The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-07
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
FRIENDSHIPS, THOSE THAT MAKE
FOR GOOD ARE DESIRABLE.
Sermon by Rev. George Hodges, ID. D.,
Dean of Episcopal Theological
School, Cambridge, Mass.
"a man that hath friends must show
himself endly"-Proverbs xviii, q.

himself friendly. -ProVerDS XVIII, a.
Truly. he who wishes to have friends
must show himself friendly. Else he will
have no friends. For friendship waits to
be invited, tarries till we hold out our
hands of welcome. and must be met half
way. Thank God for the blessed multi
tude of friendly people who smile easily,
who are interested in human beings. glad
to see their neighbors, who talk and listen
and contribute to the happiness of life!
In the kingdom of heaven all social life
will rest upon basis Of friendship. All
society will be a friendly society.
We make friends and our friends make
us. What we want to know is how to make
good friends and keep them. and how to
get the most good out of their friendship.
II you have no friends, few friends, do
not blame the neighborhood for it. Do not
put the fault upon the town or upon the
church Twenty other people who came
when you did have been at home in that
neighborhood and in that parish for now
these many weeks. Show yourself friendly.
Cultivate friendly and fraternal spirit.
Then you cannot help having friends.
TRY TO BE WORTH KNOWING.
1t is a wise saying that the best plan
for fathers and mothers who would have
their children grow up into gentle Gull
tured and Christian men and women is
to improve yourself. That is also an excel
lent rule for making friends; improve
yourself. Be such of a person that your
friendship will be worth having. So cul-
ture and develope whatever graces God
has given you, so store your heart with
kindly and generous impulses and your
mind with wise, interesting and helpful
thoughts that people may find it both a
pleasure and profit to be with you. Then
you will have friends.
Be watchful always for an opportunity
to contribute something to the good pleas
ure of those in whose company you find
yourself. The world is made up Of active
and passive people, of the leaders and the
led. Some have opinions of their own, some
borrow the opinions of others; some in
f1uence their neighbors and determine the
direction of the thought of the community;
some are merely influenced. We do not
we'll to be content to be- numbered among
the passive, the dependent. the inferior,
among the people who are not contribut-
ing anything to the life Of the neighbor-
good. to lead, to help somebody?
Society is kept back, progress is perpet-
ually being blocked by the laggards who
will not go ahead unless two people, one on
each arm, keep them up and carry them
along. So many people fail to do their
share. Every community and society suf-
fers from its uncertain members, upon
whose fidelity no one can depend. The only
useful members of any society are those
who make some good contribution to its
welfare.
And all this holds true in that select So
ciety to which nobody belongs but your
friends and yourself. Friendship is an OPP
portunity. 1t must be used. ALI that you
have and are must be brought to bear upon
it. One Of the discoveries of modern sci
ence is the use of beauty. We are taught
now that there is no grace of loneliness in
the whole world, in bird blossom, in
plant or planet, but has a use and meaning,
which its beauty serves.
A PURPOSE IN EVERYTHING.
All that is attractive Is attractive for a
purpose. God has given you gifts and
graces which make friendship possible. And
he has instituted friendship that in it you
may use such gifts and graces as you have,
In His service. to advance His cause and
kingdom. The ambassador who goes ac-
credited to foreign court Is expected to
spend a considerable part of his salary in
the pleasant task Of making himself social
ly agreeable. He must be seen in society,
he must entertain distinguished people: his
house must be open and his table hospita-
bly, spread What for? For the sake of in
fluence. His dinners are a part of diplo-
macy His friendships are for the sake Of
his country.
dor to the King of kings, every one of us,
set here to do him loyal service in every
way we can. We make a great mistake if
we imagine we have done all we can for
him when we serve him well on Sunday in
! church. That is only part of it. On Mon
day, in the shop. there is another opportu-
nifty, and on Tuesday, when our friends
come in to spend the evening; and the
whole week through, as we meet our
friends on business or pleasure, must
keep our King in mind, be loyal to Him,
and speak and act as to advance His in
| terests. Show at least by your life and
conversation. by your devotion and earn
| estness, by what you say and do as by
what you refrain from saying and doing.
| what Christ can do in our common daily
| living to make life richer, happier and bet
| ter.
| The future Of our country, the perma-
nence of our Institutions the destiny of
our civilization depend to-day upon the re-
| ligion of Jesus Christ. The enemies which
| assail the prosperity and peace and liberty
OF this Nation-ignorant and infidel immi-
| grafton, intemperance, anarchy, the mer-
| cenary and materialistic spirit, the heaping
| together of great masses of moral and So
| cial dynamite in our great cities-from
these no legislation can save US; these no
| act of Congress can prohibit. From such
as these the police and the militia can pro-
tect us but for an hour or a day. These
| are evils of the heart. There is no perma-
nent defense against them except the re-
| ligion of the Lord Jesus Christ. That alone
| can give us peace. The future of the
United States of America depends upon its
| religious and Christian citizens, and no
| one is so humble but he can do his part.
| INFLUENCE OF YOUNG WOMEN.
Every young girl who listens with In
| difference or amusement to a young mans
| boast Of unbelief. or who takes II lightly
| not much interested I'm religion and care
| little for church-gong, and give scant
thought to sober and spiritual things, i.