The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-06-01
"LIFE'S ASSETS"
A Bright Sunday Sermon By Rev. Dr.
Arthur n. Goodenough.
Talks InstruetIyeIy on the Infinite Possibilities
That Are 10 Man.

n Coodenough preached Sunday morning
IN "Life's Assets" The text was from i
Corinthians iii:2l, 22. 49, For all things
are yours; whether PAU, or Apolos, or
bephas. or the world or life, or death, or
Jhings present, or things to come; all are
tours. and We are Christ's and Christ is
Gods" DIR. Coodenough said:
Man aspires. His eye is on the sky.
Nan was made to walk erect. His impulse
: to climb. This fact indicates his des
my. The earth beneath us and the world
,bout us contribute to our fight, but they
,ffer US no home. The world, so near to
,s and so essential to our present life, has
ts limitations and fstters. Man is impa
hent of limitations he aspres to the in
5nte and the infinite is always above us.
The nobler mans nature the more rest
ess and determined is he to ascend No
philosophy of life is true that fails to rec
,gnize this instinct of the soul. Man de-
tires more room, more room is above, and
above is something that attracts and
draws. That fact is mans salvation.
4. is generally believed that man had his
origin in God. God is the root from
which all men have sprung: 1t is equally
true that God is the complement of man
and his goal. How noble is man. What
infinite possibilities are in him. Man is not
waif, aimlessly wandering through
hackless wilderness, nor an orphan minus
} parents gu ling hand and tender voice.
Mans origin and destiny are one. 1t is
god. If your five-year.oid boy is in need
be instinctvcly cries, MY father" If he is
h trouble he as naturally cries, My
mother" Instantly the complement Of his
aeedy nature is at hand. Father and
mother are to him all that he needs. We
Ire only larger children, with larger and
more imperative needs. Is there any help
Tor us? We have outgrown the ability
pf our earthly parents to help us. What
,hsll we do? As the thirsty OK turns to
thc babbiing brook. we turn our eyes to
the heavens and say, MY Father-God,
help comes. Here we have the philosophy
bf happiness and the secret of success. As
witnesses to this fact we call to the stand
Augustine, Bernard. John Howe, Isaac
Watts and Charles Wesley. The upward
look wins. The man who aspires to God,
Ind holiness, and immortality is the one
10 whom this text is spoken. "All things
pre- yours; for ye are Christ's and Christ
b Gods
The thing that wise men are thinking
lbout is life. Bread and acres and dollars
IRE only incidental. God made the acres.
Gods sunshine and showers grew the grain
from which the bread is made. God fur
nished the material to make the dollar.
Therefore, acres and bread and dollars are
good because God had something to do
with producing them. These are valuable
contributions TO life, some of our life
values. Life itself Is worth more than all
Of them. put together. The man who cul-
sivatas your farm is 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
world need be poor. There are other values
beside dollars. We are heirs to untold
riches. Our heavenly Father, the unseen
capitalist, has invested largely in us, and
He is no spendthrift. He has put the
t,aI,, x.,har t,plxy -
feeble thing at the beginning; SO is the
acorn, but in the acorn is the massive
pak; so is the bulb, but the bulb contains
The tint and perfume of the lily. So life
es we see it in the babe, it contains a
kepler, q Newton, a Gladstone, a Nc
kinley.
Characte. is a result, product. Charac,
Yer tells the story of our conduct and in
austry. Character is the fruitage of our
thinking, orr willing, our loving, our doing.
And character is the man. Character de,
sermines ones value to himself and to
siety: This is what makes biography the
popular literature OF our day. People in
terest people. Biography is death to pes
bimism. Thousands OF men and women
Nave succeeded in life. They have feasted
on the universe and enjoyed the infinite,
and the books tell us how they did it.
My young friends, the one thing in this
world for you to do, is to follow their
example. You may. Character is no ready
made thing; it is made to order. 1t means
plan and purpose and persistence. You
do not have to make the machinery nor
the material; these are furnished. The Sc.
lection of the web, the feeding of the loom,
the weaving of the cloth 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 chance, ave, more,
every man has probability of success,
There are possibilities OF failure, and many
seem to fail, but there is no excuse for
failure. Oh. horrible, heartbreaking word
Is failure. May none OF you ever know
what it means. There is a way of escape
from it. Make right, not to say, best,
use OF what is in you, wisely appropriate
what is about you give reason the rein.
Enthrone conscience. Be religious. And
livery step will be an ascent, every act the
advance of the soul, and the enrichment
Of being. All things are yours to do with
1t was never easier to be good than
how. Perhaps it is never easy to be good.
What makes it easier to be good to-day
than 1t was yesterday The multiplicity OF
helps at hand. To read some newspapers
and to hear some speakers, one would
Iuppose that nobody was good. The fact is,
the world is full OF good people. What is
goodness Not the muttering OF creed
nor the repeating OF a prayer; not the
reading of the Bible nor going to church.
Good people do these things, but these
things are not essentially goodness. Bad
people may do them, too. Goodness is
consideration for the other fellow, sweet
ness OF temper, gentleness of conduct, noble
ness of purpose, love to God and man. 1t
Is to live kindly and truly and well. 1t is
like the Christ doing good every day and
everywhere. his Is the goodness that
counts in our day. And we rejoice to be
Iieve that it is constantly on the increase
Goodness is true religion, and true religion
Is goodness. The two are inseparable. IL
Is a culturing, refining, elevating process
1t is ever making for the best that life il
capable Of What God wants Tor His chill
dren is .Ae best The desire of God il
human haoDincss. To this end He is pa
tient and indulgent. He is prodigal in
gifts. He is ever lavishiDg His love upon
u.s. God is neither mean nor little. He Is
the great Father, giving Himself for the
salvation, the enrichment, the perfect hap.
piness OF His children. God 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 everything is happiness. Happi
ness is everywhere. Wander in the woods
walk in the meadow, meander by the
stream, rest in the valley and climb to the
hilltop, and in everything and everywhere
YOU will find happiness. 1t springs up like
q well of life, filling the air with its
music, flooding the earth with its Joys.
How much more does our heavenly Father
desire you, His children, to be happy. The
only condition of happiness is to be good.