world. l cannot af-
ford to make mistake for my soul,
and you cannot afford to make mis-
take for your soul.
The Soul Beyond Value.
Now let us look at the other prop
art1y ho w.
bargain without seeing the compare
tive value. The soul! How shall I esti-
mate the value of it? Well, by it's ex-
quisite organization. 1t is the most
wonderful piece of mechanism ever
put together. Machinery is of value in
proportion as it is mighty and silent
at the same time. You look at the
engine and the machinery in the
Philadelphia mint, and as you see it
performing its wonderful work you
will be surprised to find how silently
it goes. Machinery that roars and
tears soon destroys itself; but silent
machinery Is often most effective.
Now. so 1t is with the soul of man,
with all its tremendous faculties, it
moves in silence. Judgment, without
any racket, lifting its scales; memory,
without any noise, bringing down all
its treasures; conscience taking its
judgment seat without any excite
ment; the understanding and the will
all doing their work-velocity, majes-
ty, might, but silence, silence. You
listen at the door of your heart. You
can hear no sound. The soul is quiet,
! 1t is so delicate an instrument that
no human hand can touch it. You
break bone, and with splinters and
bands the surgeon sets it; the eye be-
comes infiamed, the apothecary's wash
cools it; but soul off the track. I'M
balanced, no human power can read
just it. With one sweep of it's wings
it circles the universe and over
vaults the throne of God. Why, in
the hour OF death the soul is so
mighty it throws aside the body as
though it were toy. 1t drives back
medical skill as impotent. 1t breaks
through the circle of loved ones who
stand around the dying couch. With
one leap it springs beyond star and
moon and sun and chasms of immen-
sity. 1t is superior to all material
things! No fire can consume it; no
floods can drown it: no rocks can
crush it; no walls can impede it; no
time can exhaust it, 1t wants no
bridge on which to cross chasm. It
wants no plummet with which to
sound a depth. A soul so mighty so
swift, SO silent, must be priceless
| SOUL
calculate the value of the soul also
by it's capacity for happiness. How
much joy it can get in this world out
of friendships, out of books, out of
clouds, out of the sea, out of flowers,
out of ten thousand things, and yet all
the joy it has here does not test its
capacity. You are in a concert before
| the curtain hoists, and you hear the
instruments preparing-the sharp
snap of the broken string, the scrap
| ing of the bow across the viol. There
is no music in that" you say. 1t is
only getting ready for the music. And
AL the enjoyment of the soul in this
world, the enjoyment we think is real
enjoyment, is only preparative; it is
only anticipative; it is only the first
stages of the thing; it is only the en-
trance, the beginning of that which
shall be the orchestral harmonies and
splendors of the redeemed.
Power of the Soul