The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-11-11

lies near US. our general action IL con-
nned to particular sphere. The impor-
tance OF this is at once suggested py
contrasting with the word hand the "9ro
mind
No small per cent Of the things we
find 10 do are found not because these
things force themselves upon us by ac-
tual contract. but because the mind In
It's wsnderings finds them and suggests
them to us. The actual consequence or
this for an individual or
church is TO nnd itself en-
crossed in activities that lie out
side OF It's first and most important
sphere of usefulness. Not that they
are not duties. The Gospel is universal
In its application.
THE NARROW. SPHERE.
The man or the institution that con-
fines it's activities to SO narrow sphere
dies of isola tion The point 10 be con-
sidered is that they are not our first du-
ties and they are not 10 usurp the place
of that first duty.
individuals and institutions are made
and shaped by two agencies, There is
he fact of heredity and
the fact OF environment. The
mind contains the forms OF knowledge
but the actual content OF knowledge con
sists I'm sensations that come TO us from
the outside world.
Medical science has shown that some
OF the most dread diseases are not In
herited. but that the tenoency To the
disease Is handed down from parent TO
child The sane thing is doubtless ,.tdr,, true
virtues or vices. for these a-e terms that
apply 10 conscious individual action. We
do. inherit tendencies toward one or the
other
As TO what we shall be then depends
largely sipon our environment. IL We
have a tendency to good and the social
atmosphere Is impregnated with vice the
good tendency may be swallowed up bv
the bad content and vice versa. There Is
period In our lives, the period of youth
ment of the sense of moral obligation
when the environment I'm which we live
acts upon ms az IL does upon the animal;
we take In and assimilate moral food
just as the babe takes physical nourish-
ment.
OPPORTUNITY AND RBsPoNsIBtL-
Here s the opportunity and the re-
sponsibilty, here is the blessing or the
curse or the home. This is the time
when the parents have plastic clay in
their hands TO mould into noble shape or
disfgure and mar for eternity.
But after a time we learn TO Judge for
ourselves We ask why and TO what
purpose we become moral agents dis
terminating between good and evil, The
small animal merges into the borderiand
Of womanhood and manhood; The ques-
tion then that lies before the youth is
this, it lies also before the institution:
VIII ! yield myself passively 10 my sur
roundings, and be made by them, or Will
! make my own surroundings? In the
answer to this question consists the diff
ference between an animal and man.
between n living institution and fossil
ized nothingness. IL is the difference
forest Of Arizona.
That which distinguishes an animal
from a man is not that one walks on
four feet and the other ON two. II lies
I'm the fact that one ts made utterly by
its environment. the other reacts and
helps In the making OF the environments
in practice some Intelligent animals
would walk erect, and some so-calied
men would move on all
The failure 70 choose between these two
alternatives liz to be lost. II you do not
choose TO mould your surroundings rest
assured they have already chosen TO
mould YOU. The environment of this
London. Calcutta or Hong Kong. It Is
found in this city. IL is for us TO say
whether we shall shirk our responsibility
this place. or whether we shall make this
church n power for the salvation OF all
classes and conditions Of men here and 40
mould the influences about US for. good
What will IL profit II we gain the
whole of heathendom and lose our own
city.
NOT A COLD BLANKET
Do not misunderstood me- 'rhis en-
phasis Is not intended as cold blanket
thrown over foreign mission effort. So
effort In all parts OF the globe for the
furtherance OF the gospel OF Jesus Christ
that | am anxious that the Christian
fervor for that work by doing its first
duty, the duty that lies at Its door by
saving the heather here. whether they
he Jew or Gentle bond or free. Chinese
But. says the preacher. we are not
only 10 do II. but TO do 1t with our might.
We are TO put our whole soul into II:
Might includes physical mental. moral
strength. Here is the opportunity, TO
all the mental capacities that
we possess. The function Of the mind
In Christian activity is less to seek out
what we shall do and more TO put our
minds TO the work which lies at our
hand, waiting TO be done We can In
reality only put our minds and our souls
into those things which we sec and feel
ard that lie at our hand. These far-of
things alone make us idle dreamers.
those nearby things make rs eDthusi-
God means nothing to the rian who
merely conceives OF him as an abstrac-
tion such 81 the pure categorics OF the
trinity or Unitarian philosophy too often
the man who sees him I'm nature and In
human life The man who sees God
tnere ana loves nlm ana enueaNcrs 10
realize HIS life has touched tho essence
OF Christian living. whether he inter-
prets that life undsr Inc form OF trini-
tarianism or unitarianism
RELIGIOUS CANT.
Too often the work of the church today
conceTrs itself with a humanity chat IL
does not see. ana consequently its en-
pressioa OF love for such L. religious
cant. We need to la cor for men with
our might, which means iaboring for
those we can help and love and lor whom
we can pour OUT our souls. It's not
enough TO give our money, we must give
our me. The man wh1 seeks alone 20
save his life by giving money 10 some
Institution that he has read about will
lose IL. But the man who seeks to lose
his life in the litc OF some man who
needs it viii save n.
want this morning to get away from
generalities and strike cOacrete facts
We have seen tnat virtue UOts not con-
Slst In any one particular thing. We have
emphasized the whatsoever. But we
have seen that th1t ~ limited. ia terms
OF our hrst duty, to what Hes az hand
tina, we are commanded TO do this with
one might. and that II Is In these things
that II is easiest 10 put our minds and
souls am going to suggest some
practical THINKS that we can 40 These