St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-06-29
USING OUR TALENTS.
Sermon for Those Given to Depreci-
ate Themselves.

ate Themselves.
Discourse Of DR.. Talmage On the short
Text, Ito Another One"-Dim-
cult Task to Accurately Es-
timate Ourselves.
Copyright. 1901. BY Louis klopsch. N. II
Washington.
This is a discourse by DIR. Talmage
for those given to depreciate them
selves and who have an idea that
their best attempts amount to little
or nothing; text, Matthew IS: Is, ITO
another one"
Expel first from this parable of the
talents the word "usury." 1t ought
to have been translated interest"
"Usury" is finding a man in q tight
place and compelling him to pay an
unreasonable sum to get out. In
terest" is a righteous payment for
the use of money. When the capital
list of this parable went of from
home, he gave to his stewards GER
tain sums of money, wishing to have
them prontably invested. Change
also your idea as to the value OF one
talent. You remember the capital
list gave to one of his men for bust
ness purposes Eve talents, to another
two. to another one. What small
amount to last, you think, and how
could he be expected to do anything
with only one talent? / have to tell
you that one talent was about $1,000,
so that when my text says: ITO an
other one," it implies that those VINO
have the least have much.
| We bother ourselves a great deal
about those who are highly gifted OF
have large financial resource or exait'
ed official position or wide reaching
opportunity. We are anxious that
their wealth, their eloquence, thelI
wit, be employed on the right side
One of them makes q mistake, and
we say: "What an awful disaster
When one of them devotes all his
great ability to useful purposes, we
celebrate it, we enlarge upon 1t, we
speak of it as something for graft
tude to God. Meanwhile we give nc
time at all to consider what people
are doing with their one talent. not
realizing that ten people OF one tai
| emit each are quite as important al
| one man with ten talents. In the one
case the advantage or opportunity
is concentered in a single personality
while in another it is divided among
ten individuals. Now, what we want
to do in this sermon is to waken peo
pie of only one talent to appreciation
of their duty. Only q few people
have five talents or ten talents, while
millions have one. My short text il
like a galvanic shock, ITO another
one"
The most difficult thing in thu
world is to make an accurate esti
mate of ourselves. Our friends value
us too high, our enemies too low. tt
find out what we are worth moral!
and mentally is almost impossible
We are apt to measure ourselves b.
those around us, but this is not fair
as they may be very brilliant or yer!
dull, very good or very bad. Indeed
there are no human scales that cal
tell our exact moral and menta
weight, nor is there q standard b.
which we can measure our exact in
tellectual height, so the hardest thing
to do is to calculate our real stature
or heft. But it will be no evidenc'
of egotism in any of us il we say tina
we have at least one talent. What i
it and, finding what it is, what u.s.
shall we make of it? The most o
the people, finding that they hav'
only one talent, do as the maj
spoken of in the parable. they hide ii
But if all of the people who have on
talent brought it out for use befor
this century is half past and CORE
spondents begin to write at the hea'
of their letters 1850 the earth woul,
be one of the outskirts of heaven.
ask you again: What is your on
talent?
Is it q cheerful look? Carry tina
look wherever you go. 1t must com
from a cheerful heart. It is not tina
inane smile which we sometimes Sc
which is an irritation. In othe
words. it must be light within us s.
bright that it illumines eye, cheek
nostril and mouth. Let ten men VIII
are accustomed to walking certain
street every day resolve upon
cheerful countenance as a result o
cheerful heart, and the influence o
such a facial irradiation would b
felt not only in that street, bu
throughout the town. Cheerfulnes
is catching. But cheerful look
exceptional. Examine the first
faces that you meet going throug
Pennsylvania avenue or Chestnu
street or Broadway or State stree
or La Sale street or Euclid avenue
and 10 out of the 20 faces have eithe
an anxious look or a severe look or
depressing look or an avaricious loo
or a sneering look or a vacant lool
Here is missionary work for thos
who have trouble. Arm yourself wit
Gospel comfort. Let the God VIII
comfcrted Mary and Martha at tn
| loss of their brother. the God VIII