The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-11-22

| his cheerfulness / can get mine. WHY
art thou cast down, o my soul. anC
why art thou disquieted within me,
Hope thou in God, for l shall yet
praise him who is the health of my
countenance and my God.
Again, is your talent that Of wit OF
humor? Use it for God. Much of the
worlds wit is damaging. Most OF sat.
ire has a sting in it. Much of carica-
ture is malevoent. Much Of smart re-
tort is vitriolic. In order to say smart
things how many will sacrifice the
feelings of others! The sword they
carry is keen, and il is employed 70
thrust and lacerate. But few men in
all the world and in all the churches
realize that if wit is bestowed il is
given them for useful, for improving,
for healthful purposes. If we all had
more of il and knew how 20 use it
Alright, how much il would improve
our Christian conversation and prayer
meeting talk and sermon! Robert
South and Rowland Hill and Jeremy
Taylor and Dean Swift and Lorenzo
Dow and George Whitefield used their
wit and their humor to gather great
audiences and then lead them into the
kingdom of God. Frivolity is repulsive
in religious discussion, but | like the
humor of job when he said TO his in
solent critics: "No doubt but ye are
the people, and wisdom shall die with
YOU" and ! like the humor of the
prophet Elijah, who told the Baalites
TO pray louder, as their god was out
hunting or on an excursion or in such
loud conversation that he could not
hear them. like the sarcasm Of
Christ when He told the self-righf-
eous Pharisees that they were so good
they needed no help: THE whole need
not a physician, but that they are
sick" or when in mirthful hyperpole
he arraigns the hypocritical teachers
of His day who were so particular
about little things and careless about
big things, saying: aye blind guides
that strain at a gnat and swallow
camel" and the Bible is all ablaze with
epigram, words surprisingly put and
phraseology that must have made the
audiences of Paul and Christ nudge
each other and exchange glances and
smile and then appropriate the tre-
mendous truths of the Gospel. There
are some evils you can laugh down
easier than you can preach down. The
question is always being asked, why
do not more people go to church,
prayer meeting and other religious
meetings? i will tell you. We of the
pulpit and the pew are so duh they
cannot stand it. But when we ask
why people do not go to church we ask
a misleading question. More people
20 now to church than ever in the
worlds history, and the reason is in
all our denominations there is new
race of ministers stepping into the
pulpits which are not the apostles of
humdrum. Sure enough, we want in
the Lords army the heavy artillery,
but we want also more men who, like
Burns, farmer at Gettysburg, took a
musket and went out on his own ac-
count to do little shooting different
from the other soldiers. The church
of God is dying of the proprieties.
Or is your talent an opportunity to
set a good example? One person do
ing right under adverse circumstances
will accomplish more than many trea-
tises about what is right. The census
has never been taken of lovely old
folks. Most of us, if we have not such
a one in our own house now. have in
our memory such a saint. We went
10 those old people with all our trou-
bles. They were perpetual evangel- !
lists, by their soothing words, by their |
hopefulness of spirit. an inexpressible |
help. ! cannot see how Heaven could |
make them any lovelier than they are |
or were. But there are exceptions. |
There is a daughte- in that family /
whose father is impatient and the |
mother querulous. The passage of |
many years does not always improve
the disposition, and there are a great
many disagreeable old folks. Some of |
them forget that they were young |
themselves, and they become untidy
in their habits and wonder how, when
their asthma or rheumatism is so bad,
other people can laugh or sing and go
on as they do. The daughter i'm that
family bears all ths peevishness and
behavior of senility
answering back or making
any kind of complaint. If You should
ask her what her five talents are or
her one talent is, she would answer
that she has no talent at all. Greatly
mistaken is she. Her one talent is 10
forbear and treat the childishness of
the old as well as she treats the child
shness of the young. She is no mu-
sician, and besides there may not be
piano i'm the house. She cannot skill
fully swing a crOquet mallet or golf
see what she can do with a ladle and
a broom and brush and other house
lold implements. She is the personi-
ication of patience. and her reward
will be as long as Heaven. Indeed,
much of her reward may be given on
'arth. She is in a rough college, from
which she may after awhile graduate
nto brightest domesticity. She is a
heroine, though at present she may
'eceive nothing but scolding and de-
Her one talent OF pa
fence under trial viii do more good
han many morocco covered sermons
N, rnfience nrenrhnd fn-dnN frnm tn