The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-03-14
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE DY The NOTED
DIVINE.
subject; The Art OF ofForgettinG-uow 10 Do
Harpy-Canceiing Your Debts-AIlow
Others to Forget-Come Into Mercy
nnd Pardon.

! WA1HrGToy, D. C.-Fsom the letter
to thc Hebrews Dr.. Ta.mace takes text
aad illustrates how all oiitnders may be
emancip1teI; text, Hebrews vii, 4,
Their Sins AID their lniqultles VIII / re-
| member no more
Tia? national flower Of the Egyptians Is
the heilotrJpe, OF the Arsyrians i5 the
water ny Of the Iindcos - the marisoid,
OF tlc ChinCse ls the chrysanthemum. We
! have ~ national flower, but there ls
hardly any flower more suggestive to
many o! US than the fOrgCtmeuOt. We all
/ like % be remembered, and ono Ci our mi
fortune IS that there are - many things
VIC cannot remember. MnemOlics, or the
/ art OF assisting memory, Is an important
/ art H. was first suggested by Slm9niGc5,
| OF CeOs, 500 years before Christ. Pcroons
/ who had but little power % recall events
! or put facts and names and dates IN proper
! professions have through this art had their
/ memory rc-enforced 20 an a'mos. lnCrcd,-
| bic extent. a good memory Is an lnvllua-
! bic possession. By all means cultivate IL.
j had an aged friend who, detained al!
night at a miserable depot in waiting Tor
ran train fast in the suOWbank', enter
tancl q group Of some ten or fifteen cler-
cymen, likewise detained on their way
home from a meeting OF presbytcry, by
hrst. with piece Of chalk drawing out ON
the black and sOoty walls Of the depot the
characters OF Walter Scott5 "Marmio on"
and then recting from memory the whole
OF that DOcm OF some eighty pages in fine
int Ny old friend, through great age,
A't his memory, and whoa I asked him If
tbs story of The railroad depot was true
"a said Il do not remember now, but it
" just like me. Let me see ead he to
l1, Have | ever seen YOU before"
"Ies," / said; you were my guest last
night and ! was with YOU an hour ago"
What an awful contrast IN that man be-
tween the greatest memory | ever knew
and no memory at all,
But right along with this art Of recol-
lection, which | cannot too highly eulogize,
u one quite as important, and yet ! never
heard IL applauded. | mean the art OF for
getting There is a splendid faculty in
that direction that we all need 10 cuitl-
vatc. We might through that process be
ten times happier and more useful than
we now are. We have been tod that for
set 'ulacss Is a weakness and ought TO be
avoided by all possible means. So far
from a weakness, my text ascribes it to
God. IL Is the very top OF Omnipotence
that God is able TO oblterate part of His
own memory. Ii we repenc OF sin and
rightly seek the divine forgiveness, the
record OF the mlsbchavior Is not only
crossed off the books, but God actually
lets IL pass out OF memory. Their sins
and their iniquities will / remember no
Is
aad you cannot make anything else out OF
It. Gods power OF forgetting IS so great
that II two men appeal to Him and the
one man, alter a lie all right, gets the
sins of his heart pardoned and the other
man, after a life OF abomInatlon gets par
doacd God remembers no more against
one than the other. The entire past of
both the moraiist, with his impcricctions,
and the proAigate, with his debaucheriea,
is as much oblitcrated in the one case as
In the other. Forgotten forever and for
ever. Their sins and the," inlquitles will
i remember no more
This sublime attribute o: forgetfulness
on the part OF God you and need, in our
finite way, to initiate. You will do vel! to
cast out of your recollection all wrongs
done you During the course Of ones life
he Is sure to be misrepresented, to be lied
about, to be injured. There are those who
keep these things fresh by frequent rehear-
sal. III things have appeared IN print they
keep them IN their scrapbOok, for they cut
these precious paragraphs out OF news
papers or books and at leisure times look
them over, or they have them tied up IN
bundles or thrust in pigconholes, and they
frequently regaie themselves and their
friends by an inspection of these filings,
these SarcaSms, these fllschoods, these cru
elites. | have known gentlemen who car
rled them II their pocketbooks so that
tlcy could easily get at these irritations,
aud they put their right hand in the inside
Of their coat pocket over their heart and
cay: Look here! Let he show you some.
thing" Scientists catch wasps and hor-
nets and poisonous insects and transhx
them IN curiosity bureaus for study, and
that u well, but these OF whom | speak
catch the wasps ana the hornets and pols-
onoua insects and play with them and put
them on themselves and on their friends
L.
jump and show how deep they can sting.
Have no such scrapbook. Keep nothing
IN your possession that is disagreeable.
Tear up tho falschoods and the SANDERS
and the hypcrcrticisms.
Initiate the Lord in my text and forget,
actually forget, sublimely forget. There
Is no happiness for you in any other plan
or procedure. You see all around YOU in
the church and out of the church dispos
tons GCerO, mahgn. cynical, pcssimlstic.
Do You know how these men and women
got that disposition! 1t was by the en-
balmmcnt OF things pantherine and viper
Gus. They have spent much OF their time
IL calling the roll OF all the rats that have
nlbblcd at their reputation. Their soul Is
n cage of vultures. Everything in them is
sour or imbttcred. The mill; OF human
kindness has been curdled They do not
believe IN anybody or anything. II they
see two people whispering they think 1t Is
about themselves. Ii they see two people
laughing, they think Il Is about them
selves. Where there Is one sweet plppln
In their orchard there are fifty crabapples.
They have never been able to forget. They
do not want to forget. They never wil
forget. Their wretchedness Is supreme
for no one can be happy II he carries per
pCtually IN mind the mean things that
have been done him. On the other hand.
you can find here and there a man or
woman (tor there are not many OF them)
whose disposition Is genial and summery.
Why; Have they always been treated
well! Oh, no. Hard things have been said
against them. They have been charged
with olhciodsness, and their gencroslt,es
have been set down 20 a desire tor display,
JeCt of little tattlc, and they have had
enough small assaults like gnats and
enough great attacks like lions TO have
made them pcrpctualiy miserable Ii they
would have consented TO miserable
But they have had enough divine phlo-
sophy TO cast off the annoyances. and they
have kept themselves In the sunlight OF
Gods favor and have realized that these
oppositions and hindrances are part oi
mighty discipline by which they are 20 be
prepared for usefulness and heaven. The
secret OF II all is they have. 10y The help
OF the Eternal God. learned how TO forget.
Another practical thought: When our
faults are rcpentcd of let them 20 out oi
mind. Ii God forgives them. we have a
right TO forget them. Having once rc.
Tcatcd oi our nlehcities and misdemeGr.
crs. there Is no need OF our rcpentlns OF
them again. Suppose | owe YOU a large
sum OF money. and you are persuaded