The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-06-22
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"LIFE'S ASSETS"

The Rev. DR.. Arthur II. Goodenough
Talks Instructively oil the Infinite
Possibilities That Are in Man-What
We Need to Know.
BRISTOL, CoHS.-The Rev. DR.. Arthur,
Fl. Goodenough preached Sunday morning
on "Life's Assets" The text was from !
are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to One all Gre
yours, and We are Christ's 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 life, has
it's limitations and letters. Man is impa-
tient of limitations; he aspires to the in
finite and the infinite is always above US.
The nobler mans nature the more rest
less and determined is he to ascend. No
philosophy of life is true that fails to rec
ognize this instinct Of the soul. Man de,
sires more room, more room is above, and
dUOSS Is SOluSIulilS IldO llIldSSo oNN
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 a
trackless wilderness, nor an orphan minus
a PARENTS gui ling hand and tender voice.
Mans origin and destiny are one. 1t IS
God. 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 he needs. we
are only larger children, with larger and
for US? We have outgrown the ability
Of our earthly parents to help us. What
shA.l we do? AS the thirsty OK turns to
the babbiing 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
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 ye 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
from which the bread is made. God fur
nished 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 hte
values. Lie itself is worth more than all
OF them put together. The man who cul-
tivates your farm is worth more than the
farm. The mar who builds your home is
worth more than the house. We are not
paupers. No man, oma or child in this
world need be poor. There are other values
beside dollars. We are heirs to untold
riches. Our heavenly Father, the unseen
capitalist, has invested largely in LIS, and
He is no spendtllrift. He ha, put the
value where it may multiply. life is a
feeble thing at the beginning; SO is the
acorn, 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, 1t contains a
Kep!er, a Newton, a Gladstone, a Nc
Kinley.
Characte. is a result, a product. Charac-
ter tells the story Of our conduct and In
dustry. Character is the fruitase OF our
thinking, Our willing, our loving, cur dong.
And character is the man. Character de-
termines ones value to himself and to So
ciety. This is what makes biography the
popular literature Of our day. People in
terest people. Biography is death to pes
simism. 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
lection of the web, the feeding Of the loom,
the weaving Of the cloth is OUTS. 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 q chance, aye, more,
every mar has a 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,
use of what is in you, wisely appropriate
what is about You, give reason the rein.
Enthrone conscience. Re religious. And
every step will be IN 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 it easier to be good to-day
than it was Yesterday: The multiplicity OF
helps az hand. To read one newspapers
and to hear come speakers, one would
suppose that nobody was good. The fact IS,
the world is Iull OF good people. What Is
goodness? Not the muttering Of a creed
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, g%entleness of conduct, noble
ness of purpose, love to God and man. 1t
is to live kindly and truly and well. 1t is
like the Christ doing good every day and
everywhere. his Is the goodness that
counts in our day. And we rejoice to be-
lieve that it is constantly on the increase.
Goodness is true religion. and true religion
is goodness. The two are irseparable. 1t
is a culturing, refining, e!evating process.
1t is ever making for the best that life is
capable of. What God wants lor His chill
dren is Tie best. The desire of God is
human h~aonincss. To this end He is pa
tieAt and indulgent. He is prodigal in
gifts. He is ever lavishing His love upon
us. God is neither mean nor little. He is
the great Father, giving Himself for the
salvation, the enrichment, the perfect hap
piness Of His children. God is not the au-