The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-05-30

life the members of the household are lV-
ms at o. pace that is terrific, and al this
ia killing the business man, the society
woman, the parents and the children, and
instead OF possessing Joy aud peace we are
under the juniper tree The thirst for
pleasure IN these days b 30 great that we
have become absolutely interruptions in our
attempts TO gain The objects of our de-
sires. We ought 10 be satisfied with just
what we are aud IN the most natural way.
We have come into the world with differ
ent gifts, some one with gold, others with
silver, still others with marble and many
with only clay, and our task is TO fashion
those things into the strongest manhood
and the truest womanhood. and TO do IL
IN the most simple and unaffected man
ner We are too selfish in our living, we
long TO satisfy our appettes, our passions
and our desires. This longing has become
uppermost in our living, and the man who
makes IL so makes his appetite stronger
than himself, and his need is dreadful, for
he who lives simply TO eat, TO drink, to
lleep and TO dress, whether he be pauper
or prince, is on the downward grade to de-
spair.
Contentment is one of the greatest
blessings in the world 1t is not a question
Of the possession of either poverty or
riches. He who knows how TO be content
possesses the secret, not because he is
either poor or rich, but simply because he
knows how to be content The mere fact
that we are Christians does not amount
to much in many cases; II our religion in
ereases our confidence, cur hope, our love,
it is good, but If it gives us the spirit than
we are better than other people, If we seek
to control the interests of other people.
make them fashion their lives according
To q .fa
that we may escape punishment, such A
profession of religion is almost worthless
The difficulty is not IN our surroundings but
in ourselves. JOY Is not in things, it is
in us"
met young woman this winter in the
South who told me that she was the DOS
SCISSOR of a 1000 violin, and with a shin
ing face she said, "You should heef the
music of that instrument" and yet in the
hands of very many people it would have
been just producer of unharmonious
sounds, while in the hands of this gifted
young woman it was truly marvellous and
all because the music was in her and the
violin was the best movement Of the ex-
preston of that music.
When Ole Bull, the great violinist, played
| in Princeton, one of the professors asked
him if the secret of his success was in the
/ violin or in the bow or in himself. and he
/ said, "The violin and the bow amount to
but little. | never play until ! feel that
! there is music in me that must be eX-
| pressed, and then any instrument touch
! becomes remarkable" Many of us are I'M
/ fitted for life because we have become too
artificial. have had wrong ideals and have
/ tried to be what we never can be.
A friend recently sent me that wonder
/ ful little book, "rhe Simple Life" by
/ Charles Wagner, which every one would
/ do we'll to read To the author of this
book l am indebted for some of the ex-
pressions used above, but in one Of the
chapters he tells US in speaking of the
home life, "In the time Of the Second En-.
pire, in one of our pleasantest sub-prefec-
lures Of the provinces. a little way from
some baths frequented by the Emperor
there was a mayor, very worthy man
and intelligent, too, whose head was sud.
denly turned by the thought that his SOW
ereign might one day descend upon bis
home. Up to this time he had lived in
the house of his fathers, son respectful
of the slightest family traditions But
when once the all-absorbing idea of recev
ing the Emperor had taken possession Of
his brain he became another man. In this
new light what had before seemed sufi
cient for his needs, even enjoyable, all this
simplicity that his ancestors had loved, ap
peared poor, ugly, ridiculous. Out of The
question to ask an Emperor to climb thi:
wooden staircase, sit in these old arm
chairs, walk over such superanuated car
pets. So the mayor called architect anC
masons, pickaxes attacked walls and de
molished partitions, and a drawing-roou
was made out Of all proportion Il
the rest of the house in size and splen
dor. He and his family retired into clos
ono ~ rvho
commoded each other generally. Then
having emptied his purse and upset hi
household by this stroke of genius, h
awaited the royal guest. Alas, he sool
saw the end of the empire arrive. but tn
Emperor never The folly of this poo
man is not so rare. As scottish as he ar
all those who sacrifice their home life Il
the demands of the world"
III.
What was the difficulty with Elijah
First his physical strength had been over
taxed. He had been aboring under tn
highest tension, his nerves were unstrunq
and he was just in the position wher
Satan could tempt him the worst. Their
are many like him to-day They are i.
despair, and they need not so much spin
itual physician as the presence of a docto
who can tell them that their bodies mus
have rest, their nerves must be built W
and they themselves must remember tina
their bodies are the temples of the Hol
Ghost, and that they may sin against Co
just as truly when they break command
touching the body as when they commi
sins touching the scul. Elijah needed rest
and instead of taking it he prayed that h
might die.
Second, he looked away from Cod to hi
circumstances. Up to that time he en-
dured as seeing Him who was invisible
then like Peter when he saw the wind tina
was boisterous he BEGAN to sink. I do no
think that any minister could preach t.
day if he realized the lniquity that SUI
rounded him, the hypocrisy in man
hearts, the awful sins in many lives; h