The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-18
To Serve God.

And thou, Solomon my sen, know thou
the God of thy father, and serve Him
with a perfect heart and with willing
mind.I Chronicles xxviii:9.
How differently we look on life at diff
ferent perlodsi We really live three or
four kinds CT life between the cradle and
the grave.
In early youth, for example, the days
go with leaden feet. From the half holi-
day in the n4uole of the week to the 9TH
er half holiday at its end seems to be
small section of eternity. The hours of
boyhood are longer than the months of
manhood. In later years, on the other
hand, when the coins in the treasury of
time have grown to be small in number,
we rush by the weeks IS We rush by me
telegraph poles when on an express
train
But what an exquisite season our youth
is! The boy opens his eyes on a beauti-
full world. and every passing moment is
special delight. He is in harmony
with the universe and joins IN the Choir
us the morning stars sing together.
He may not appreciate Tie situation,
but he is charmed by it. He wants to
live forever. and the thought of death
chills, possibly terrifies him. In the full
and magnificent flow of physical yitaAty
he dreams great dreams, builds castles
make definite plan, and is happier tnan
any language can express. 1t Is ordained
that we shall begin our long career IN
that way.
When manhood comes stealing on with
slippered feet the dreams fade away and
We stand face to face with grave and
stern realities. We need muscle of body
and muscle Of mind to do our work. Dis
appointments check our hoped for prog
! o11 Ca 49, t.
| cerned we feel sure of very little. The
optimism of earlier days gives way, and
the tendency both spiritual and mental,
| is in the direction of mild kind Of
pessimism. which is as harmful as a
drop of poisonous acid in glass of pure
spring water. We are all OF us conscious
of this, and we all of US yield to 1t in
some degree unless we know of a. well
from which we can draw water without
the accompanying drop Of poison.
I venture the assertion that it Is inn
possible for any man to go through itre
keeping cheerful temper and a trusting
heart unless he has that series of uplift-
ing thoughts which it Is the privilege of
our religion to furnish. out with those
thoughts in his firm possession he Is ST.
peror to any possible experience. Life
makes one tired, but religion is like the
sweet sleep from winch he rises refresh
ed Life makes one hungry, but religion
is like the food which nourishes the worn
tissues. Lie is q stormy season, but re-
ligion Is the sun that breaks through
the clouds and focus the landscape with
longed for light and heat.
1t would be folly to deny that from
morning to evening we lave lard days
work. 1t Is not easy to live comfortably
or serenely; 1t is impossible to do so
without religion of some kind. Your
very health depends largely on your state
of mind, and when your mind has soar
ed to that realm in which your God
dwells, not only {. your bouy respond,
but your whole outlook undergoes
change. # you look up and see nothing
but darkness, the shadow of that dark
ness englooms your days: but IL your
upward gaze discovers God and immor-
tally. your pathway becomes light, even
though 1t be rugged and difficult If
there is nothing ahead OF you, If graves
are simply graves and nothing more, If
broken ties will remain forever broken,
your mental attitude produces depres-
sion which Is close to despair. But if,
on the contrary. YOU are convinced that
the universe has Master, and that your
road to better world lies through strug-
giles as well as joys. through tears as
well as smiles, and II by faith you can
look forward to rest, to higher activi-
ties, to reunion, there comes into the
soul something. a dynamic energy,
cheering force which makes despair i'm
possible and changes dependency to
hope.
That kind of religion is what the boy
needs when passing through the forma-
tive period, when he Is laying the foun-
dations of a character. It does not in
terfere with his joyousness; 1t Is not
cloud in his sky, but an additional source
of physical happiness.
1t Is what the man needs when he Is in
the midst of affairs and when the pessi-
mistfc forces are at work. 1t illumines
his ideal, as white statue is illumined
by calcium light, and teaches him
that loyalty to eternal things is better
than the gainful success whoa he must
leave behind him.
1t Is what old age needs when 1t faces
the inevitable, for 1t opens the door of
the future and discioses such radiant
Iacts that death Is only a sweet sleep
from which the soul rises to cross the
threshold OF eternal life. RELIGION crowns
all periods of life with nope and joy.-
aid
FORTUNE LOST AT HEARTS.