Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-11-15
just above Niagara and try to row up

stream.
A physician tells his patient that he
must quit the use Of tobacco, as it is
destroying. his health. The man re-
plies. ''I 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
column of figures; he cannot sleep
nights. It seems as if the world had
turned upside down. He feels his bust
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 fret
full restlessness, and he has become
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
I please. The doctor does not under
stand my case. I am going back to my
old habits" And he returns. Every
thing assumes it's usual composure.
His business seems to brighten. The
world becomes an attractive place to
live in. His children, seeing the diff
ference, hail the return of their IA
TIERS genial disposition. What wave
of color has dashed blue into the sky,
and greenness into the mountain foli
age, and the glow of sapphire into the
sunset? What enchantment has lift
ed 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 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
gernauts.
Suppose 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 cinches his fist
! in determination to keep to his pur-
pose. He dare not look at the bottles
in the window of wine store. It is
| one long, bitter, exhaustive, hand-to-
hand fight with inf1amed, 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 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
i onH h1on1thiyctx1 of a
death leap.
to return from evil practices society
repulses him. The prodigal, wishing
to return, tries to take some profess
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 of
giving him a firm grip of the hand
offers him the tip end of the longer
fingers of the left hand, which is
equal to striking man in the face.
Oh, how few Christian people under
stand how much gospel there is in a
good, honest handshaking! Some
times when you have felt the need
of encouragement and some Chris
tan man has taken you heartily by
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 into
good society, enters a prayer meet
ing. Some good man without much
sense greets him by saying: "Why,
are you here? You are about the
last person that I expected to see in
a prayer meeting. Well, the dying
thief was saved, and there is hope
for you" You do not know anything
about this unless you have learned
that when man tries to return
from evil courses of conduct he runs
against repulsions innumerable.
/ 1 think, also, that men are often
hindered from returning by the fact
that churches are anxious about
their membership, too anxious about
their denomination, and they rush
out when they see a man about to
give up sin and return to God and
ask him how he is going to be bap-
tized-whether by sprinkling or i'm
mersion-and what kind Of a church
he is going to join. It is poor time
to talk about Presbyterian catechism
and Episcopal iturgies and Metho-
dist love feasts and Baptist INNER
sions when a man is about to come
out of the darkness of sin into the
glorious light of the Gospel.
Why, it reminds me Of a man
drowning in the sea, and lifeboat
puts out for him, and the man in the
boat says to the man in the water:
"Now, if get you ashore, are you
going to live in my street?" First
get him ashore, and then talk to him
about the nonessentials of religion
Who cares what church he joins il
he only joins Christ and starts for