Milford chronicle., 1902-10-10

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 &. 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 TN
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 be gregariOus in their hab-
its Like troubles. they swim in
schools. They travel in herds. They
fy In fiooks 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. it 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 his 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
Cities and fields / walk! / penetrate
( Deserts and seas remote. and. passing by
1 Hovel and mart and palace. soon or late
( ! knock unbidden once at every gate!
/ II sleeping wake; II feasting. rise before
I ] turn away. 1t Is the hour OF fate,
| And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire and conquer every foe
Save death. but those who doubt or hesi-
tate.
Condemned to failure. penury and woe,
Seek me In vain and uselessly tmplore'
] answer not. and ! return no moFel
AS John J. Ingalls, taught that the
great opportunities of temporal sue
cess are the central magnets about
which other great opportunities are
apt to revolve, so every great spiritual
opportunity. II rightly improved, will
be the forerunneF of others. God. from
one opportunity Of Christian useful
ness. rightly served, will lead you on
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 hOnOI
his countrymen could confer upon hin
and won worldwide sympathy by the
tragic close Of q life laid down in the
service Of the American people WHOM
he loved and so faithfully served.
The Warning Of Paul.
But there Is q negative side OF warn
ing in my text as well as positive
side of exhOrtatiOn. John J. lngalli
in his wonderful poem teaches til,
same two lessons in a temporal sens
that Paul inculcates in a spiritua
sense. The negative warning which i
implied In my text goes Practical,
: like this: las we therefore have on
pOrtunity do good unto all men. for
sou do not neglected opportunity
an III used opportunity. And an OF
, portunity for doing good once gone
, gone forever" Ny father used to 10y
! to picture lost opportunities MS a foe
, of hast years migrating birds. Whip
, when gone cannot be brought back.
! remember well how he once stood /
the Brooklyn tabernacle crying with
I loud voice to the lost oppOrtunitiC
these words: Come back. 0 ye pats
+ opportunities! Come back! COul
!, back" Then in an almost iRaHq!BI
s whisper he said: ~ hear no futter {
J. any wings. ! fear my voice has ne
/ carried far eROugh-yea, fear thes
,. lost opportunities for doing good wi
}. never, never come back" The old RI
J; mans used TO believe that OppOrtunit
?. was u messenger who had lock Of Ia
a growing upon her forehead and thu
= the rest Of her head was bald. The
: also believed she had wings upon h
y feet and that she could fly swifter tina
Il the winds. they believed that If o
II portunity was not grusped by the for
le head she could not be caught Ngai
Is because her wings could outspeed eve
n the Digit Of a meteor. The Latin syI
,e Dol Is q good one. 1t Is better thu
re that Of the flight Of migrating bird
~ Sometimes the migrating birds OF Ia
year do return and nest again in t
3 old orchards where they once rails
d their young, but great OppOrtuniti
H. for doing good to others once gone a
" gone forever. Others may come, b
~ never those that are past; never, new
W peyer
~ MomentOus Is the fact that the Of
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