Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1905-06-01
LAMPS ann Llears.

The utterance OF the heatltudes is
ended; their application must begin.
The danger Is that they shall he no
more than beautiful attitudes, These
eloquent words are 10 issue in actual
deeds, they are the outlines OF the
characteristics that produce light.glv.
Ing lives. Jesus did not speak these
words SO that preachers might have
50 many suitable texts on which 10
hang their thoughts, but that people
might have plain paths for the prtc.
tIce of virtue. one nf the most com
mon mistakes Is that of suppoSiag
that all required Of man IL that he
shall indorse these doctrines. Jesus
little cares whether we indorSe them
er not so hong as we learn to do them,
There We're already plenty who could
analyze his teachings he wanted men
and women 10 demonstrate them.
Therefore, he called, not for lamps 60
carry the light Of his truth, hut for
lights lives burning with ana living
that truth.
He became the light OF the world by
giving life 10 the world; so must ali
they who follow him Light IL iifc,
and every life is llghtgiver. The life,
Of tie world depends not upon the
number or the beauty OF its lamps:
1t depends ON the clear shining OF its
lights. The salvation Of the world de-
pends not On our orthodox thinking,
nor upon our effective organizing. but
upon our enllghtenlng living. Men are
anxious and distressed because the
fashion IN candlesticks changes: some
have spent their whole lives trying 10
show how much better Is a brass can
dlestick than a glass one; they would
redeem humanity by the shape OF .he
lamp or the logic of the inscription
thereon.
The hope OF the world Is In larger
things. II is neither In pulpit nor in
press; II Is in the people; IL is not In
the church, but In character. There
is no preaching that begins to be as
ION Nlt ht HNtHbAAatiAlf iD RkAI Itht
that of life. There was a life that
led men with its clear light before
ever a creed was formally stated, aud
1t will still be a life that shall lead
them whether they remember their
creeds or forget them,
The many little, apparently insig-
rificant, lights consisting of all these
ChristlIke lives, shining together have
turned their darkness into day. We
speak OF the dark ages" and we be-
lieve that these are now the ages of
light. The enllghtening Of the world,
the end of those days of the darkness
OF sin, superstition, slavery, and sor-
row, has come about because men
have learned TO lift up their heads to |
the great light Of all lives: they then |
have learned OF him the duty OF giving |
light. Under the inspiration of his life |
they could not. be content to enjoy |
the light Of learning for them.
selves; he gave them the light OF love
as well as that of learning, and love |
taught men to give ont their light, not |
for their own adorning or glory bat |
for the leading and enllghtenlng Of all. |
Whether great or small, here is
no man can escape; IL he
has life he is some kind Of light. |
And they who profess to follow the
light of all lives must be his kind of |
4 light lie sends them into the world |
even as he came himself, TO live life.
That Is every mans work. He cannot |
pay another to do his living, his shin
Ing for him There is nothing that
can be accepted as a substitute for
this. 1t is simple, so simple that men
ever seek more involved ways; the
way to do the sublime work of saving
the world is the simple way Of living
out always the best you know.
Better is it to be a glowing tallow
lip in a tin candlestick than a costly
wax unwilling to burn even though
set in golden stand. There Is no
Drilllancc without burning; no enlight-
ening without much loss, and the
world Is lifted by those lives that, like
his, have never stopped to count their
losses.