The Penn's Grove record., 1905-05-05
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reel and toss, till at last sobbing as
though its heart would break, it would
burst into a myriad briny tears upon
the shore and pour from its wretched
bosom the seaweed and driftwoOd and
filth it has gathered in the journey.
Ina wave never saw the sun. But
I've looked again. The sea was like a
mirror, as clear as crystal. / could see
the pearly pebbles, and there in its
heart l could see the sun. The pure
hearted waters lay all day long and
looked into the face of the sun. Hap
py, blessed are the pure, the single in
heart, 'for they shall see God"
The mar who has a supreme desire
to please God, he is pure. He may
have temptation, he may stumble, he
may fall. but he rises again, and he is
farther ahead. l shame to confess il.
Dut once played football, the barbar-
ism of college. I've seen a man fall
Inc slide four times as far as he could
go without falling. He's a pure man,
though his clothes are covered with
CRIME. The man who is pure in heart
shall see Him that is invisible. The
man who serves God shall see Him.
Happy are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called the children of God.
God is a peacemaker, and hath recon
ciled all things unto Himself. And
now the man who makes peace shall
be called His son. He has passed
through the school, asG mas learned
poverty and mourning and mercy and
~singleness of heart, and now he is
taken into the family of God as Moses
was taken into the family of Pharaoh's
daughter.
There is one other 'bIessed' spoken
by Jesus. 1t is found in the COMPARE
tive form. at is more blessed to give
than to receive" 1t makes more for
happiness to give than to get. When
self is the centre there is no happiness.
But when self is forgotten there is hap
piness at its height. When a man
knows he has nerves he cannot be
happy. MI. Rockefeller thinks that
happiness can be ruined by a sensitive
stomach. The happy man is he who
not knowing that he has nerves or
stomach cares for the other man.
This is the call to self-sacrifce. How
utterly intOlerable this world would be
if every n lived for himself. Happily
this cannot be. and the altruism lies at
the bottom Of family and social life.
But there are different kinds of sacri-
fee. There is the sacrifice of self TO
self, of the lower to the higher, of the
passion to principle. There is the sac
ritce of self for others. and there is
the highest sacrifice, that is, of self to
God. Do we talk of JOY in these
things? Most people think of them as
a disagreeable sort of necessity. May
be we see that this necessity serves a
useful end. But to rejoice in them!
10 take up sacrifice with a song,
that seems out of the question. That
is the dream of the poet.
Giving is blessed, because it is most
like God. He has need of nothing but
just to give. The glory of the-gospeI
is a happy God, but He gave His Son.
He might have stripped heaven of its
angels and it would not have impOver-
ished Him. The only gift that He
could feel was the gift of His Son.
And that was what made Him happy.
God Himself could not be happy if He
had withholden this greatest gift.
That was the law which Jesus de-
clared. 1t makes more for happiness
to give than to get. The whole life OF
Jesus was giving. but the happiest mo.
ment was that last, when He said:
Father, into Thy hands 1 commend
My spirit" and He had given His life
for a ransom.
In these simple words, then. 1 find
the whole philosophy of salvation, OF
happiness and of heaven. If a nan
mourn for his sin, he shall be com.
forted and an infinite peace shall dry
his tears. If a man hunger for right.
ness, he shall be filled. If he strive &c
serve God with a single heart, he shall
see Him. If He do the work of God
and live at peace, he shall be called
the child of God, and if he seek for
chances to pour out his life in service,
he shall find heaven about him on
every side. And this is the secret of
happiness.