The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-06-01
DEEP THOUGHT THE IDEAL
SPLENDID BACCALAUREATE SER.
MON TO GRADUATES.
THOUGHT is SUCCESS SECRET
Nations Think and Men Think, Dis.
tlnguishing Them from 5rutes-He
Who Thinks Most, Wins over Corn.
rades-Specializ the True IDEAL
from Mondays Dailv.l


Notwithstanding atmospherical con
ditions that were not pleasant the au-
ditorium of the Methodist church was
crowded and the lecture room partially
filed to hear the baccalaureate sermon
which was preached by DR.. ID. X. Tin
dali yesterday morning. The corps of
teachers with the graduates occupied
seats in the central tier of seats and
the most of the school board were
present. On every side were heard |
enthusiastic words of praise for the
excellent sermon. 1t was said to be
one of the strongest that has ever been
given in Norfolk on an occasion of
that kind. 1t was eloquent as well as
instructive.
The subject was: Man Thinker"
The text was taken from the fourth
chapter of PHILIPPIANS and the eighth
verse: Think on these things" DR..
Tindall said in part:
God is a thinker. The universe is
a thought of God. 1t is just as reason
able to suppose that handful of type
could be carelessly thrown together
and produce Homer's Illiad as to
suppose that the universe could hap
pen by accident. God thinks great
things and they are. He thought flow.
ers and they bloomed; birds and they
went flying through the air; beasts
and they roamed the fields. God
thought His highest thought and man
sprang into being to be the lord OF
creation and the Monarch of all he
surveys"
Nations think. The thought of
Greece was art, philosophy and litera-
ture. The thought of Rome was law
and government. OF the Hebrew race,
the greatest thought of all nations, re-
ligion of Monotheism and later chris
tianity. The thought of England was
the Magma Charta. OF France, the
Renaissance.
individuals have thought. Luther
| thought of the reformation, John Wes-
| ley's thought was of the evangelization
of the world. Some of our forefathers
thought, the result was the Declaration
of independence.
The thing that distinguishes man
from brute is his power of thought.
Instinct moves blindly toward it's end
while man reasons a way to conclu-
sion. There is no advancement in in
stinct. The beaver builds the same
kind of dam today that it did years
ago There is no improvement in the
hive of the bee. But man has ad-
vanced because of his power of think
ing from the cliff dweller to the inhab-
liant of mansions and palaces.
Dewey's victory at Manila was not
an accident but the result of thought.
Men differ in their achievements be
cause one man thinks and the other
does not. Lincoln was advanced over
other rail splitters because he thought
more. Garfield was better than other
mule drivers because he thought out
things as he trudged along the tow
path. Roger Sherman went from the
shoeshop to the place of statesman be-
cause he thought more than other shoe
cobblers. Franklin was different from
most printers because he thought more
than most printers. Jesus was the
| >
was the greatest thinker of the ages.
Thought should be broad but not
diffusive. Man cannot master al
learning. Think deeply and master q
few things. Sometimes one idea is
enough to distinguish life. Newton's
one idea was gravitation. Luther, the
reformation; Darwin, evolution; Edi
81 h,ti
great ideas is the ideal.
Thought is healthful exercise
Late hours, bad habits, corrupt thought
breaks down the health. Too much
, study has hurt few people who have
been true to Gods moral laws.
We should not be biased in oul
thinking. Our thought should be hon
est. Huxley could see an atom bu
would fail to see a God who is infinite
ly more movable. Tyndall coulC
think of sound wave but could no
quicken his ear to listen to the voice
of God. Herbert Spencer devoted hi!
: life to the finding out of the thing!
u which could not be known instead O
thinking the things that are known.
Think the thoughts of the truth. Je
sus was truth. PLATE asked, "Wha
is truth?" Jesus did not answer thu
question but once said: 81 am the
way, the truth" Christianity is truth
= Think thoughts that are pure, lovel!
> and lovable. The body is not all. In
tellect is not all. Spiritual life is no
all. Educate the body alone and yol
III. 1,,t@
and you may have an agnostic or ;
skeptic Educate all and you have
symmetry. 1t is said that the christian
meetings held by Moody during thu
Columbian exposition had more refin
ing and restraining effect on the mul
y titudes than all the art display of thu
. great exhibition. Religion, christian
:. religion, is the thought that has haC
4 the greatest power for good upon man
i II. -.