The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-05-15

one or two OF them bore message from
God which | am entirely sure u was worth
their while 20 hear. And, having failed
repeatedly 20 nnd them IN. i took mother
into my confidence ard spoke OF my. q IN:
Guilty. Yes" she said. they are so full Of
engagements outside OF work hours that
they seem 70 have no time 10 think OF any
thing else but Measure. Ii - continuous
round. and while thev are az home they are
SO utterly tired out that they rest"
How many does that simp,e descrintion
hts Bot what Is the upshot Of its Why.
this, while life slips rapidly away God and
eternal relations are wholly crowded out.
The young man subsists unon two dlets-a
diet OF hard work and diet OF hard play.
And the motive IN the work it 10 set the
means 20 play. while the motive in recrea.
tion is often chiefly 10 get the health with
which 10 work and earn. But what a sci.
fish circle that describes, How narrow and
poor and shallow Is the Young man who
prizes only his capacity 10 labor and his az.
netite for play Who So lightly values all
those diviner elements Of his being as to he
willing 20 make no provision for their cul'
turel Lovers of pleasure rather than low
ers OF God" II is a terrible epitaph upon
us. whether living or dead; They wor-
SHIPPED and served the creation more than
the Creator. who is blessed forever Where
fore God gave them up 10 their own hearts
lusts." These are words to make US stop
ard think.
l have often noticed that il is apt to he
the case that II is precisely those voung
men 10: whom God has done most who are
the most selfish lives There are noble ex-
ceptions TO the rule. which shine like hea.
cons, from Moses 10 Phillips Brooks. But
too often the privileged life becomes a
worldly life and does not tell in the king.
dom of Righteousness. Generally the love
of pleasure in some form has in such lives,
likes the weeds In your garden, rooted out
the love and service OF God.
Men and women, we should try to see
life in its wholeness. A great many peo'
pie have too little laughter. too little rec
reation in their lives They would be
wholesomer minded, freer in spirt. If they
could get oftener out of their dark pas
sages and rigid grooves. There are more of
such people than we think and they miss
n great deal that God puts within their
reach in His many sided world. But there
are thousands of others who make them
selves imbecile by the headiong pursuit of
mere pleasure. They never read. they
never think. they let their minds 20, they
forget that they possess souls, but spend
their seasons IN things that give them lit'
tie passing physical pleasure-in eating for
the sake OF eating, and dress and getting
themselves talked about. in contriving 10
have their names in some society organ,
till these things come 10 be the absorbing
thirsts OF life. What is not sacrificed bv
these giddv people on the altar Of their
social ambition? Where does not this sell
fshness, this love of vouptuous pleasure,
this hard determination to force life 10
yield them bodily comfort. even II Gods
and natures laws must he broken 10 do so
where does not this spirit leadg
And how ready are our leaders OF opin.
ion. sometimes, speaking great swelling
words OF vanity and sophistry. TO ridicule
whisperings Of an educated and reverent
conscience and TO revise for the softer age
the statutes of nature and of Cod
Now these are some of the phenomena.
What is the remedy? First, this Put
Measure in it's true place--as the divine
Master did. If YOU look upon amusement
as the one great satisfaction Of life, YOU
simply invert the intended order, and in
the end are not satisfied. Our deepest
want is the great inner reconciliation We
may be diverted. we may for a while es.
cane from ourselves. but we shall never be
satisfied until the soul is at one with God.
\ brilliant writer, the author of Our
selves and the Universe" reminds MS that
"men called Napoleon the unamusable."
Tama might play before him but
the conqueror extracted no gavetv from
the performance That is the nemesis Of
self. When, on the contrary, the soul has
found its true life the simplest things will
serve. A man then learns the hearts
laugh"
To make men happy, nv friends, we
must not first feed them with measures of
the senses The primal condition, of hap
piness is that they be true TO God and to
each other. "The soul cannot laugh it's
own laugh till God has filed it, In that
relation there are the unfailing wellsprings
Of pleasure. "In Thy presence is fulness OF
10Y; at Thy right hand there are pleasures
forever more These things have / spo-
ken unto you that Ny Joy might remain in
won and that your jov might be full"
When we know that satisfaction of dwell.
ing in God and having God dwell in us. we
have security against inordnatc lower de.
sires Of every kind. One did not have 10
warn Washington against wasting his time,
or Gounod or Beethoven against making
discords
Then we should have care 10 retain. as
far as may be. the freedom, the mobility.
the wholesome interest in the rightful
amusements OF others. especially Of young
er persons, which will keep us in touch
with them
If ou. diversions and amusements grow
on the same stem as our religion; If they
are part of one organic unity. there will be
no trouble about their regulation. There
will creep in them no poison of wilful law
breaking. no grlmace OF an uneasy, con.
science stricken soul trying to escape from
itself. no waste OF time and faculty. no
hunger for vulgar display. Being in the Sc
cret of God. we shall have entered into the
secret of the child's heart. and live in SEN
sib.e relations with every part OF Gods
great world.
The lasting pleasures Of life are not the
fleeting pleasures of the senses. hut those
of the mind the soul. the sDirit. the pleas
ure which comes from a cultivated intellect.
from sound aud noble thinking. from re-
fined tastes, from love and sympathy and
service.