Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-02-02

awful ripping and rending and tearing
Of fishing nets. Indeed all over Chris
tendon at this time there Is great
war going on between fishermen, min
listers against ministers.
Now, | have noticed n man cannot
fish and fight at the same time. lie
either neglects his net or his musket.
1t is amazing how much time some of
the fishermen have to look after other
/ fishermen. 1t Is more than | can do to
take care Of my own net. You see the
wind Is just right and it is such good
time for fishing, and the fish are coming
! In so rapidly that l have to keep my
| eye and hand busy. There are about
200,000,000 souls wanting to get into
/ the kingdom of God, and 1t will
! require all the nets and all the fisher
men OF Christendom to safely land
them. Oh, brethren of the ministry, let
US spend our time In fishing instead
Of fighting. But IL l angrily jerk my
net across your net, and you jerk your
I net angrily across mine. we will soon
/ have two broken nets and no fish. The
French revolution nearly destroyed the
French fisheries, and ecclesiastical war
is the worst thing possible while haul
ing souls into the kingdom. My friends,
| I notice in the text that James, the son
! of Zebedee, and John, his brother, were
busy not mending somebody else's nets.
but mending their own nets and
rather think that we who are engaged
in Christian work in this opening cen
/, tury will require all our spare time to
mend our own nets. God help us in
the important duty!
Need of Common Sense.
In this work Of repair we need to put
/ into the nets more threads Of common
sense. When we can present religion
as great practically, we will catch n
hundred souls where now we catch
one. Present religion as an intellectu
ality, and we will fail Out in the fish
cries there are set across the waters
what are called gill nets, and the fish
put their heads through the meshes and
then cannot withdraw them, because
/ they are caught by the gills. But gill
nets cannot be of any service In reli-
gIous work. Men are never caught for
the truth by their heads; 1t is by the
heart or not at all. No argument ever
saved a man. and no keen analysis ever
| brought n man into the kingdom Of
God. Heart work, not head work.
Away with your gill netsl Sympathy.
heIpfulness. consolation, love, are the
names of some of the threads that we
need to weave in our gospel nets when
we are mending them.
Do you know that the worlds heart
is bursting with trouble, and II you
could make that world believe that the
religion of Jesus Christ is a soothing
omnipotence the whole world would
surrender tomorrow-yea, would sur
render this hour. The day before
James a. Garfield was inaugurated as
president was in the cars going from
Richmond to Washington. A gentle
nan seated near to me In the cars
new me, and we were soon In famil-
: or css-cfsatsor II was just after
| bereavement and | was speaking to
him from an overburdened heart about
the sorrow was suffering. Looking at
his cheerful face, said: 81 guess you
have escaped all trouble. | should
fudge from your countenance that you
have come through free from all mis-
fortune" Then be looked at me with
a look I shall never forget and whis-
pered in my ear: "Sir, you know moth
ing about trouble. My wife has been
in an insane asylum for ID years. And
then he turned and looked out Of the
window and into the night with a ST.
lence was too overpowered to break.
That was another illustration Of the
fact that no one escapes trouble. Why'
that man seated next to you In church
has on his soul a weight compared with
which a mountain is a feather. mat
woman seated next to you IN cnurcn
has q grief the recital Of which would
make your body, mind and soul shuu-
der.
The siIken Thread.
When you are mending your net Tor
this wide. deep sea Of humanity, take
ont that wire thread Of criticism ana
that horsehair thread Of harshness ana
mt in q soft silken thread of Christian
svmpathy. Yea, when you are mend
ing your nets tear out those oiu
threads Of gruffness and weave In a
few threads Of politeness and geniai-
itv In the house of God let all Chris
tlan faces beam with look that means
welcome. Say "Good morning" to the
stranger as he enters your pew, and at
the close shake hands with him and
saw. "How did you like the muslcE Z
WHY. You would be to that man a
nanel of the door Of heaven: you would
be to him a note Of the doXology that
seraphs sing when a new soul enters
heaven. have In other days entered
n new in church and the woman at the
other end of the pew looked at me as
much as to say: "How dare you! ms
is my pew and pay the rent for it,
! Well. crouched in the other corner
and made myself as small as possible
and felt as though l had been stealing
something. SO there are people who
have sharp edge to their religion aud
they act az though they thought most
people had been elected to be damned
and they were glad Of it. Ch, let US
brighten up our manner and appear in
gentlemanliness or ladyhood.
The object in fly fishing is to throv
the fly far out, and then let 1t dro'
gently down and keep it gently risin;
and falling with the waters, and no.
plunge it like a man-of-war's anchor
and abruptness and harshness OF man
ner must be avoided in our attempt at
usefulness. l know a man In New
York who Is more sunshiny and genial
when he has dyspepsia than when be
is not suffering from that depressing
trouble. l have found out his secret
| Whom he starts out in the morning