The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-16

CT it be so in reality or not. we feel
 as if a perfect state in which we once I lived had left its lingering impress
 on the spirit to keep us forevermore i from perfect satisfaction with an Im- perfect life.
 | Handed down to us through the gen. | erations of the ages past are dim recol-
 lections of golden age when man I dwelt in some garden of Eden., per- i feet being, fresh from the hands of 1 God. We are half way conscious of ! great change that has come into the
 world-a change from innocence to sin.
 There was a time when meadow. grove and stream.
 The earth and every common sight to | me did seem
 Apparelled in celestial light. the glory | and the freshness of dream.
 It Is not now as it hath been of yore- 1 Turn whereso'er I may 1 By night or day, | The things which ] have seen I now can see no more. | "The rainbow comes and goes. And lovely Is the rose.
 The moon doth with delight | Look round her when the heavens are 1 bare. | Waters on starry night
 | Are beautiful and falr.
 The sunshine Is a glorious birth: But yet know wher'er l go.
 That there hath passed away glory | from the earth"
 | Linked with this inborn faith in a Paradise Lost. are inborn intimations | of Paradise to be Regained. Cpon the
 ruins of what it has been the soul 1 builds its hope of a new creation. The | immortal spirit cries out for a return to its primaeval perfection. The past holds up to view the portrait of our first ancestors as they were before the Fall ana creates in us an unsuitable | longing.
 "As has been said. Our species has
 not the aspect of one who has com pleted his journey, but of one still pro- tceeding upon it. Humanity has ever
 shown a brow darkened with care and dissatisfaction-an eyeN fixed on the distance, with staff in hand 1 The soul gazes upward toward the abode of the Infinite One; and in It's depths knows that its true home is in His boundless star-decked realm.
 where in His fulness It's deepest ca pacities are filled and His beauty It's
 utmost longing is satisfied.
 | '"The Psalmist, in saying that he will be satisfied when he awakes with the I
 satisfied now and that he will not be
 satisfied until he does awake with the likeness of God. And what he says of himself is true of all his kind. Con- | tentment has reference to our attitude toward our outward estate-what we | have and what we are. And 1t Is right | for every one, in whatsoever state he | is, herewith to be content. But that
 Is not satisfaction. There Is In the world sufficient noise to drown the voice that awakes the souls aspira- tions, so that its alluring harmonies
 are no longer heard, but that Is not
 satisfaction. There are in this life many things to make us forgetful of all our highest possibilities and priv ileges and obligations. so that no de- | ficiency in ourselves is felt, but that
 Is not satisfaction.
 l What the Psalmist implies as true for himself is true for all mankind; we are not satisfied with our present state. There is an aching void in the human
 heart which the world can never fill l When Maud Muller glanced from | her hayfield to the far-off town:
 Her sweet ssng died. and vague l unrest,
 And a nameless longing filled her r breast;
 A wish, she hardly dared to own,
 For something better than she had | known l "In a higher sense 1t is true of every
 soul that Is not lost to its higher self that there come nameless longings and wishes for something better than 1t yet has, known.
 1 Having in them by nature this deep
 seated unsuitable dissatisfaction. men
 seek in various ways to have 1t re- lieved. The consciousness of our inn | perfection along with the conscious
 ness of possible happiness, is constant
 ly causing new aspirations to arise within us, and we give ourselves to va
 rious pursuits in the hope that our
 restless spirits will be quieted. and
 complete satisfaction attained. Thus
 are men constantly urged for
 ward in one course or another
 as if in pursuit of some heeting phan | tom. very common illustration of | this is seen in the mad rush for
 wealth. With multitudes of our race to | lay up treasures on earth, Is the one
 all-absorbing purpose of existence. They know no higher motive in life; | they dream of larger mission; they de- | sire no nobler end. All energies of
 body and mind are devoted to the pur-
 suit; never stopping to ask themselves
 the question. What Is man profited | If he shall gain the whole world ani
 lose his own soul? They set their
 hearts on gaining all they can of the
 world at whatever cost to their souls. | Neglecting the divine command. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His
 righteousness. and all these things shall
 be added unto you they seek these
 things first. last and always, while | God and His kingdom are not in all | their thoughts.
 But after 1t has been gained, does wealth give satisfaction? As we'll
 might we ask does 1t satisfy the hun
 gry mans desire for food for him to
 breathe the morning air or his thirst | for him to gaze into the light of the monday sun. The wise man says He l that loveth silver shall not be satisfied
 with silver. nor he that loveth abund- ance with increase Wealth can sup ply some of the needs that belong to us