The Grit-advocate., 1906-01-12

Gen. Grant MOI not all the devoted
services Of that great commander to
the salvation Of his country will in
tucc any TWO of them to fall into line
and assist at the obsequies
They do not want to agree. They
want TO mar and spoil everything
Inc present qualification of sullen
mood is swecter to them than all the
Interest and fun that would soon bc
mastering them, could they only
break through the spell of this mood
and abandon themselves to the spirit
OF the play proposed.
This, then with the outward eye,
was what Jesus saw. saw just as
plainly as We would had we been on
the spot. But. ah. with the inward
eye, h" saw something of infinitely
graVer significance. that might have
escaped our dull eyes: saw the boy
passing on into the case-hardened
man, all the glories of Gods created
universe piping and lamenting Sl
vain to his intellect, his heart, h.s
spiritual Imagination.
Yes" was the substance of this
deeper perception, the child is father
OF the man; the Puritan, with his
stern righteousness, you grown-ul
children call sour fanatic, and sa..
I'VE don't want deaths heads at ou.r
feasts; me, with my SUMMER and NOR
rejoicing outlook. you call a village
festival, and say, We are in no mood
for memymakng. What will ple.sc
You? The acting-Out of your own sui
lon moods: this, and nothing else,"
Now here are wc-if we will but
take good look at oursclycs-littlc
short Of set Of larGcly-dndisciplined
grOwn-up children that 20 by the
name OF men and women; yet just as
subject 10 all kinds of repelent.
moods as those little Scapcgraces in
the markct-place of Judea 1000 years
aSo-the only difference being that
our perverse moods are apt TO Le
more doep-Tooted than theirs. Grr-
uinc children, heaven be praised,
rarely suffer from chronic dyspep!i;.,
disOrdcrcd livers. disappointments ia
love. rejected manuscripts, property
losses, constitutional tendencies to de-
preston Of spirits, and so, in their l.f-
tie fallings-out it is but a flash in the
pan and all over, short, passionate
cry on the playground, I'VE have
piped unto you, and ye have no!
danced; we have mourned unto YOU
and ye have not wept.'
But does this hold equally true OF
us grownup children? And if not.
does it not seem as though it would
demand vastly larger supply OF
divine grace in the way Of sweetness
and light to make an average saint
out of one of us than out of a dozen
of those mercurial little tylles, "pleax
ed with rattle, tickled with
straw
Alas! then, for the man or woman
(and especially for those who have
to live with either) who does not
make a lifelong business of doing the
best to get the upper hand of all
these lower antagonistic moods that
so threaten to mar and spoil the hap
piness and dignity of human life. So
long as he remains the slave Of any
one Of these, he of course doesn't
want to do" what any others would
enjoy having him do: doesn't want to
be agreeable. instead of moody; sym
pathetic. instead of sclf-abSorbed:
charitable. instead Of bigOted and e1-
elusive.
Well. suppose the man 'docsn"
want" to bestir himself to be any.
thing but a self-centercd kill-joy!
Doesn't want to. What has that 10
do with the business in hand? Is not
that the very time for his higher ma
ture TO take his lower nature by the
collar and give it rouaing, g',1en-
rulc-gospcl shake? Then soon enough,
as he warns up to his genial work.
will he find himself enjoying tho
spirit OF tn" play as heartily as any
of the "othor boys; yes, and singing
With them, "'Tis love that makes the
world 90 round"