The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-29

these avenues OF advance the tON6l SdoS-
ture Of that great mass of results thai
we cover with the one word-civiliZa-
4 tion-the opportunity in which a man can
live and think and labor and reap the
results of his toll. How much of all this
did you do? And yet, without it, you
would have been as powerless as though
bereft OF hand and foot, and ear and eye
and tongue. You have inherited these as
the last magnificent result of ages OF
toll and struggle and effort on the part
of man. They are to you an outright
gift from humanity. Everything you
have around you as a possession, every
thing you have as an opportunity every
thing you have within you as capacity
for dealing with the external conditions
of life, has come to you as a gift of all
the past Shall you not then bow your
head before this wonderful race in rever-
ent recognition and devout thankfulneSS
for the free gift of all you have and OF
all you are? l have not the time to deal
with the achievements of the race grand
er than any which l have mentioned
the morality, the religious aspiration and
hope of the world that have been
wrought through so much of fear, of su-
.perstition. of terror, of tears, of heart
ache. OF prayer, of outreaching and on
reaching. What magnificent hopes and
achievements are here! And how much
we owe, not only to the great names that
are like stars in the armament of the
past, but even to the common toilers,
and the common prayers that have con-
tributed to the grand result! Perhaps
we hold it as a little thing-this free and
simple and trustful service of ours this
morning. But if you will reckon up its
cost you will find that no gem IN all the
earth is half so rich and rare; and If you
estimate its significance as it looks out
toward the future, no kingdom of all the
f-rNw
you. Think, then, how much in this di-
rection you have received.
But is this all? Shall we be thankful
simply to man? / want to hint a deep
er truth than this, that underlies 1t all:
Man. the world, the sky over our heads,
whatever we can see or touch or hear
these things are only manifestations OF
something deeper, broader, higher.
Scratch the surface of the world any
infinite, the incomprehensible, the divine.
call it God-not because I am foolish
enough to think that that one word
measures it. l call 1t Father in heaven,
because Jesus has so taught me to say,
and because there Is not one aspect of
the working of this power that does not
seem to me fatherly. o friends; j believe
we are grandly rational when we staIa.l
on our feet as men, when we behold all
we are and all we have, and then, look
ing up and recognizing living love and
power as the source of it all, we bend
our heads in gratitude, saying: II thank
thee, Father!
And now, how shall we express our
The first step in any true
is always a generous, man
Iy recognition of the obligation we are
under. And then the thankful spirit is
one that makes the best of everything,
that seeks even on cloudy days for
streaks of sunshine; and this, you know,
without my telling you, is the one for
happiness. Its possession is worth more
han a fortune, for no fortune ever yet
made the fault-finder happy. We talk
about monopoIes, that all the best things
If the world are getting into the hands
IF the few. This is a mistake. The best
Kings in human life are not monopoHes,
inG never can be. The power to think,
% feel, to love, the power of friendship,
he glory of the sunset, the majesty of
he mountain, the music of the waves OF
;randest things in the world are free,
Is Lowell sings in the opening if his
,oem, Sir LaunfalP':
each ounce of dross costs its ounce OF
gold;
To- a cap and bells our lives we pay,
Bubbles we buy with whole souls task |
ing:
lis heaven alone that is given away, !
It's only God may be had for the ask |
ing; |
20 price is set on the lavish summer:
une may be had by the poorest conner"
All the finest and highest and noblest |
Kings in the world are the property of |
II. Not only is the grateful spirit the |
ecret of happiness-it is also the secret /
f all great achievement. 1t is the glad, |
he hopeful, the aspiring spirits that |
ave done the most and the best things
or the world The Pathfinder grumbfes
yer what is not; the grateful soul turns
that is not into what is.
And then, we can show our gratitude
y trying TO make others happy That is
you say; but so is sun
hine: and the one is as important to hu-
IAN l.fe as the other. We can be tender
nd charitable to those who do not sue
sed in life, remembering that 1t was
OF ourselves that made US TO differ; and
nat therefore there is no just or rational
round for pride or the hateful spirit or
superiority. We can re-
lember that all the best things of life
ave come TO us by inheritance; that we |
old only a life-interest in them; that we
ave no right. even during lift, to DO
it'll them merely as we please; and that
q are under the most sacred obligation
s
uman life and happiness undimmed-
AXE the highest trust of all. Suppose
lere is pain around us. You and l can
alp God lessen this pain. Suppose there
ignorance. You and 1 can help COD
ach. Suppose there is vice. You and
IN help God lift people out OF IT. I
Ippose there is industrial evil ,
GU and can help God solve this prob
m. Suppose there is governmental N
/
cd bring His kingdom among men. eve l
is day to thanks, TO joy, to gratitude ,
the coronation of home life, II you 8
ease: but remember there is that winch
% win esteem even more as an EXPIRES
IN of thaukfulness. Forgive your enc c
les. Settle the differences that have I
.xed the past Tell God. as you go ,
me this morning, that in return TOT
IS great goodness and bounty to you
n will cleanse your heart, and sacrince c
ur enmities: that you viii augment {
mr. charities and forget not the stran-