The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-31

brance Of a young man RADIANT Wln
hopes that are stifed; the long-for
Messiah. Son of God. founder of a
religion. whose life was all for human
veal, crucifed in the populous capital
of His nation as q malefactor, and the
tragedy of Calvary becomes pathetic
in the extreme. If the Oberammergau
play is so heartrending, the loved dis
ciples of Jesus must have had an ex-
perience in pathos rarely felt by NOR
tai. 1t is a wonder some Of them did
not die from sheer pity.
To-day we observe Passion Week
and the forty days Of Lent. Art, lit
erature and sermons picture the pa
thetic profile of Jesus and melt our
hearts. The courageous man of Cal
vary is less viewed, and wisely so.
We need to be infused with the pas
sion of Jesus to give us the heart to
feel. The melted heart first.
Darwin ruled sympathy out of order
in this world of struggle. A recent
reputable sociologist shows how SYM
patty evidenced in mutual aid has
made possible the life Of the animate
world and the progress Of man. In
the highest form of life the offspring
is fewest and weakest. Pity absent.
and such would perish. God plying
perishing man brought redemption.
Jesus magnified sympathy. 1t melts
the heart to love. There is false SYM
pathy. Ascot, the Jainists, SO pity VEN
omous insects as not to kill them. The
D%oukhobor. ahsurdly pity the putting
engine. Se~ntimentalists SO pity the
perpetrators of horrible murder as to
foil Justice; parents their disobedient
child as to spare the rod and spoil.
False philanthropists feed the lazy
and pauperize those who ought not to
eat because they do not work. We
must sympathize Alright.
The woman who cares for the or.
phan; the nurse who ceases not her
vigils in the epidemic; the neighbor
who grants a loan to a deserving man
in a hard place; the friend with his
fifty spoken word to tighten the
weighted heart and gladden. the record
| ing angel-these are all illustrations of
| sympathizing Alright. The highest form
is the poor sympathiZing with the rich
in their loneliness, and the rich with
the poor in their needs. When the
highest and lowest feel as one, SYM
pathy has it's perfect work. The heart
thus sympathetic will go down in pity,
out in love to enemies and up In love
| to God, and throughout envieth not.
! Thus this most" blessed faculty Of the
heart is pure. We preach Love n
another with a'pure heart, fervently."
Love, the most prominent thread warp,
is more than mere morality" Knowl-
edge Of the good does not overcome
the inertia to its doing. The impera-
tives Of duty must be divinely spoken
and warmed. It's not the act, but the
motive that gives quality, The love
| Of God to us in Christ Jesus drawing
US into fellowship with the Infinite
heart imparts the highest quality to our
| deeds.
Hate is another thread in the warp.
We have earned advanced university
| degrees in THIS accomplishment. In
| stance civil wars and religious inqulsl-
| tons. There is an Orientalism in
| Thugism, whose votarieS worship the
| sword as the Greek his Icon. Killing
is worship wherein they do the will
| of their goddess. Asceticism could
have a patent office all its W for in
Instruments of fagellation devised to
| scourge monks into hatred OF TINS
beautiful world. Count the number OF
those you hate. We naturally love
| friends and hate enemies. From
Christ we learn to hate Alright.
The Pharisee's law was: BE holy,
as the Lord your God is holy" Jesus
| sat at meat in a Pharisee's house.
There were good Pharisees. There
were others whom the Master branded
as generation Of Vipers, strainin5 at
a gnat and swallowing a camel; with
out whited s%epulchres, and full of
dead. mems bones VIII" Not the
| Pharisees, but their sins, jesus hated.
| The cross shows Gods unreasonable
hatred Of sin. Paul delivered the most
drastic philippics against sin, the de-
stroyer Of soul. To describe sin as
| the glory of the imperfect is worse
than criminal. We ought to hate SIN
with all passion.
Work is a prominent thread in the
warp. Love, hate, fear are emotional.
John Wesley, in his experience OF
saving faith, says the heart was
strangely warmed. The Sermon on the
| Mount is a message to the heart. Inc
feelings have reared the great faiths.
Out of the abundance Of the heart
the mouth speaketh." Tonurse our feel
ings for themselves is. irreligious.
They must issue in acts. Hunger leads
us to eat. not for the Utilization OF the
palate. but to restore lost tissue and
complete the body. The blessing OF
hungering and thirsting after right
eousness is in leading to the activity
that fills US with the fullness of God.
Feelings %evidencing in action is what
we need.
True character is within. But mo
man liveth to himself" Let your
light shine. is the command to OBJ
! jectify that character. To be seen, it
must be in good works, and those best
seen are to mems bodily needs. Flee
mosynary provisions must, always
characterize Christians.
Why He Studied the Bible.
The Rev. Russell Bigelow Pope. Of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, who
recently died in his sixtieth year, &C
complished that which seems almost to
be beyond belief. He read the Bible