The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-18

No one will be there. 1T do preach I have half a mind to save that sermon l have been so busily writing for the past six days. It does seem a shame for me to practically throw 1t away No a answered my wife, you had better preach it. You have always made it 4 rule to give your people the pest you had. If anyone comes out tonight he deserves your best. Besides that, God has always most blessed your work on stormy nights" said. "Yes. that is true. l will give them the best l have. l will preach the sermon" That night the audience was very small. But while the few peo pie were gathering l saw one woman en- ter the church and come down the aisle to the left of the pulpit She seemed to be intensely interested In the sermon When 1t was finished and the benediction pro- nouneed she came to the pulpit and said. T will send you letter soon." Then she passed quietly out.
 1 went home feeling that the night was wasted But some time afterward I heard of the result of that sermon. That woman that night was deciding whether or no she should desert her home Her temper even then was by her side. urg- ing her to a life of sin. That one sermon on that stormy night, under the power of the Holy Spirit, turned the tide She wrote to thank me for what 1 had said. That letter was one of the most impress sive lessons I ever had for It taught me that no Christian mans work is unimpor- tant, even under the most unsatisfactory and discouraging conditions Our unsus- peoted and unreported influences are so great for good that only Gods recording angel has a ledger big enough to keep the records. Never, o minister, lawyer. physician. neglect your work because of Its seemingly insignihcanee As with Peters shadow, 1t may, all unknown to you reach some whose sin sick soul may be healed by the Holy Spirits power working through 1t.
 Unconscious Influence.
 The public man has his shadow. The private man has his unconscious influ- ence also. The Christian lawyer doctor merchant, minister, have their direct in- f1uenee when they are doing their public work. They also have their unconscious influence when they are walking through the streets, and sitting in the elevated trains, and eating In their home dining room or In public restaurants. when they think no strangers eye is watching them and no strangers ear Is overhearing what they say. They have their unconscious influence when unknown to them, people are weighing them In the balances as they are standing before a jury or pre- scribing in the sick room or preaching in the pulpit. They have their unconscious influence even when they are "out of har- ness" and think they can do as they please and that no one will ever know what they do.
 Some of you may have read the book called "A Man Without a Shad- ow." That caption may be very star ting, but 1t is impossible of realiza- tion. No time in life comes when a man is shadowless. Even in the dark corridors of the mines the little lamps throw the outlines of the miners upon the black walls behind them. There Is no time in life when man Is un- seen and not watched. Last summer I spent many days trolling for fish in the Pacific ocean. Strange to say, I did not have to see a fish before I knew what was on the end of the line. The big mackerel would pull steadily in a straight line. The thick bodied albicore would at once dive to the bottom of the sea. The strong filmed yellowtail would seesaw, now on this side of the boat, now on the other, and only the gaff hook could stop his struggles. The barracuda would seem to swim toward the boat. Like a tender mouthed horse, each pull of the line would make him obey your will the quicker. The sea bass would come to the
 
 full or, like like a trapeze performer, he would turn a complete somersault over your line and be off. So men in a commu- nifty, like some fish in the sea, are known by their neighbors in their private lives even though those men may think they are unseen. They will have their uncon- scous influence when they are at play as well as when at work.
 Rather than write such a book as "A II to write one called "The Man With Frozen Shadows" That figure which the great American humorist. Samuel L. Clemens, drew of the sailors in the arctic regions ehopping each others shadows off the ships deck, so that their friends would not stumble over them, is not i'm possible of conception in the moral and spiritual world. What gave the late Will liam Chichester, the most powerful re- ligious leader the Pacific coast ever pro- duced, his marvellous hold on men? Ills eloquent tongue? I think not California, I believe, has had preachers as eloquent as he was. His organizing ability? I think not. I believe others here have been just as great organizers. I will tell you-it was his simple, true pure, Chris tian private life. It was his tender Christian heart which made him stop on the street corner and buy bag of fruit and give t to a common painter and say: Take this fruit home to your good old mother with my love. Tell her that with such prayers as she offers and with such a life as she leads she ought to have a good son." It was the gentle ways he had with little children in their romps and plays; it was the way he would throw his arm around a friend in trouble and say: Harry. how can I help you? What can I do2''
 Avalanches For Good.
 Oh, the unconscious influences of every Christians private life! Like the snow flakes, the bank themselves up into great drifts. Like the grains of sand. they lift themselves into the mighty mountains. Like the little drops of water, they slake the thirst of many valleys and meadow lands These little influences of private life are despised by some so called Chris tian workers, but in the end they result