The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-08-23
be 50: for our highest interest is to be

our own being in and the harmony or
rightness of our rela tons with all other
beings and with the laws and forces
Of the universe in which We find our
place. Everything worth having or
worth desiring is involved in charac-
ter, in being simply and soundly right.
The world comes right when the man
comes right. What it is TO each one
of us depends on what We are and how
we take it. We make our own hells,
we can make our own heavens.
"When the soul to sin hath died,
True and beautiful and sound
Then all Garth is sanctifed,
Upsprlngs paradise around"
A rough-cast man rose in a country
Westinghouse to tell his experience:
1T was in the north country, when
the snow lay deep on the ground, that
the Lord God found out Jonathan
Hinckley and converted his soul. And
the leafiess trees gave praise to God"
Is there one among US who might not
report to himself somethin.r like this
happy converts story? Who has not
at some time felt sure Of his place in
the great order, and seen all the world
irradiated with a light which really
Shone from within the mind?
If q man has lost his faith in God
and still holds fast his own integrity,
well for the man. But, in this very
concern to be true to the highest law
he knows, he is unconSciously wor-
shipper. Blessed is the man who hun
gers and thirsts for Righteousness, for
= r, ~ h vii nhnc
of all treasures. We who believe in
God need not be seriously troubled
about the fate or state Of honest non
believers. for we may count their very
honesty as sign of the real presence
and the finest inspiration.
Once accept the principle Of duty,
and all life becomes an honorable dis
cipline and a steady advance. There
is no higher rank on earth OF in heaven
than the rank Of personal goodness;
and be who loves it, seeks it, and
ractices it for its own sake is surely
moving, how ever slowly, toward the
perfect life.
Here also is the cure, and the only
cure, for our restlesSness and self
dissatisfaction. "No man can serve
two masters But he who falls
heartily in love with virtue is no
longer distracted by a divided allegi-
ance. He has nothing else to do but
to occupy himself with learning and
doing what is right and reasonable.
Having settled the central principle
and leading purpose of his life, every
step onward and upward makes the
next easier; and the law Of habit con-
tinually operates to confirm this deep
hearted choice. He is no longer driven
by the lash of conscience; he is no
more a servant, but son, and the
Fathers house is his happy home.
Here too is the secret Of victory
over our trials and depressions. When
shall we half realize the grandeur and
glory of simple rectitude Let me
again repeat tale of real life. Years
ago, and far away, I knew a woman
of most fine and excellent qualities
whose deeply shadowed life was like
long cruciiXion and martyfdom. In
one of her letters she said. "My youth
is gone, my hope is dead, and my heart
is heavy; but neglect no duty" In
reply 1 sand: "If you could ask God
for just one blessing, and could be
sure of that one and never Of another,
would you dare pray that your youth
might come back, or that your earthly
hopes might be renewed2 Would you
not ask for living principle within
yourself that would make you neglect
no duty? And can you not see that,
in giving you the love of Righteousness,
He has really given you the best thing
in all the uniyerse?" In her next let
ter she wrote that this view of the
ma tier was new to her own mind, but
that she accepted it as true, and found
in it strength to take up her burden
a burden carried, as I believe, with
patience, courage, and constancy to
the end, which was not far away.
There is one thing more to be said.
He who really loves righteousness can
not love it for himself alone; he hun
gers for its triumph over all the earth;
he longs for the banishment of every
wrong. Hence his zeal for justice is
sweetened with good will to men, SO
that righteousness becomes one form
of benevolence. The right is always
the good. Hence the ethical passion
kindled from the heart Of Jesus has
famed out in adherence Of wrong
and evil, and has lent support and
vigor to every movement for reform
and welfare. "It is a spurious virtue
that can contentedly see vice thriving
by its side" The gospel is no gospel
if it does not turn the hearts of men
toward each other as well as toward
God. 1t is no gospel if it does not unite
all believers in wise, well-considered,
and earnest movements for the cleans
ing of the world and the better order
ing of all human life. Righteousness
is rightness. To hunger and thirst for
righteousness therefore is all one with
the prayer that Gods kingdom may
come, and that His will may be done
on earth as it is in heaven.