The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-01-15

I
- the most vulgar money lover. They
who iaIl may be even more worldly than
they who succeed However that may he
our present concern ls with the admonition
that warns us not 10 bury cur talent by
living solely toI temporal goods Every
day we are exposed 10 the contagion Of
earthly domination How easy II Is 70 let
ourselves down 10 a low degree of
thought. desire and qualification. We are
kin 20 the elements about us. We belong
20 two worlds-to earth a. well as 10
heaven. With pardonab,e fondness we re-
fer 10 our present abode as mother
earth" We came ourselves from IT'S bo-
som. We get all that We have out Of the
ground-our food and ralment. our
houses, our books our sciences and arts,
AL the material blessings with which We
are enriched. Here reposes all that was
mortal OF our beloved dead, and at their
funeral rites the church sand earth 10
earth Here the great have lived, the
brave have fought for right and rights,
and royal souls have done their work for
the cause of progress. Here Jesus spent
three and thirty years HIS feet trod upon
its hllls and wales. His precious blood
flowed down from His sacred body 10 its
soil, and HIS mangled corpse lay IN it's
tomb How much the earth has IA 10 90
iasclnate. Is Il a marvel that So many fall
before its seductions aud hide the great
and holy talent m the clay! How natural,
hut how wicked To every one who buties
the talent-ms personal force-n worldli-
ness comes the sharp condemnation, thou
wicked and slothiul servant
lt rs nothing less than a high crime 10
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 Toe efficient and effective
throughout h,s sphere, when he can make
a contribution 10 the fund of goodness and
happiness what a sorry pity It u that he
should put such possibilities INTO hole.
And Yet that is precisely what so many
are dong. Some of them are rich. while
others are poor. some have knowledge and
culture, while others are ignorant and
hard, but they are all alike IN that they
have buried the precious plit. 10 mattcrs
not whether they are lofty OF lowly, wheth-
or they live IN a palace or a garret they
have erred gnevously if they have buried
the power which alone can make life worth
hNing. What an unspoakable degradation
lt rs To leave the PLAIN where God would
have us think and work and 10 descend TO
the slavery of a vulgar ambition for world
ly concerns. To pass ones years without
raising 10 the dignity aud CXCollonces of
noble manhood and noble womanhood-to
90 on from year TO year without rccoguz-
ing the DeIty-and without noting the
privileges which Christ has assured-to Tc.
duce ourselves 10 the Level OF machinery,
60 set up song and dance as though that
were the greatest thing IN the worlds TO
take ourselves INTO a region which rs not
MT for Immortals Let us do our worl, aud
ENJOY our recrcatIous, but let US also ap.
proclate the doctrine that 90 bc true men
and true women n the highest possible es-
tate. Away with the base delusion that
the average person - called TO a condition
OF inevitable nieriorlty, and that Il is not
for him 10 look for large personal develop
NJ
II they would use their talents.
We have personality. There ~ such n
thing as the personal equation Every.
body has fair chance The man who has
buried his talent Is apt 20 deny all this.
and may possibly settle down to be a fatal.
ist, a pesslmist misanthropc, a chrome
Rrumblcr. How true the parable ~ 20 ma
turc and 90 life. The complainant - out
Of harmony with everybody and every.
| thing. HIS grdygmen - most mloycH. lie
may urge hcrodlty by alleging that his an
tccedcnts were unidyOIaule and his birth
right counts tor nothing He may point TO
circumstances as prohlbnory and iuvincI-
hle when he would assert his right 10 bc a
man. He may charge that divine provi-
dencc constantly thwarts HIM and reduces
his every hope 10 ashes Ia the last anay.
| sls he takes the position OF the condemned
man Of the parable and says to the Lord /.
j knew that Thou ant an hard man" an
that the Lord had gwen ham whole tai
ent. Although the human heart rccog-
nzes some measure of responsibility, II at
tCmpts 10 argue the matter and sets uu a
defense, and II ends hy laying the blame at
the feet OF God The Father has done HIS
| part abundantly; 1t only remains for HIS
| children to do theirs, the talent has value
only IN IT'S use
81. Paul vIcws tins question from a most
exalted standpoint II, says There are
dlYersltIes Of gifts, but the same Spirit.
aud there are difference OF administration.
but the same Lord, and there are dlycrs-
ties Of operations but II ~ the same God
that workoth all IA all, but the manifcsta-
tIon OF the Splrit - gwen 10 every man TO
profit withal'
We speak oi eelfmade men as though
they were miracles. Ina referring 10 them
az such as mean that. Iu spite Of Difficult
ties, they have attained remarkable excel
loncc. But every worthy individual ~ self
made 10y the paCe oi God. Even under
the nost favorable cIrCumstances, 4 man,
II hc IS 20 amount TO anything must make
himself J.. therefore, behooves ua 10 20
! 10 work upon ourscivcs We ought to
take ourselves more seriously IN the high
est possible sense. We have capactief
God has made az for some good. Ho has
gwen " each one talent at east The
sons OF God, we do not belong 60 the rub
blFb pre- bl lht universe. II we VIII take
ourselves m hand-i We viii b. ourselves
and not try 30 H. somebody clse-if We
viii serve our own missIon-if We will
faithfully and honestly accept and meet
the situation a. Nc find a.. wc viii sur
PRISE OuTtoly"z sooner or later when the
results viii begin 10 appear.
While we live Jet us live" or a. IN,
Old Romans put dun yivimus vivI-
mus But lot us insist upon life m the
best possible sense There ~ capital
enough 10 begin with. We can develop a
sturdier fiber We need not be ordinary
commonplace, vulgar, name aud Innpid.
MediOcrity - IueXcusabic. We can be
hgh-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.