West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1903-04-09

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have friend who is a minister of the
gospel. lie almost made me promise a
short time ago, that he would preach from
the pulp, sermon nigh, write for him.
Bu, iuasmueh as would not vouchsafe that
Il would be s,ieilY orthodox. he did not
commi, himself to deliver such a sermon
from member Of the laie,y. But this min.
lister to whom l refer Is a broad minded
man. who breaches humanity to humaity,
and has the courage to deliver plain, blunt
sermon by layman u he wishes. So.
rather than cmbsrrass him 10y Insisting, L will
let the ihocgh's co before The public ihi oich
the medium Of the press, which have long
been convinced does more good to mankind
than the pulpit, because ia black and white
mems crimes arc exposed. ro,tenness is un-
covered. The poor are defended and the
cause Of the helpless is ehsmpioned and the
weak defended thereby from the mighty.
"The Evil men do lives after them;
the Good is Oft inferred with their bones. :"
That tex, is not scriplural, but IL Is a truth
which daily confronts us. The Bible Is
seldom preached aud rarely read any more
aud good thought is priceless whonsoever
u,iers II. The clergy aud the self-righteous
laymen weary their righ, arms with pointing
the finger of seorn at the weak man or
woman who s,umbles. They rarely exer-
else both arms in lifting up. eve are
holy" they are apt TO exclaim. .'Our
garments are clean, behold thou the wicked.
who falls by the wsyside."
Judge not, lest ye Judged" would apply
to these Who shall be the judge The
clergyman who was born in sin like every
other human being1 No. His peroga,ive
rs 10 lead. teach, fft up, comfort, cheer,
but not judge. The church member who
contributes to the cause by the coin wrested
from trade, business or wage No. Human
also. and only better than the outsider be.
cause OF public profession. Our neigh.
Dor who may be out of the church No.
lie is also human. Who shall judge God.
II we accep, the Book.
This Is human world, who disputes IL ?
The minister has to pray, or he reirogrades.
The layman mus, attend the means Of grace
aud even then. like The minister, his and
her human frailues daily come to the
surface. ''AIl is vanity. all'is vanity,
sayeth the preacher" The man who
breaches perfection in man or woman
breaches lies. "Ilim that is without fault
lei him cas-, the first stone 4" None are
faulilcss
Criticism, faulilinding and scsndaliline
is rlfe,--ii is one of the conspicuous human
traits. How little OF the gopd IL persons
do we hear II person saves life, he is
heralded as hero, but il the same person
STILES bad impulse, the world knows
naught of IT, II a rich man endows church
or makes liberal donation, the church
pays for him and lauds him. II his hum
bie neighbor divides his portion with
starving neighbof, his praise is not heard
II man OF woman falls, the scarlet letter
is branded upon that ones breast, but
prayers for the weak ones are not uttered
10 the house of worship.
How can We come to the common sgree.
meat that 40 man is better than his neigh.
Dor Small wonder that there are socialists.
anarchists. herelics and in6dels. The Ie.
ligion of today in this country has become
largely Sunday ligion for the rich and
well-to-6o. The weak sinful brother NAV
sIaTve for words Of helpful comfort and
ghepr1nn n.
son of the religious is not seductive or even
attractive. The hoeks scotn The outsiders
who stand aIoof. The barrier is a chssm.
deep, awful, black. 1t grows wider aud
viIer One sees Sunday relieionisis who
etiiiese everyone, So one prefers his own
solitude.
One sees church members arranged
against ono another, and the pastors Of the
flocks popular with some, unpopular with
Others. The world grows more wicked, the
young are not tempted TO accept religion.
small wonder. Thankful be IL that the
good in one may be inferred in ones bones,
for 1t would be battered out Of recognition
# kn wn by the critics. All are human,
The minister and priest, the church
member aud backslider. Il is elo.
rious thought, religion, bnt fine edifoes
In which to worship, high salaries for the
clergy, eloquent and entertaining sermons,
richly adorned communicanis. a craving for
popularity aud church control, cloud the
real cause of Christ.
One may erect a temple within his own
heart, thousands DO, aud If there be recog.
ni.i1n al common bar Of justice, there will
b. many surprises, we doub: not. "To err
Is human to forgive divine" When we
gst thai firmly Fixed IN our minds, We may
e'nsider that we are just beginning 70 be
righteous Charity, love, patience, for
given ss, humility, generosity. and chief Of
all an acknowledgment ibsi a church mem.
bersbip does not constitute religion, will be
the FIRST requisites Of religious life. Let
US see the good in our neighbor, and forge,
his faults as We are faulty, then all the
good may not be inferred With our bones. -
GafuRWd ff.s...s n. a -