The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-06-03
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
An ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
"LlFE'5 ASSETS"
The Fev. Dr. Arthur II. GoodenouGh
Talks InstruciiVeiy on the Infinite
Tossibilitie. That Are in Man-W hat
We Need to kGcw.

Possibilities That Are in Man-Nh hat
We Need To kUow.
BRISTOL. CoNN.-TLe Rev. Or. Arthur
II Goodenough preached Sunday morning
on Lies Assets The text was from |
Corinthia-s iii:2l. -. %: For all things
are yours whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas. or the world. or lie, or death, or
things present, o. things 10 come; all are
yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is
Gods" DR.. Goodenough said
Man aspIres. His eve l. on the sky.
Man was made 70 wax erect. His impulse
Is TO climb. This fact indicates his des-
tiny. The earth beneath US and the world
about us contribute 20 our fight, but they
offer Us 10 home. The world, so near 70
us and so essential "a our present lie, has
its limitations and fe;ters. Man Is impa-
tent OF limitations; he aspires 10 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 20 rec
ognIZe this instinct OF the soul. Man de-
slres more room, more room IS above and
above j. something that attracts and
draws. That fact i mans salvation.
1t II generally believed that man had his
origin IN God. God j. the root from
which all men have sprung. 1t Is equally
true that God j. the complement OF man
and his goal How noble Is man. What
infinite pOssl bl.tles are IN him. Man Is not
a walt, amiess!y wandering through a
traCkiess wilderness, nor an orphan minus
a parents guI ling hand and tender voice.
Mans origin and destiny are one. II Is
God. Ii your tve-ycar-old boy l. IN need
he lnstlnCtIyely cries. My father II he Is
IN trouble he as naturally cries, My
mother Instantly the complement of his
needy nature j. ~ hand. Father and
mother are TO him all that ne needs. We
are only larger children, with larger and
mn a. l. hap hal
for Us; We have oltCrown the ability
OF our earthly parents TO help us. What
shsl we dog As the thirsty OK turns 10
the babbiine 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 10 the stand
Augustine, Bernard, John Howe, Isaac
Watts and Charles Wesley The upward
look wins The man who asplres TO God,
and holiness, and immortality Is the one
TO whom tins text Is spoken, "All things
are yours; ior 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
nlshed the material 10 make the dollar.
L
good because God had something to do
with producing them. These are valuable
contributions 10 lie. some OF our life
values. Lite itself is worth more than all
OF them put together The man who cul-
tIvates your farm j. worth more than the
farm. The man who builds your home Is
worth more than the house. We are not
paupers. No man, woman or child In this
word need he poor. There are other values
beside dollars. We are heirs to untold
riches Oar heavenly Father, the unseen
capitalist, has invested largely IN us and
He is no slendthr.it. 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
rs we see II IN the babe, il contains a
kepler, 4 Newton, a Gladstone a Nc
hniey.
Charaote. is a result, product. Charac-
ter tells the story OF our conduct and IN
dustry. Character IS the irultage OF our
thinking, OR willing, our loving, our dong.
And character IS the man. Character de
termlncs ones value 30 himself and TO 50.
clcty. This Is what makes biography the
popular literature OF our day. People IN
terest people. Biography is death to pes
slmsm Thousands OF men and women
have succeeded in hfc They have feastcd
and the book. tel us how they did It, !
My young friends, the one thing IN this |
world for you TO do. is 10 follow their |
example. \ on may. Character is no ready |
made thing; II Is made to order. it means |
plan and purpose and persistence. You |
do not have 10 make the machinery nor |
the material; these are furnished. The So |
lection OF the web, the feeding OF the loom, |
the weaving OF the Goth 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 a chance aye more, |
every man has probability OF success. |
There are possibilities OF failure and many |
seem to falI, bat there Is TO excuse for |
failure. Oh. horrible, heartbrCakIug word |
Is failure. May none of you ever know |
what II means. There /. way of escape |
from X. Make a right, not to say, best, |
use OF what is IN YOU. wisely appropriate |
what - about NOu, give reason the rem.
Enthrone conscience. BE religious. And |
every step VIII be an ascent. every act the |
advance OF the soul, and the enrichmes
o. beng. All things are yours to do with.
1t was never easier TO be good than |
now. Perhaps u is never easy to be good.
W hat makes II easier 10 bc good to-day |
than u was yesterday The multiplicity of |
helps at hand. To read some newspapers
suppose that nobody was good. The fact ls.
the world is tull OF good people. What Is
goodness Not the mutterug OF a creed |
nor the repeating Of PRAYER, not the |
reading Of the Bible nor going TO church
Good people do these things but these
things are rot essentially goodness. Bad
people may do them, too. Goodness is
consideration for the other fellow, sweet.
ness OF temper, genteness OF conduct noble
ness OF purpose, love to God and man il |
Is TO live kindly and truly and well. II Is
like the Christ doing good every day and
everywhere. his is the goodness that |
counts IN our day And we rejoice to be
heve that 1t Is constantly on the increase
Goodness Is true religion. and true religion
Is goodness. The two are inseparabe II
Is a culturInC, refining. elevatlng process
1t is ever making for the best that life is
capable OF. What God wants Ior HIS chill |
dren Is ,Ae best. The desire of God ls
human ha-nlncss. To this end He Is pa
tient and ndulgent He - prodigal IN
gifts. lie Is ever lavlshng His love upon
us. God Is neither mean nor little. He is
the great Father. giving Himself for the
salvdton, the enrichment, the perfect hap. |
pIncss OF Has children. tod is not the au-
thor Of pain He takes no delight IN
tears The blessed Saviour ceases not IN
His age-long effort to make the sons Of
earth happy. The law Of the universe. the
design OF every thing i happiness. HaDpi-
ness - everywhere Wander In the woods |
walk IN the meadow. mcHudcr ty the
stream, rest m the valley and climb 90 the
hilltop. and m everything and everywhere |
Won Will find Earrrutas l. grl~.ugs IN ike |