The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-01-14

| written in heavens book OF worthless.
1t Is impossible TO acquit the man with
one talent who md the divine gilt. His
wrong was not the misuse or the abuse,
but the non-uSe, of his personal force. . He
does not belong to the category OF the VIC
TINS. he is not chargeGb,e with iniQuties
which suggest that there HAY be some
truth alter all in the Old, discarded notion
OF the total da'.r2vity or human nature,
ard yet the Lord Savs to him. "thou
wicked and sothful servant" He was
wicked. not because he had sQuandeTed or
| lost the gilt, but only because he had hid
Gen it.
That is just what thousands and thou-
sands are doing TODAY. They pus their
talent iii the earth. In spite OF all their
worth they are SEunted and IMPOVERISHED
because they are ''of the earth earthy."
| The worldly spirit is not restricted by any
means 10 those who pile up colossal for
| tunes or who are the habitues OF Vanity
Fair 4 bcgoar nay be. and probably is,
quite ~ mach Of a mammoa worshiper as
| Is the most vulgar money lover. They
! who TAI! lnav hc even more worldly than
| they who succeed. However that may be,
! our present concern is with the admonition
sat warns Us not to bury our talent by
living solely Tor temporal goods. Every
| day We are exposed to the contagion of
earthly domination. How easy it is to let
| ourselves down to low degree OF
thought. desire and qualification: We are
| kin to the elements about us. We belong
to two worids-to earth as well as to
heaven. With pardonahle fondness we re-
fer to our present abode as mother
earth We came ourselves from its be-
som. We get al that we have out OF the
ground-our food and raiment. 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 be,oved dead. and at their
funeral rites the church said earth To
earth Here the. great have lived. the
brave have fought Tor 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 hills and wales. His precious blood
flowed down from His sacred body 10 its
soil. and His mangled corpse lay in its
tomb. How much the earth has in it to
fascinate. Is it a marvel that so many fall
before its seductions and hide the great
and holy talent in the clay! How natural,
hut how wicked TO every one who buries
the ta!ent--his personal force-in werldli-
ness comes the sharp condemnation, thou
wicked and slothful servant
It 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
contribution to the fund of goodness and
happiness. what a sorry pity it is that he
should put such possibilities into a hole.
And yet that Is precisely what so many
are doing. 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 git. IL matters
not whether they are lofty or lowly. wheth-
er they live in 4 palace or a garTet. they
have erred Grievousiy If they have buried
the power which alone can make life worth
living. What an unspeallable degradation
it IS 10 leave the plain where God wou.d
have Us think and work and to descend 10
the slavery OF a vulgar ambition for world
ly concerns. 10 pass ones Years without
raising TO the dignity and eXcellenceS OF
noble manhood and noble womanhood-to
20 on from year to year without recogniz-
ing the Deity-and without noting the
privileges which Christ has assured-to re-
duce ourselves to the level OF machinery,
to set up song and dance as though that
were the greatest thing in the worlds TO
take ourselves into a region which is not
fit for immortals. Let us do our work and
enjoy our recreations, but let Gus also APP
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 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
thing as the personal equation" Every
bo1v has fair lhopce The man who has
buried his talent Is apt TO deny all this,
and may possibly settle down to be a fatal
ist. a pessimlst. misanthrope. chronic
grumbler How true the parable is to ma
ture and to life. The complainant is out
of harmony with everybody and every
thing. His gravamen is most unlovely. He
may urge heredity by alleging that his an
teoedents were unfavorable and his birth
right counts for nothing. He may point to
circumstances as prohibltorv and lnvlncl-
BILE when he would assert his right to be a
man. lie may charge that divine provi-
Gence constantly thwarts him and reduces
his every hope to ashes. In the last analy..
sis ne takes the position of the condemned
man of the parable and says to the Lord:
Il 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, 1t 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 abundautly; il only remains for His
children to do theirs; the talent has value
only in its Use.
ST. Pau! views this question from 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 but the manifesto
ton OF the Spirit is given to every man to
profit witkai."
We spea!: of seif.made men as though
they were miracles. In referring t. them
rs such as mean thai, in spite OF difficult
ties, they have attained remarkable excel
!cucc. But every worthy individual is self
made by the gr.cc or God. Even under
ihe most favorable circumstances, nan,
if lie is to amount 10 anything. must make
himself. 1t. therefore. behooves lis to 20
10 work upon ourselves. We ought to
take ourselves more seriously in the high
est possible sense. We have capacities
n - b,, ,nodn H. fpr snmc unnl flo has