Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-08-06
MELODY IN THE HEART.


/ painting, the e0l0rS all Aarm0Dz,ns ole
with the other, is music on canvas. 4
| grand cathedral, every part harmonizing
with every other part is music in stone
A garden of flowers. filling the ali with
/ sweet od0rs that please. is music in per
| fume. Words written or spoken, that
thrill oar souls, harlnonizing with con
| science aad truth, is music in though.
| and sometimes the emotions of the soul
| too deep for utterance. make music that
we cannot express, it is too delicate to
| label and too sweet to describe. First OF
| all, faith is music, in that it is harmony
| with facts. Christianity is a religion Of
| facts. We look above US and we see
| facts expressed in star and planet; We
| look about us and see the facts of nature
! expressed in flower and tree and land
| scape, aud from these facts we infer an
! other fact behind them all, and when we
! open the Book we see that fact revealed
| the fact of living and loving God, friend
! and helper of his people. We accept the
| fact of mans sin that debases. pollutes,
| condemns we proclaim the fact of mans
redemption. Jesus Christ born a babe
into the world, growing into manhood,
| suffering on the cross. rising from the
/
| in these facts is to make melody in our
hearts unto the Lord; to disbelieSc them
| is to make discord.
| Again-hope is music in that il is har-
mony with the faithfulness of God. God
| has made some promises and | base my
| hope upon these promises. | believe that
| they will be fulfilled, because l have
trusted him in the past, and he has never
disappointed me. Despair is discord. To
refuse to hope when God promises is TO
make grating discord in his ear.
Obedience is music, in that it is har-
mony with the authority Of God. Dis
obedience is discord. A revolt against
authority may be treason; a revolt
against law is crime. Anarchy is the
| discord of refusing to be ruled by law
and a revolt against love is sin. The
son. obeys the father, not so much be-
cause he must, or because he ought, as be-
cause he wants to. He is not thinking
of fathers power to compel obedience,
but of the happy privilege of obedience.
He just wants to obey him because he
loves him. Is that your attitude toward
| God?
Righteousness is music, in that it is
harmony with holiness and truth. Right
relation is music; wrong relation is dis
cord. No truth ever makes diseord with
another truth. You sometimes see ten
or fifteen instruments in one orchestra,
each one different. and yet each one in
perfect harmony with all the rest. And
so it is with scientific truth, moral truth,
historic truth, religious truth, spiritual
truth. Truth harmonizes with every
truth in the universe. 1t is one great
orchestra of music that sends up its mel
ody into the heart of God.
Sympathy is music, in that it is har-
mony with the attitude OF God toward
people and conditions about us. God en-
tiers into the condition of every soul on
this ear What we need to do is to
get the altitude of God toward all peo-
pie. we know that his attitude toward
sin is one Of unrelenting hostility, that
his attitude toward all kinds of unclean-
ness is one of opposition. When we come
into Gods attitude toward all men, we
make melody in our hearts unto him.
Humility is music, in that it is harmony
with the greatness OF God. The lowest
note may harmonic with the highest and
discord may result when the low note
lDWdEU
the high note when / consider the
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the
moon, and the stars which thou hast or
dained. what is man that thou art mind
full of him.? 1t is not fitting that IAN
atom of this atom world should be in
hated with his own self-importance,
Conceit often parades as self-respect and
glories in its shame Coleridge tells of
man who never mentioned his own
name withou taking off his hat Real
greatness and true humility are Siamese
twins; they are united by a living liga-
ment>of grace. A man of large acquaint-
ance with celebrities told me the other
day that the greatest men he knew were
most unconscious of greatness. They
know their limitations and are humbled
as they see themselves in contrast with
what they desire to be. Only little men
must increase their size by initiation.
Those who put on airs do so to hide their
nakedness. but they only make them
selves ridiculous, for people can see
through airs. however thick. As one rises
in real worth of character. he sinks in
the scale of self-eoneeit. As we rise to-
ward heaven, self be ONES smaller until.
by and by, when we reach the height of
heavenly character, self will not amount
TO much. When such a climax of char
acter has been reached the discord of
pride will be gone and the harmony of
humility, which makes music unto the
Lord. will fill the soul
Joy is music, in that it is harmony
with the will and pleasure of God What
ever is against Gods Will is dscord. and.
when there is discord in the soul, there
can be. no joy. Sin, therefore. destroys
JOY. There may be fun at the expense
of purity, amusement at the expense of
good morals. and pleasure at the expense
of conservation: but such fun, amusement
and pleasure Danish joy from the soul,
and no SINE man can afford to sacrifice
joy which is q foretaste of heaven for
fun, amusement or pleasure which is only
tie muddy frcth and foam of earth
While we keep right with God there il
JOY In the soul which makes melody unto
the Lord, but when sin puts US out Of
right relation with God the sOul is filed
with grating discord and no laughter pro-
duced by fun, amusement. or pleasure
can prevent il from rasping the conscience
ana giving pain. Let us guard our souls
a. the master musician guards his instru-
inefr, that he may keep it in perfect tune.
Il We would be filed with joy. and the
pleasure Of God is the keynote with
which every faculty Of the soul must
harmonic, If We would make melody
unto the Lord When all that pleases
him pieases US we have reached heaven
on earth,
Gratitude is music. in that it is har-
. "a