The Newtown bee., 1905-03-17
SOCIAL TOPICS.
THE POWER OF HOPE.-BY o. o.
 WRIGHT.

The Christian life, first of all, is an ideal life. It is life of hope. We have not as yet attained the end in view. We have only the earnest and expectation of it as we go forward toward our goal. We can realize it only as we hope for it; and the more we hope the more we realize; and the more we realize, the more there is for which to hope.
 In the nature of the case the things for which we hope in the spiritual life are unseen. We can perceive and un- derstand them only by faith, and lay hold on them by anticipation. Faith is the beginning of all true spiritual life, and hope is the first fruit of our faith. It is only as we believe in God that we can begin to lay hold on the unseen things of eternal life. Then hope grows up out of our faith. If there is eternal life we want it. And when we find that our Father in heaven wants to give us His spiritual kingdom with all it's priceless treas ureS, and that His Word is full of in- vita tions and promises to all who do in truth believe, then we begin to hope that we, too, may enter into His ever lasting inheritance. And as hope springs up and grows in our hearts we INV III CA APOSU0ulOu O1 UldU ID UO come. We think of the riches of divine grace; we long for the peace, and joy, and comfort of the Gospel: we picture to ourselves the beauty and order, and glory of the life that IS made perfect in the spiritual world; and we strive to make ourselves fit, prepared, and worthy to enter into that rest which remaineth ever for the spiritual children of God.
 This power of hope in us is the evil dence of the divine nature born in us by the Holy Spirit. The image of the infinite Father, awakened and re- newed within our spirits seeks the divine favor which alone can satisfy the soul. And so we are saved by hope, in the practice of our faith in God. "The earnest of the Spirit m our hearts" inspires us continually to every good word and work. It is in our nature to hope. Without it we should do nothing worthy of our being Something to hope for is the prime are progressive creatures, and we must have hope or we perish. It is because we are spiritual in the deepest powers with which the Creator endowed us, that our Father in heaven has revealed Himself to us. As the Apostle says: "For whatsoever things were written afOretime were written for our learn ing, that we through patience and comfort might have hope.''
 It is the power of hope that sustains US under all our trials, and saves us from Encouragement and despair. There is always some reason left for us to hope. Experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed" So long as we have life there is hope. The loss of one thing leads us to fix our desires on another. And though we may seldom realize all that we hope for, still we hope. There is always room for hope, and by hoping we strengthen and en- large the power of hope in ourselves, and inspire it in others. In fact such are our relations to the things unseen and eternal that we may even hope against hope, or at least when the con- ditiOnS so far as we can see furnish no reasonable ground for it. Such was the faith of Abraham, "who against hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to. that which was spoken. J
 This power of hope is the necessary condition of our moral and spiritual education. There is no other school of the virtues and graces of the Spirit Ol IfuUQ UndQ GQdU OI our edrUuly eX- periences. We are subjected to the weakness of the mortal nature; to the temptations of the world, the flesh, ,and our faith in all things, in the hope that we shall learn to overcome evil with good; and that denying the works of the flesh we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit unto the life everlasting.
 MT Smith, Editor THE BEE: I am much interested in the letters and other historical incidents printed in your paper. Glover Hawley went the same year, '49, but my brother crossed the Panama isthmus on foot. He re- fers to him often as Dan, sometimes as Curtis. l have just completed a