The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-06-24
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED,
"LlFE'S ASSETS"
The Rev. DIR. Arthur II. Goodenoug II
Talks Instructively on the Infinite
Possibilities That Are in Man-What
We Need to Know.

BRISTOL, CONN., Rev. DIR. Arthur
II. Goodenough preached Sunday morning
on Lilies Assets" The text was, IRON
Corinthians iii2l, %. %: For all things
are yours; whether Paul. or Apollos, or
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death or
things present, or things TO come; all are
yours. and We are Christs and Christ is
Gods" DR. Goodenough said;
Man aspires. His eye is on the sky,
Man was made to walk erect. His impulse
is to climb This fact indicates his des.
tiny The earth beneath us and the world
about us contribute to our flight, but they
offer us no home. The world, so near to
us and so essential to our present lie, has
its limitations and letters. Man Is impa-
tient Of limitations; he aspires to the m
finite and the infinite is always above us.
The nobler mans nature the more rest
4 less and determined is he to ascend. No
philosophy of life is true that fails to rec
Nognze this instinct of the soul. Man de-
sires more room, more room Is above, and
above is something that attracts and
draws That fact is mans salvation.
1t is generally believed that man had his
origin in God God is the root from
which all men have sprung. 1t is equally
true that God is the complement OF man
and his goal How noble is man, What
infinite possibilities are in him. Man is not
a waif, aimlessly wandering through
trackless wilderness, nor an orphan minus
aparents gui ling hand and tender voice.
Mans origin and destiny are one: 1t is
>&od If your fve-year-old boy is in need
he instinctively cries, My father" If he is
in trouble he as naturally cries, My
mother" Instantly the complement of his
needy nature is at hand. Father and
mother are to him all that ne needs We
are only larger children, with larger and
more imperative needs. Is there any, help
for us? We have outgrown the ability
of our earthly parents to help us. What
shall we do? As the thirsty OK turns to
the babbhng brook, we turn our eyes to
the heavens and say, MY Father-God,
help me-" And quicker than thought the
help comes. Here we have the philosophy
r. of happiness and the secret of success. As
witnesses to this fact we call to the stand
Augustine, Bernard, John Howe, Isaac
Watts and Charles Wesley The upward
look wins The man who aspires to God,
and holiness, and Immortality is the one
to whom this text is spoken. "All things
are yours; for We are Christ's and Christ
is Gods"
The thing that wise men are thinking
about is life. Bread and acres and dollars
are only incidental. God made the acres.
Gods sunshine and showers grew the grain
>Sqom which the bread is made. God fur
~rIiished the material to make the dollar.
Therefore acres and bread and dollars are
good because God had something to do
with producing them. These are valuable
contributions to life, some of our life
vRlues. Life itself Is worth more than all
OF them put together. The man who cu.-
tivates your farm is worth more than the
farm. The man who builds your home is
worth more than the house. We are not
paupers. No man, woman OF child in this
world need be poor. There are other values
beside dollars. We are heirs to untold
riches Our heavenly Father, the unseen
i+o1ie cd 1opa
He is no spendthrift. He has put the
value where it may multiply. Life is a
Sfeeble thing at the beginning; so is the
Ncorn, but in the acorn is the massive
oak; so is the bulb, but the bulb contains
the tint and perfume of the lily. So life
as we see it in the babe, it contains a
Kepler, a Newton, Gladstone, Nc
Kinley.
Characte. is a result, a product. Charac-
ter tells the story of our conduct and iu-
dustry. Character is the frutage of our
thinking, oIr willing, our loving, our doing.
And character is the man. Character de-
termines ones value to himself and TO So
eciety. This is what makes biography the
popular literature of our day People in
terest people. Biography is death to pes
slmism. Thousands of men and women
have succeeded in life. They have feasted
on the universe and enjoyed the infinite,
and the books tell us how they did it,
My young friends, the one thing in this
world for you to do, is to follow their
example You may. Character is no ready
made thing; it is made to order 1t means
plan and purpose and persistence. You
do not have to make the machinery nor
the material; these are furnished. The Sc
Nlection of the web, the feeding of the loom,
the weaving of the cloth is ours The re-
suit is character, and character is destiny
This is the work of life. Human chances
are not equal Circumstances favor some
more than others. No doubt of it. But
then every man has chance, aye, more,
every man has probability OF success.
There are possibilities of failure, and many
seem to fail but there is no excuse for
failure. Oh. horrible, heartbreaking word
is failure. May none of you ever know
what it means. There is a way of escape
from it. Make a right, not to say, best
NJ OF what IS IN yoa wisely appropriate
WHAT is about you, give reason the rein
Enthrone conscience. Be religious. And
every sep will be an ascent, every act the
advance Of the SOUL and the enrichment
OF being. All things are yours to do with.
1t was never easier to be good than
now. Perhaps it is never easy to be good. |
What makes 1t easier to be good to-day |
than it was yesterday? The multiplicity of |
helps at hand. To read some newspapers |
and to hear some speakers, one would !
suppose that nobody was good. The TACT IS,
thy world is full OF good people. What is |
goodness? Not the muttering of creed I
nor the repeating of a prayer; not the
reading Of the Bible nor going to church.
Good people do these things, but these
things are not essentially goodness Bad |
people may do them, too. Goodness is
consideration for the other fellow, sweet
ness of temper, gentleness of conduct, noble
Ness OF purpose, love to God and man 1t
is 70 live kindly and truly and well 1t is
like the Christ doing good every day and