The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-01
The Rev. j. Cumming Smith breaches
Eloquent sermon on "Sorrow's Asy-
lum"-"Faitho Cures Derfded.

tnelr Sayety the perpetual SADNESS Oh SOD
bling shores or moan of the sea caves far
within.
"As it lies in the nature of God to leap to
rescue when the cry for help Is heard. so II
is part and parcel OF the divine within US
that human nature has never stopped short
at this dismal discovery to waste tears In
idle emotionalism; the prompt instinct OF
alienation has always sprung Up TO Its
mission. God so loved the world that He
gave His Son.
'One plan of ours has been to hush the
voice of sorrow by deriding or discountlng
its mournful testimony. If a man groans
with numb or piercing pain some school
will go to him and seek to work through
his mind to the quelling of the suffering by
denying its existence. In extreme cases or
hysteria no doubt the infusion Of a placid,
tranquil thought goes far TO dull or deaden
the sensation of pain. In a high-pitched
civilization likes ours in America there are
nervous complaints arising out of our in
tense, agitated, seething mode of life, and
beyond doubt the policy of working through
the mental part to affect a change In the
physical arrangement is wisdom In such
cases.
HEALING SOULS.
$50 a mother soothes an a%ffrighted or
sobbing child. So people of splendid spring
ing personality and magnetism of joy will
in a few moments completely bring weak
er, complaining souls around to a sense
of convalescence by diverting attention.
These are nervous disorders. There are,
on the other hand a myriad troubles not
in this class. To annihilate or disillusion-
lie the part of sin. to obliterate arkness
and disease as mere nightmares OF the
fancy is to revive a philosophy as old as the
hills and demonstrated again and again to
be spurious. 1t is the old theory of ideal
ism that blots out materialistic reality. 1t
affirms that mind alone is real n that
mind is part of God. If God alone is, then
sin cannot be or you make God a sinner In
His nature. II sin is not, disease Is not,
and darkness is not. Such a course of reas-
oning turns the universe upside down as
drink In a man makes the world reel
philosophy is scarce worth refutation. But
In practice ii presents some begufling
beauty to hide its naked fallacy. 1t puts
mind on the throne as lord and controller
over life. 1t breathes the peace and STILL
ness Of a higher life. 1t exhorts to good
ness, gentleness, silent worship and human
betterment. / admit it's charm, but / draw
the line where it overlooks facts and over
rides the plainest evidences. Cure organic
disease through the mind? 1t depends. II
a child shrinks in fright from a supposed
ghost in the closet Ii Is wise of the mother
to affirm that there is no ghost. If, how
ever, a child losses on its little bed with
a humping toothache, a sensible mother
will not try TO comfort the poor child by
saying: why, dear, you have no tooth
ache. Just think you have not and you
have not" II no toothache, why not go one
step farther and say there is no tooth?
"Psalmist and prophet are not blind to the
trend of evil. If you can argue evilaway, the
same logic will spirit good away as a mere
myth of pious souls. This logic leads to
universal negation and unrealism. The
Bible is brave, and its plan Is q victory
over positive undeniable evil by the intro
duction of the equally positive undeniable
force of spiritual life and goodness; BE not
overcome by evil but overcome evil with
good
"And the attempted cure for the singing
succession of earth's untoward events is a
pretended stoical scorn on them. Tell the
martyr in his agony that the applause OF
49, -rN.1I ae n rnnffu and n annrn Tell
the poor man that wealth is a fraud. Tell
the sick. pale man that health is a
pampering luxury he can afford to ignore.
TIL Greeks tried It,. The Hindoos sought
to keep the flesh under, to prosecute it and
lacerate it in order TO show contempt for
II. To some extent Paul encourages
this idea. He passed through the varied
ordeals of poverty. reproach. calumny.
stones, rods and repatriation with such a
serene intellectual elevation that he could
say I have learned both how to be abased
move me-
PAUL AND THE WORLD.
'Stil he appreciated wealth and palatial
opulence and the thrilling voices of popu-
larity; III did not underestimate the prizes
Of the world. In his unmatched spiritual
aspirations Paul never sacrificed the hu-
man. He did not turn himself into a statue
in his effort to be a saint. He simply
waived a hundred fine chances for fame and
bounty which with his full nature he knew
how to prize, because he was under the
higher ailurement and resistless enthrall-
ment of Christ. l count all things as loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ. In every case the higher life levies
a tax on the lower and only a fool with
eyes shut tries to reach the nobler life
by holding grimly to the lower pleasures.
THE endeavor to rule out the lower life
and crown the intellectual life as If Ii ex-
listed apart from the body as a star is real
ly separate from the cloud that for a mo-
ment dims ii, Is false through and through.
To i'll treat or cruelty the body Is a crime.
bones, to bring about emaciation In the in
terest of intellectual or spiritual publication
Is idealism run mad. IT may produce skele-
tonized saints and pale-faced monks, but
these types are not the models of the per-
feet symmetrical manhood of the New
Testament.
BUNTING SORROW.
"Others again initiate a series of diver
sions to blunt the edge of sorrow. Per-
haps new enthusiasm or a new pursuit, per-
maps a change of residence, perhaps a
new and enticing association with kindred
minds, perhaps a year or two abroad, per-
haps a new friend of sunny temperament.
Such remedies are not uncommon in the
natural shrinking from burdens or haunt
ing memories. But these are too low to
satisfy the soul. They soon pail on us,
and the overwearied heart must look for
dnOlUtI IcluScs
1.-The one eternal source Of TRANQUILITY
found in God. or, to put it more accurately,
in such a light of God as the Father of
all overwhelmed humanity and the pro-
moter of each individuals good as TO
cause hope to wei. up forever in the heart.
The other remedies may suffice as auxiliar-
les. but the sorrow still remains, nawing
like a worm .nto the mans life unless he
fnds his final satisfaction in the God of
love. If this doctrine is an illusion, then
all life is a distorting dream, the mere
| floating glow of evening sky, the tale
of an inn, the flight of the shadows that
abide not.
The healer Of the torn plant or dropping
flower is not the cellar. but the open sun
shine. You may carry the plant down into
the cellar and treat IL very deliberately and
use long names while you prop the poor
branch. but all the while in its torture ev-
cry whiting leaf cries out. Let us out
where the sun shines. The sun is our med
ical healer: the warm air is our natural
nurse: let us rest out there and feel once
more the strange thrill of health
.'In a similar manner the natural restorer
of all moral health Is the God of life. Faith
is normal; unfaith is abnormal. Our ele-
mental life is dependence on God, which
does not benumb ambition or drug our
zeal. but quickens us 10 action and deyeI-
opment of power. 1t Is a positive method
of amelioration the world demands.
MATERIAL CRISES.
Take bankruptcy. A man moves from
the best street TO the plain or plebeian side
street. The servants go and the wife