The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1901-05-31

GOD launched this world, and lie
never launched a failure. The Gar
den of Eden was a useless morass
compared with what the whole world
will be when IL blossoms and leaves
and flashes and resounds with its
coming glory. God will save it any
how, with me or without me, but l
want to do my share. have some
cquipment-not as much as some
others, but what l have | will use.
l have power to frown, and | will
frown upon iniquity. | have power
to smile, and ! will smile encourage
ment upon all the struggling. / have
n vocabulary not so opulent as the
vocabulary of some others, but l
have n storehouse of good words,
and l mean to scatter them in help
fulness. | will ascribe right motives
to others when it is possible. If | can
say anything good about others, l
will say it. If | can say nothing but
vile of them, will keep my lips shut
as tight as the lips of the sphinx,
which for 5000 years has looked Off
upon the sands of the desert and
uttered not one word about the DESC
lation. The scheme of reconstruct
ing this world is too great for me
to manage, but l am not expected to
boss this job. have faith to believe
that the plan is well laid out and will
| be well executed. Give me a brick
and a trowel and | will begin now
to help build the wall. | am not a
soloist, but | can sing Rock of Ages
90, al 4 xsvrtt IN n
great book, but l can pick n cinder
out of a child's eye or splinter
from under his thumb nail. | now
enlist in this army that is going to
take the world for God, and | defy
all the evil powers, human and satan
ic, to discourage me. Count me into
the service. / cannot play upon
musical instrument, but | can polish
cornet or string a harp or'applaud
the orchestra"
All through that mans experience
there runs a faith that will keep him
cheerful and busy and triumphant.
! like the watchword of Cromwell's
lronsides, the men who feared moth
ing and dared everything. going into
battle with the shout: THE Lord OF
hosts is with us. the God of Jacob is
on refuge! Selah!" No balance that
human brain ever planned or human
hand ever constructed is worthy of
weighing such spirit. Gold and
precious stones are measured by the
carat, which is four grains. The
dealer puts the diamond or the pearl
on one side of the scales and the
carat on the other side and tells you
the weight. But we need something
more delicately constructed to weigh
that wonderful quality of faith which
am glad to know will be recognized
and rewarded for all time and all
eternity. The earthly weighman
counterpoises on metallic balances
the iron, the coal, the articles of hui
man food, the solids of earthly mer-
chandise, but he cannot test or an
nounce the amount of things spirit
ual. Here is something which the
Attic and Babylonian weighing sys-
tens of the past and the metric
weighing system of the present can
not manage. THE Lord weighcth the
spirits"
ambitious spirit. Every healthy man
and woman has ambition. The lack
of it is a sure sign of idiocy or inn
morality. The only question is, what
shall be the style of our ambition?
To stack up a stupendous fortune, to
acquire a resounding name, to sweep
everything we can reach into the
| whirlpool of our own selfishness-that
! is debasing, ruinous and beautiful. If
in such spirit we get what we start
for, we only secure gigantic discon-
| tent. No man was ever made happy
by what he got. 1t all depends upon
the spirit with which we get it, and
the spirit with which we keep it, and
the spirit with which we distribute it.
| Not since the world stood has there
been any instance of complete happi-
ness from the amount of accumula-
| tion. Give the man of worldly ambi-
tion 60 years of brilliant successes.
| He sought for renown, and the nations
speak his name. He sought for afilu-
ence, and he is put to his wits end
| to find out the best stocks and bonds
| in which he may make his investments.
/ lie is director IN DhnkS enough ana
trustee in enough institutions and
president of enough companies to
bring on paresis, of which he is now
| dying. The royal balances are lifted
to weigh the ambition which has con-
trolled a lifetime. What was the
worth of that ambition? How much
did il yield for usefulness and Heaven?
Less than a scruple, less than a grain
of sand, less than an atom, less than
nothing. Have a funeral mile long
with carriages, let the richest robes
of ecclesiastics rustic about the cas-
ket, caricature the scene by choirs
which chant: BLESSED are the dead
that die in the Lord" That mans life
is failure, and if his heirs scufIle
in the surrogate's court about the in
capacity of the testator to make a
last will and testament it will only
be a prolongation of the failure. The
son, through dissipation, spent his
share of the fortune before the father
died and so was cut off with a dol
! lar. The daughter married against his