Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-01-04
NEW YEAR THOUGHTS
Or. TALMAGE MAKES SOME pRAc-
TlCAL SUGGESTIONS.
We Should Make tho Most of Our
Brief Lives-Inndciity the Source
Of Mach Woe-Christ's Matchless
Stories.

Brief Lives-InndcIity the Source
Of Mach Woe-Christ's Matchless
Stories.
Copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1901
WASHINGTON, Dec. 31.---In this holi-
day discourse DR.. Talmagc takes the
opportunity Of Offering some very prac-
tlcal and useful suggestions; text,
Psalms &c, 0, eve spend our years as
tale that 10 told.'
The Israelites were 40 years In the
wilderness, and during 3S years of the
40 nothing is recorded Of them. and, I
suppose, DO other emlgrants had n
duller or more uninteresting time than
they had. So they got to telling stories
stories concerning themselves or con.
cerning others; stories about the brick
kilns Of Egypt where they had toiled
In slavery; stories about how the wa
ters of the Red sea piled up into pal
isades at their crossing; story of the
lantern hung in the heavens to guide
them by night; story Of ibises destroy
ing the reptiles of the wilderness;
stories of personal encounter. 1t must
have been an awful thing to have had
rothing to do for 3S years except to
get lost every time they tried to escape
from the wilderness. So they whiled
away the time In story telling. In
deed, there were persons whose one
business was to narrate stories, and
they were paid by such trifes as they
could pick up from the surrounding
listeners. To such instances our text
refers when 1t says, ave spend our
years as a tale that is told"
At this tremendous passage from the
year 1900 to the year 1000 1t will do lis
all good to consider that our whole life
is n story told-a good story or bad
story, tragic. story or mirthful story.
wise story or foolish story. clean
story or a filthy story. story Of sue
cess or story of failure. 1--WE spend
our years as tale that Is told"
In tae first place, remark that ev-
cry persons life Is very interesting
story. Ny text does not deprecate "a
talc tina. is told" We have all of us
been entertained by the story teller
when snow bound in the rail train, or
In the group winters night in the
farmhouse. or gathered around blaz-
Ing hearth with some hunters at the
mountain inn. Indeed. 1t is a praise
worthy art to impersonate good story
well. II you doubt the practical and
henlthful and inspiring use of such n
story. take down from the library
Washington Irving's "Tales of Trav-
eler'' or Nathaniel Hawthornes "Twice
Told Tales" But as Interesting as any
Of these would be the story Of many
an obscure life IL the tale were as well
told. Why do we all like biographies
and aurobiographies? Because they
are stories OF eminent human lives
But the story Of the life of back
woodsman, of a man who looks stupid,
of one about whom you never heard a
word, mus be just as thrilling on n
small S. az. as on a large scale is n life
of Cyrus, or a Caesar, or Pizarro,
or Mark Antony, or Charlemagne
Life Experiences.
II you get the confidence of that very
plain man just come out OF the back
woods and can Induce him to give the
stirring experiences of his life. he will
tell you that which will make your
blood curdle and your hair stand on
end; that night when panther dis
that landslide, when the mountains
reemed about to come dcwn Oh his
cabin; that accident 10 hi', household
ard no surgeon within II mIles that
long storm that shut Inaln IN and the
food was exhausted; that contest ut his
doorway with bandits, who :hoaght
thers might bs within something worth
taking; that d-athbe6. with "a ore but
himself 20 count the hut.ering pulses.
oh, yes, while I'VE spend cur ynaca
as tale that Is tolc," 1t Is an interest
lug b;oyy. 1t Is the story Of an inn
nior.s!. ,nd that ;naxss II Interesting.
H. 70 iaaaehcd on An ocean Of eternal
yssrs, In a voyage that will never ter
an anthem o. II dirSe that will never
come to It's last bar. That is what
makes the devotional meetings OF mod
ern times 10 much more interesting
than they used 10 pe. They are filled
not with discourses by luymen On the
subject Of justification and sanctitca-
:ioa. which lay discourses administer
more to tho facetious than to the edi-
fyiag, but with stories of what God
has done for the soul--how everything
puddenly changed; how tie promises
became bnlsarnic In times Of laosra-
tion; how be was personally helped out
cud helped up aud helpad on. Nothing
can stand before such story of per-
sonal rescue, personal transformation,
personal illumination. The mightiest
nyd most skillful argument against
Christianity col!apses under the un-
grammatical but aiucere stater.cnt.
The ntheistic professor Of natural phi
losophy goes down under the story Of
that bnckwoodsman's conversion.
Start Anew.
Al that elaborate persuasion of the
old folks of the fcliy Of giving up &C.
tive life too soon means nothing as
compared with the simple Incident you
may relate to them of the fact that
Benjamin Franklin was governor of
Pennsylvania at SO years of age and
that Dandolo Of Venice at 90 years Of
age. although his eyesight had been
destroyed through being compelled by
HIS enemies 20 look into n polished
metal basin under the full blaze OF the
sun until totally blind. yet this sight
less nonagensrlan leading an army to
the successful besiegement Of Constan-
vog al hau ~