The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-01-23
Jekyl and Hyde in the hearts of

Jekyl and Hyde in the hearts of
most men.
Herein is found the answer to the
question, why is sin so UNIVERSAL"
Most men desire the worlds good will,
to this end they strive for it's adula-
ton by an outward show of virtue,
and concealment of the repulsive
from the public view. But this only
weakens the better nature. and per-
verts the attraction of their good min
istering spirits, that would otherwise
constantly help and guide. So | re
peat, our lives must be tremendously
good, if we would be upbuilding in our
inspirations. Evil guides, evil minis
trations, and evil leading can find no
resting place within W. If we think
less of the worlds opinions, and strive
to attain a high standard of personal
purity of life and purpose; then and
not until then will our lives shine like
the stars of the armament, and men
Will be known to us. Creeds never
saved men nor never will, What man
is, not what he processes to be, must
ever be the standard of his measur-
ments.
Christ's central thought was "The
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
of man." This is enough for us as
well, if we live within the halo" of
this living Spiritual reflex, our lives
will cease to be Influenced by wrong
and error, the Mr.. Hyde will be cast
out and the good remain. My friends
assume it is the sincere and earnest
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our felIowmen, for the good they will
receive, not for any glorification to
ourselves. What would be our mode
of warfare, what weapon shall we use,
what means shall we adopt to win men
to us? / have said before we must be
above reproach in our private lives this
is the first prerequisite, without this
we are as sounding brass. All great
reforms have had their false teachers.
Our beloved philosophy is no exeep-
ton to this rule. Spiritualism has had
its Judases and its Peters; without
the genuine coin none would attempt
to counterfeit. The past fifty years
has fairly wreaked with fraudulent
mediums and alleged manifestations of
phenomena that were as foreign to
truth as light is to darkness. Since
our beautiful philosophy rests on
truth, we should be unanimous in ex-
posing fraud either in the work or
worker, whenever and wherever found.
The bitterness and vindictiveness
which has followed us for fifty years
is in keeping with the warfare that
evil has waged against good since the
world began. We have been slandered
and maligned beyond comparison.
Wonder not then many soul has
grown faint and fallen by the wayside.
Wonder not that persecution has been
met by the same unholy spirit, and
our cause has suffered thereby. But
with the passing of the years we have
grown in the knowledge of the truth;
we have learned that love, not hate,
rules the hearts of men. We have
learned that patience, reason forbear-
ance and charity are our true wea-
pons. An intelligent, we'll directed af-
lection of these virtues upon the
hearts and consciences of men will in
due season make a new era in the pro-
gress towards the harbor of Eternal
Right. cannot, my brethren, empha-
size too strongly my adherence of all
semblance of hatred, i'll will or malice
towards those not of our faith. Ex-
perience teaches us that men are won
and held by loves silken ,urd. We
may overcome an opponent by sheer
force, but he remains uneonuuered and
bides his time, when he hopes to place
his foot upon our neck. Jesus, our
great prototype, won by his love and
logic, his Spirit teachings and his
matchless love of man. Do we need a
greater model, a higher and more
Spiritual example? Look into the life
and conduct of this great Medium as
critically as we may, we discover only
love for man and charity for his
faults. He had no creed-nor should
we. He belonged to no church, nor
need we, but there was ever about and
within Him an halo of expressionable
grace, tenderness and love. He lived
in a perpetual baptism of Spiritual
life and development; His inspiration
was from Ark-angels and Seraphims
who bore Him, even higher and high
er, into the infinite realms of goodness
and truth.
When l began this paper I little
thought to worry you so long, my apol
ogy is that my heart is full, / cannot
close even now, without referring
briefly to a feature of our work. thai
| trust you will not consider out o.
place. AS Spiritualists. we feel deeI
interest in the physical, as we'll as tn,
moral and religious conditions of oul
fellowmen, to the end we have wei
coined as benefactors of the race an,
and all who by whatever means hon
estly strive to relieve suffering human
4 IL I. n
found, whether he works by the mean
of modern medicine, by magnetism
by the laying on of hands, by tn
methods of the Christian Science. o.
lby Suggestion or Absent treatment