Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1904-10-20
THE VALUE OF OBEDIENCE
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev.
Joseph Dunn Burrell.
The Way to Power Shown By Convincing
Arsumeuts-Chrlst Our Great Pattern

dent unto death, even the death of the
cross Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him and given Him name which
is above every name" Mr.. Burrell said:
From this passage we learn that, through
obedience, our Lord Jesus Christ attained
ton not by exploiting His own will, but by
submitting to the will of God.
On this point He is representative OF hui
manity. For all men everywhere to obey
is the way to rule. ''Whosoever will be
chief among you, let him be your servant.
Obedience thus becomes most essential
part of education, whether in the home or
the school. There is something. disreputa'
BILE about the household where the children
do not mind, or the lecture hal! where the
instructor has no control. 1t Is a healthy
discipline for us to have to submit our will
to another's. Such is the Biblical concep-
ton of home training. Such was the
method of Chrst's bringing up.
Professor Huxley had great influence
upon current ideas of education and, per-
haps, the most eloquent words he ever
wrote were those in which he set forth
this idea, that the gist of educa ton is to
learn how to obey. That man. he says,
"has had liberal education, who has been
ready servant of his will, and does with
ease and pleasure all the work that, as a
mechanism, it is capable Of, whose intellect
is clear, cold, logic engine, with all its
parts of equal strength, and IN smooth
working order; ready, like a steam engine,
to be turned to any kind of work, and spin
the gossamers, as well as forge the anchors
of the mind; whose mind is stored with a
knowledge of the great and fundamental
truths Of nature and of the laws OF her op-
erations; one who, no stunted ascetic, IS
f,,n &c 1,fa nd fro huf WhOap are
trained to come to heel by vigorous will,
the servant of tender conscience: who
has learned to aove all beauty, whether of
nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and
to respect others as himself. Such an one
and no other, conceive, has had liberal
education, for he is, as completely as a
man can be, in harmony with nature. lie
will make the best of her, and she of him.
They will get on together rarely; she, as
his ever-benefcent mother, he as her
mouthpiece, her conscious self, her MINIS
ter and interpreter"
But it is not enough to learn obedience
theoretically in one period of education;
we must perpetuate it as habit all through
our years, for it is the only way to success
in life. Obedience is not for its own sake,
but in order that through it we may come
to be our best selves. We accept law as
the predetermined condition of life, sur
render ourselves to it, and by yielding win
true liberty.
Agesilaus of Sparta knew how to govern
because he had first learned how to obey,
according to the old saying. The present
Emperor of Germany and King OF Italy,
brilliant examples of successful monarchs,
were trained with a severity that some OF
our boys would think cruel, There was
once hard worked employe of the New
York street car system, he ~ now Its head.
There was once private soldier who had
to submit to all the narrow restrictions OF
the most subordinate rank in the army; he
is now our commander in the Philippines.
We take away harmful things from our
children that later on they may know
enough to deprive themselves Of them. They
are made to take care of their bodies that
they may keep the laws OF health when
they need it for lifes work. They are
given good books to read that they may
prefer such when they are free to read
what they will. They are shielded from
bad associations and thrown into the com
pany of clean, true, honorable boys and
girls so that when they are ont in the
world fighting their own battles they may
choose the friendship Of the good and shun
that of the base.
Some parents are afraid to have their
children arrive at the age of self control.
Yet what is the good Of education. THE
aim OF your discipline" said Herbert
Spencer, should be to produce self-gov-
erning being; not to produce being to be
governed by others" 1t Is a Joy to have
obedient children, but it ought to be a
greater JOY when they are become true
hearted men and women, and are out IN
the world carrying on the business OF life:
Then the object of eduratlon Is secured
and the condition of success is satisfied.
~, Al ntl h,nl ,nnr.1 fn,l,,rn dino
to not having learned how to obey, and 80
not knowing how to rule.
When a girl says to herself, "When |
have home of my own you Will sec how
differently | shall do things" When hoy
thinks, just wait until ] am twcnty.onc
and / will see life for myself YOU may
know that the seed of the Dead Sea fruit
is already sown.
A woman whose family were in want was
given $25 by friend Instead OF purchas-
ing necessities with this providential pres
ent she used it in having the photographs
of the entire household taken. There was
an example of one who did not deserve to
be grown up. She did not know how to
control her own life She had never
learned that the only way to live Worthty
is to obey the great principles of duty. She
merely followed her whims
| heard this summer of a young man who
a year ago was hyIhg around Long iSlAha
IN ms aHiom"h'Ie' d3HZIns the natives Wi'h
ms RECKLESS cHpGndlIufe OF newly ar'
CURED fortune. Io,Iay ne Is Sald to be
c'erkinS IN store ne dld not know now
TO ne rirh: ne had n0t learned scil-control'
quite rightly ne h'S been set back again III
his proper place.
Oscar Wilde was young scholar of ex-
traordinary briliancc His essay on "The
Decay of Lying" for example, was marvel.
lousy suggestive But he never learned
to obey, to, control himself, to love the
right; on the contrary, by following his
own viii and seeking pleasure without re,
gard to duty he made OF himself social
outcast ana dled a beggar death IN IN Paris:
+nn or nnnor,nn;tv one haze # he dosgp u unt
tnnw o Ury ~ ohnr no 10 on the rod ~ r; ~
Wornov m 0 th;c cond;t;nn If obod;enn a' !,
+he nermanen u'i Law Of Tfe Ne;ther in tb;s