The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-02-11
Sunday Sermon.
\ CHEERFUL RELIGION.


Hide me under the shadow OF thy
| wings. Psalms, xvii. 5.
If | We're to search the world for the
! secret of a useful and especially Of II
cheerful life, should end my journey
| at the Christian religion. might bivou-
ac for a short sojourn in the lands OF
| Mohammed. Zoroaster. Confucius and
Blddha, but / should build any house
for permanent residence on the shore
of the Sea OF Galilee. Other great
teachers might give me valuable hints.
| but the whole truth could only be told
ly Christ.
I cannot get rid of the fact that be-
tween the time when the newborn child
says good morning and the time when
! the dccrcpit old man says good night
| there are many disagrecablc experiences,
many struggles which will tax all my re-
sources. many disappointments which nat
| uraly make ne reSentful many pro-
found SORROWS which throw 4 shadow
/ as when the sun creeps behind II cloud
and leaves the landscape in gloom.
{ 1t requires no second thought on my
| part to assure myself that what has
/ happened to others will happen TO me. and
/ that no skill or wisdom can change that
| fact may smile. but ] must weep; |
! may be rich. but | must go through
| Gethsemane Of some kind: l may be fa
nous. but | must bear some heartbreak
J ing burdens. In peasants rags or royal
robes. my fate finds me. Its demands
| are ineXorable.
The one great question for me- to set
; tie as soon as possible, therefore, is
! whether | shall he the servile, logged
| and bitter slave of my fate or whether,
I ny some means to be discovered, my fate
| and | can come To such terms with each
| other that instead of being soured by
| life. l shall be sweetencd, mellowcd and
| ripened If / can do the latter the Sc
| cret is mine and having found it. |
would not part with it for all that may be
| offered in exchange.
LIZ the Old World there were some phi
: losophers who looked life inthe face and
| set their teeth together i'll defiance. They
| had no higher law 10 guide them but,
! like true iStocs. babe destiny do its
| worst. To them it was q hateful thing
f, to be born. and the only good came when
they fell into their last sleep. There
| ought to be Il better view than that to
! live by. or God must have deserted us.
| There is nothing high broad or noble in
=, it. Then there were other philosophers
| who concluded to laugh at human ex
! perience. Life was "A sarcasm, a bit OF
! ridicule. painful sort of farce No mat
| ter what came. they shrugged their
| shoulders, lifted their eyebrows and tried
! To think the universe practical joke.
| This may do for children, but not for
men. We must pass it on the waysde
! and move on 10 higher level.
When we join the crowd that listens
| to the Christ we hear strange things. We
learn that we are golden, but not pure
gold. Trial and affliction are the fire
under the cruciblc. which cannot destroy
the precious metal. but Will remove the
drosS. God wants US to be at our best,
| and religion consists i'll recognizing that
truth and in being willing to go through
whatever experience He thinks necessary
in order to accomplish that end. In its
ignorance the molten gold in the ,crucibe
may regard itself as cruelty tortured.
may boil and bubble with angry and de-
fiant protest. but when at last the Mas
ter Workman removes the dross and
mouldS the purified metal into an ingot
it sees its mistake. The fire, which SEEM
ed to be its worst enemy, was in reality
its best friend. The experience was hard
to bear, but the result proved that the
highest good could be attained In no
other way.
We shall all know in the by and by
that what we suffer is as necessary as
what we enjoy. that life without surf
fering would be an imperfect and I'M
developed life. Now. as | understand His
mission. Christ's purpose was 10 tell us
at once what by and by we shall know
without the telling, and if we accept
His philosophy it will give a kind of
good cheer to our struggles. our sorrows
and even our bereavements He who
knows why he weells and believes that
weeping will ultimate i'll Il priceless good
may still continue TO weep. bnt there
is no bitterness. no despair. in his tears.
1t may he hard to do what must he
done. but the gold that is conscious of
being refined may even bless the fire
which gives it pain. If there is plir-
pose in our agonies and we know what
that purpose is. then even agony has
JOY hidden behind it.
go still further than this and dare to
say that what the Scriptures call THE last
enemy is the crowning decree of a be- !
nevolent Providence. Death is nothing
more than the dark passageway to-
another life We dread it because we
only half believe that there is light ahead. :
Once convince us that we close our eyes
on today in order to open them on I
tomorrow and we shall fall asleep az
quietly as child in its mothers arms.
Our doubts are the ghosts which haunt
us and make us clutch at life. If we
were spiritually i'll n normal state OF
mind death would not be death, bat birth;
not the end of all things. but the glo-
riouS beginning of better Things When
we go to the churchyard i IS with bow
i l-.,1. Nnt
down. The departed have not gone EAR,
and nothing harms them so much rs cur
want Of faith that theY arc nrlr.
That kind of religion is all sunshine. It |
is the only religion which Christ taught. |
II will stand the test Of human exlic-
ricnce and give you IN insight and an !