Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-10-11

October, 1882. when he was forfy-one
years OF age and returning from his ar
tistic studies In Europe. he entered In
to conversation one day with a fellow
passenger on board the packet ship
Sully. This conversation. which was
about the properties Of the electro mag
net, led Samuel y. B. Morse then and
there to cOnsecrate the rest Of his life
to the establishment Of electric COM
municntlon between the distant parts
of the world. So the opportunities for
Christian usefulness may come In I'M
expected ways and at unexpected
times.
Unexpected Opportunities.
Great opportunities for Christian use
fulness may come 10 you In an unex-
pected way. as they came to q Chris
tian lady who was one day riding
along the streets Of Richmond. There
In the gutter lay young man stupidly
drunk. She stopped her carriage and
bads her coachman lift him in. She
took that young man to her home. She
cared for him and started him out
again in life By her Christian exam
pie OF love she started him forth IN his
great career. until William Wirt's
name became that Of one OF the fore
most Americans OF his day. They may
come to you In an unexpected way. as
they came to Stephen Merritt during
business hours. when, by the grace Of
God. he was instrumental In starting
John G. Woolley out on his career Of
| reform. They may come to you as
they are daily coming. In unexpected
ways, to thousands Of lawyers and
merchants and ministers and doctors
and wives and mothers and servants
and clerks. Therefore, as our oppor-
tunities for doing Christian service are
coming In so many different and un-
expected ways, we should always be
on the lookout for them. We should
always be ready to grasp them and to
turn them to account at any cost, even
Of life itself.
Great opportunities always love COM
pany and rarely travel alone. They
are apt to DE gregarious In their hab-
| its. Like troubles, they swim in
schools. They travel In herds They
fly In hocks. Like the leader Of flock
Of sheep. each great opportunity seems
to be the bellwether OF a whole flock
Of other opportunities. Like the key
log in a river jam, 1t seems to be the
precursor and sets free a whole river
full Of other opportunities.
John J. Ingalls, tried TO convey the
idea that II we would only seize the
one great opportunity Of our life that
opportunity would lead US on from
power to power and from success to
success. He tried to teach this lesson
in bis poem called Opportunity" Let
me read to you from its magnificent
passages:
Master of human destinies am II
Fame. love and fortune on my footsteps
wait;
Cities and fields walk! penetrate
Deserts and seas remote. and. passing by
Hovel and mart and palace. soon or late
l knock unbldden once at every gate!
II sleeping wake !. II feasilng. rise before
/ turn away 1t Is the hour Of fate.
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortais desire and conquer rv~ry foe
Save death. but those who douaI or hesi-
tate,
Condemned TO failure. penury aud woe.
Seek me in vain and useessly imnlorc.
| answer not. and | return no more!
AS John ]. Ingalls, taught that the
great opportunities 0f temporal sur
cess are the central magnets about
which other great opportunities are
apt to reyolve, so every great spiritual
opportunity, II rightly improved. will
be the forerunner OF others God. from
one opportunity OF Christian useful
ness. rightly served. will lead you Oh
to another. to another and another.
even as our martyr President William
Mckinley year by year was steadily
promoted for his public services until |
at last he received the highest honor |
his countrymen could confer upon him
and won worldwide sympathy by the |
tragic close OF life laid down IN the |
service of the American people whom
he loved and 80 faithfully served
The Warning of Paul.
But there is negative side OF warn
ing In my text aS we'll as positive
side OF exhOrtatlOn John J. ingalls, |
in his wonderful poem teaches the |
same two lessons In Il temporal sense |
that Paul incucates In n spiritual |
sense. The negative warning which is
implied In my text goes practically |
like this: "As we therefore have op-
portunity do good unto all men, for II |
you do not a neglected opportunity Is
an III used opportunity. And an op-
portunity for doing good once gone 10
gone forever" My father used to love
to picture lost opportunities as . flock
Of last years migrating birds. which
when gone cannot be brought back. l
remember we'll how he once stood In |
the Brooklyn tabernacle crying with q 1
loud voice to the lost opportunities
these words: "Come back. o ye past
opportunities! Come back! Come
back" Then in an almost inaudible
whisper he said: II hear no nutter Of
any nihSo. iOoA ~ WIZ hoo hOt
carried far enough-yea, fear these
lost opportunities for doing good will
never, never come back" The old Ro-
mans used to believe that Opportunity
was messenger who had lock Of hair
growing upon her forehead and that
the rest Of her head was bald. They
also believed she had wings upon her
feet and that she could ny swifter than
the winds. They believed that II Op-
portunity was not grasped by the fore
head she could not be caught again.
because her wings could outspeed even
the flight of meteor The Latin SYM
bel is good one. II Is better than
that Of the 1ight OF migrating birds.
Sometimes the migrating birds Of last
year do return and nest again In the
old orchards where they once raised
their young. but great opportunities
for doing good to others once gone are