The Penn's Grove record., 1904-01-15

LIS worthy spirit is not restricted DY any
means to those who pile up colossal for
tunes or who are the habitues Of Vanits
Fair. A beggar may be, and probably is,
quite as much OF a mammo worshiper as
IS the most vulgar money lover. They
who fail may be even more worldly than
they who succeed. However that may be.
our present concern is with the admonition
that warns US not to bury our talent by
living solely for temporal goods. Every
day we are exposed to the contagion Of
earthly domination. How easy it is to let
ourselves down to a low degree OF
thought, desire and qualification. We are
kin to the elements about US. We belong
to two worlds-to earth as well as to
heaven. With pardonable fondness we re-
fer to our present abode as mother
earth" We came ourselves from its boz
som. We get all that we have out Of the
ground-our food and raiment. our
houses, our books, our sciences and arts,
all the material blessings with which we
are enriched. Here Teposes all that was
mortal of our beloved dead, and at their
funeral rites the church said "earth to
earth" Here the great have lived. the
brave have fought for right and rights.
and royal souls nave done their work for
the cause of progress. Here Jesus spent
three and thirty years. His feet trod upon
its hills and wales. His precious blood
flowed down from His sacred body to its
soil, and His mangled corpse lay in its
tomb. How much the earth has in it to
faseinate. Is it a marvel that so many fall
before its seductions and hide the great
and holy talent IN the clay? How natural,
but how wicked. To every one who buries
the talent-his personal foree-in worldii-
ness comes the sharp condemnation, thou
wicked and slothful servant"
1t is nothing less than a high crime to
centre ones being in the earth. When he
has the power to be a son of God, when he
has an equipment that should get results,
when he can be efficient and effective
throughout his sphere, when he can make
a contribution to the fund of goodness and
happiness, what a sorry pity it is that he
should put such possibilities into e hole.
And yet that is precisely what 50 many
are doing. Some of them are rich. while
others are poor; some nave knowledge aud
culture, while others are ignorant and
hard, but they are all alike in that they
have buried the precious gift. 1t matters
not whether they are lofty or lowiy, Wheth-
er they live in a palace OF a garrett. they
have erred grleyous'y If they have buried
the power which alone can make life worth
living. What an unspeakable degradation
It Is to leave the plain where God would
have us think and work and to descend to
the slavery OF a vulgar ambition for world
ly concerns. To pass ones years without
raising to the dignity and excellences- of
noble manhood and noble H~omanhood-to
go on from year to year without reeogniz-
ing the DeIty-and without noting the
privileges which Christ has assured-to re-
duce ourselves to the level of machinery,
to set up a song and dance as though that
were the greatest thing In the worlds to
take ourselves into a region which IS Tot
ht for immortais. Let is DO our work and
ENJOY our recreations, but let US also ap-
preciate the doctrine that to be true men
and true women is the highest possible es-
tate. Away with the base delusion that
the average person is called to a condition
Of inevitable inferiority, and that it is not
for him to look for large personal develop
ment and excellence. All could be strong
if they would use their talents.
We have personality. There is such a
thing as the personal equation" Every
body has a fair chance. The IA a who has
buried his ta.ent is apt to deny all this,
and may possibly settle down to be a fatal
list, a pessimist, a misanthrope, a chronic
grumb.er. How true the parable is to ma
ture and to life. The complainant is out
OF harmony with everybody and every
thing. His grayamen is most unlovely. He
may urge heredity by alleging that his an
tecedents were unfavorable and his birth
right counts for nothing. He may point to
circumstances as prohibItorv and inyinci-
III " ~ - NONANA a10[LL HIS 1lEAk ~ DE -
man. He may charge that divine provi-
dence constantly thwarts him and reduces
his every hope to ashes. In the last analy-
sis he takes the position of the condemned
man of the parable and says to the Lord:
4 knew that Thou art an hard man." an
allegation which Is disproved by the fact
that the Lord had given him a whole tai
ent. Although the human heart recog-
nizes some measure of responsibility, It at
tempts to argue the matter and sets up a
defense, and it ends by LAYING the blame at
the feet of God. The Father has done His
part ~aoundantiy; it on Y remains for Ills
children to do theirs; the talent has va.ue
only in its use.
st. Paul views this question from a most
exalted standpoint. He says: ''There are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
and there are differences of administration.
but the same Lord. and there are diversi-
ties of operations, but it is the same God
that worketh all in all, bat the manifesto
ton OF the Spirit Is given to every man to
profit withal."
We speak of self-made men as though
they were miracles. In referring to them
as sneh as mean that, in spite Of difficult
ties, they have attained remarkable excel
lence. But every worthy individual is self
made by the grace of God. Even under
the most favorable circumstances, q man,
if he is to amount to anything, must make
himself. 1t, therefore, behooves US to go
to work upon ourselves. We ought to
take ourselves more seriously in the high
est possible sense. We nave capacities.
God has made US for som good. He has
given us each one talent at least. The
sons of God, we do not belong to the rub
Dish pile of the universe. If we VIII take
ourselves in hand-if we viii be ourselves
and not try to be somebody else-if We
will serve our own mIssion-if we will
faithfully and honestly accept and meet
the situation as we iGd it, we VIII sur
prise ourselves sooner or later when the
results will begin to appear.
while we live, let us live" or as the
cd Romans put it-"dum vivimus vivi-
mus" But let us insist upon life in the
best possible sense. There is capital
enough to begin with. We can develop
sturdier fiber. We need not be ordinary
commonplace, vulgar, inane and insipid.
Mediocrity is inexcusable. We can be
high-toned, we can be splendid specimens
of manhood and ~womanhood, We can be
our best and do our best, We can be our
true selves by growing more and more into
the likeness of the strong Son of Man.