The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-03-11

ing the roll of all the rats that ha We
nibbled at their reputation. Their soul
is a cage OF vrltCres. Everything In
them is sour or imbittered. The milk
OF human kindness has been curdied.
They do o believe in anybody or any
thing. Ii they see two people whisper
Ing, they think il is about themselves.
III they see two people laughing, they
think Ii Is about themselves. Where
there is one sweet pippin In their or
chard there are fifty crabapples. They
have never been able TO forget. They
do not want to forget. They never will
forget Their Indebtedness is supreme,
for no one can be happy il he carries
perpetually In mind the mean things
that have been done him. On the 9th
er hand. you can find here and there a
man or woman Qor there are not many
OF them whose disposition Is genial
and summary. Why? Have they al-
ways been treated well? Oh. no. Hard
things have been said against them.
They have been charged with oficious-
ness, and their generosities have been
set down TO q desire for display, and
they have many q time been the sub
tect OF title tattle. and they have had
enough small assaults like gnats and
enough great attacks like lions TO have
made them p~erpetually miserable If
they would have consented TO be miser-
able. But they have had enough di-
vine philosophy to cast off the annoy
arces, and they have kept themselves
in the sunlight of Gods favor and have
realized that these oppositions and him
ORANGES are a part Of a mighty disci-
pline by which they are to be prepared
for usefulness and heaven. The secret
Of 1t all is they have. by the help Of the
Eternal God, learned how to forget.
CnnccIinE Your Debts.
Another practical thought: When our
faults are repented Of let them go out
of mind. If God forgets them, we have
a right TO forget them. Having once
repented of our infelicities and misde-
meanOrs. there is no need of our re-
penting of them again. Suppose l owe
you n large sum of money. and you are
persuaded / am incapacitated to pay
and you give me acquittal from that
obligation. You say: Il cancel that
debt. All is right now. Start again"
And the neXt day l come in and say:
You know about that big debt ! owe
you. | have come in to get you to let
me off. | feel so bad about it | cannot
rest. Do let me off" You reply with q
little impatierce: Il did let you off.
Don bother yourself and bother me
with any more Of that discussion" The
following Gay | come in and say: My
dear sir. about that debit can never
get over the fact that | owe you that
money 1t is something that weighs on
ny mind like Il milestone. Do forgive
me that debt" This time you clear
lose your patience and say: You are
Il nuisance. What DO you mean by this
rcitera%on of that affair? am almost
sorry | forgave you that debt. Do you
doubt my ~veracity or do you not under
stand the plain language in which /
told you that debt was Cancelled"
Well. my friends, there are many
Christians guilty OF worse folly than
that. While it is right that they re-
pent of new sins and of recent sins,
" ISAl Is thS VI DOlltI llS SOuAS tll
and insulting God by asking him to
forgive sins that long ago were for
given? God has forgotten them. Why
do you not forget them? No; you drag
the load on with you, and $50 times n
year. if you pray every day, you ask
God TO recall occurrences which he has
not only forgiven, but forgotten.
Quit this folly. | do not ask you less
to realize the turpitude of sin. but | ask
you to a higher faith in the promise of
God and the full deliverance of his
mercy. He does not give a receipt for
part payment or so much received on
account, but receipt in full, God hav-
ing for Christ's sake decreed your sins
and your ~iniquities will | remember no
more" AS far as possible let the dis
~agreeables of life drop. We have
enough things in the present, and there
will be enough in the future, to dis
turb us without running a special train
into the great Comedy to fetch us as
special freight things left behind.
Years ago. when there was q great
railroad strike, | remember seeing all
along the route from Omaha to Chi
cago and from Chicago to New York
hundreds and thousands Of freight cars
switched on the sidetracks, those cars
loaded with all kinds of perishable ma
terial, decaying and wasting. After
the strike was over did the railroad
companies bring all that persisted ma
terial down to the markets. No; they
threw it of where it was destroyed and
loaded up with something else. Let the
long train of your thoughts throw off
the worse than useless freight Of a
corrupt and destroyed past and load
up with gratitude and faith and holy
determination. We do not please God
by the cultivation of the miserable.
He would rather see us happy than to
see Us depressed. You would rather see
your children laugh than to see them
cry. and your Heavenly Father has no
fondness for Mysteries.
Allow Others to Forget.
Not only FORGET your m rdoned trans