The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-11-16
just above Niagara and try to row up

Joob oCO'S II Wy ~ ~
stream.
A physician tells his patient hat he
must quit the use of tobacco, as it is
destroying his health. The mar re-
plies: 81 can stop that habit easy
enough" He quits the use of the weed.
He goes around not knowing what to
do with himself. He cannot add up a
column of figures; he cannot sleep
nights. 1t seems as if the world had
turned upside down. He feels his busi-
ness is going to ruin. Where he was
kind and obliging he is scolding and
fretful. The composure that charac-
terized him has given way to a fret
full restlessness, and he has become a
complete fidget. What power is it
that has rolled a wave of woe over
the earth and shaken a portent in the
heavens? He has quit tobacco. After
awhile he says: 81 am going to do as
l please. The doctor does not under
stand my case. I am going back to my
old habits" And he returns. Every
thing assumes its usual composure.
His business seems to brighten. The
world becomes al attractive place to
live in. His children, seeing the diff
ference, hail the return of their ia
theirs genial disposition. What wave
of color has dashed blue into the sky,
and greepuess into the mountain foil
age, and the glow of sapphire into the
sunset? What enchantment has lift
ed a world Of beauty and joy on his
soul? He has resumed tobacco.
The fact is, we all know in our own
experience that habit is a taskmaster.
As long as we obey it it does not chas-
tise us; but let US resist, and we find
that we are dashed with scorpion whips
and bound with ship cable and thrown
into the track of bone-breaking Jug
g%ernauts.
Suppose a man of five or ten or
twenty years of evildoing resolves to
do right, why are all the forces of dark
ness allied against him? He gets down
on his knees in the midnight and cries:
God help mel" He bites his lip. He
grinds his teeth. He clinches his fist
in a determination to keep to his pur-
pose. He dare not look at the bottles
in the window of a wine store. 1t is
Olt 4OASs blbltls cana SllNC, AdHd-tO-
hand fight with inflamed, tantalizing,
merciless habit. When he thinks he is
entirely free, the old inclination
pounces upon him like a pack of
hounds, all their muzzles tearing away
at the tanks of one poor reindeer.
In Paris there is a sculptured rep
resentation of Bacchus, the god OF
revelry. He is riding on a panther
at full leap. Oh, how suggestive!
Let every one who is speeding on
bad ways understand he is not rid
ing a docile and well-broken steed,
but that he is riding a monster wild
and bloodthirsty and going at a
death leap.
/ have also to say if a man wants
to return from evil practices society
repulses him. The prodigal, wishing
to return, tries to take some profes.
sor of religion by the hand. The
professor of religion looks at him
looks at the faded apparel and the
marks of dissipation, and instead o
giving him a firm grip of the hant
offers him the tip end of the longer
llllStlS VI II ICit manu-, WHICH Il
equal to striking a man in the face
Oh, how few Christian people under
stand how much gospel there is in
good, honest handshaking! Some
times when you have felt the neet
of encouragement and some Chris
tian man has taken you heartily b.
the hand, have you not felt thrilling
through every fiber of your body
mind and soul an encouragement
that was just what you needed?
The prodigal, wishing to get int
good society, enters a prayer meet
!, ing. Some good man without nue.
l sense greets him by saying: "Why
are you here? You are about tn
last person that I expected to see j
a prayer meeting. Well, the dyin
, thief was saved, and there is hop
U for you.' You do not know anythin
4 about this unless you have learne
l. that when a man tries to retur
Il from evil courses of conduct he run
u against repulsions innumerable.
| think, also, that men are ofte
l hindered from returning by the fat
tl1U cHuTtHcS dIt dliAlcuS ~
. their membership, too anxious abol
! their denomination, and they rus
: out when they see a man about
~ give up sin and return to God ar
9 ask him how he is going to be ba.
y tiled whether by sprinkling or il
Il mersion-and what kind of a churC
% he is going to join. 1t is a poor tin
' TO talk about Presbyterian catechis
and Episcopal liturgies and Meth
J. dist love feasts and Baptist imme
81 sions when a man is about to con
" out of the darkness of sin into t.
3 glorious light of the Gospel.
~ Why, it reminds me of a mi
- drowning in the sea, and a lifebo
o. puts out for him, and the man in t
- BOAT says to the man in the waite
- Now, if 1 get you ashore, are y
r going to live in my street," FIJI
- get him ashore, and then talk to h
~ about the nonessentials of religic
Who cares what church he joins
he he only joins Christ and starts I
Heaven? Oh, you, my brother