The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-02-18
fof spirituai Interest, IL then the first

JlIHtloW 5Oll Is ike BupeTIiCiil CLdFucleFs
You meet with many such persons In
life. There is nothing deep about thcnii
all they do and all they have lies on TIL,
surface. When religion comes IN contact
with persons OF this stamp It shares the
fate of everything else.
The shallow ground was not only slal-
low but stony ground 1t Is among the
children OF light enjoyment and unsettled
life tliat5we must look for stony heart
lessness. II you wish to know what tol-
seek them where frlvolity has turned the
heart into q rock-bed Of selfishness. Say
q what men will OF the leartlessness Of
trade, tits nothing compared to the heart
lessness OF fashion saykwhat they will
of tho atheism of science, 1t Is nothing
to- the atheism OF that round OF pleasure
In which many heart is dead while 1t
lives.
Some fell among thorns" Impressions
come to nothing when the mind Is sub
ttectodito disslpating influences, and yield
ing to them.
There Is nutriment enough In the ground
for thorfs, etc, and enough for wheat
But not enough In any ground for BOTH
wheat and thorns. The nurseryman
thins his stock, the farmer weeds his
field, the gardener prunes his grapes,
that the few plants may have more
vlgor.
In the same way the heart has GER
tain power Of loving But love spent on
many objects can concentrate itself on
none. God-or, the World-not both. mo
man can serve two masters is the state
ment made by One who knew its truth.
ST. Luke tells us that 1t is "the cares
of this world and the deceitfulness OF
riches which choke the Word" The cares
of this world, petty, trifling distractions
but wrong in themselves-yet fill the
heart with. petty solicitudes and wear
upon the life. The deceitfulness OF riches
dissipate.
A mans distractions may lie in his
wealth, and perhaps fire, or failure, make
him bankrupt. He feels now the heavy
hand OF God, which lays him low. Pleas
ure has dissipated his heart, and with
shattered nerves and broken health he
wears out the Life OF life.'
Or perhaps the shaft of death goes
home, and when he has shut the lid on
the coffin of Ibis dearest. his heart be-
gins to tell him the meaning OF all this.
Thorns had been growing in his heart,
n pd bo char I,rt ia
making room, tearing up and cutting
down, that his soul be not "choked.''
But there is-thank God!-another and
q brighter side. They, on the good
ground are they, which in an honest and
good heart. having heard the word. keep
1t, and bring forth fruit with patience"
"An honest and good heart" This
means earnestness or sincerity OF pur-
pose. There are faults more heinous, but
none more ruinous than insincerity. This
earnestness is the first requisite for real
success in everything. Time and pains
will do anything.
In the pursuit of wealth, knowledge or
reputation, circumstances have power to
mar theN wisest schemes. The hoard of
years may perish In q night, and the
store of wisdom may be lost by single
fever. But in the kingdom of Christ
(where inward character is the prize), no
chance can rob ,carnestness of its due of
success. Sow for time, and probably you
will succeed. Sow the seeds of life
pure-hetrtedness. love-and
in the long eternity which lies before the
soul, every minutest grain will come up
again with an increase of thirty, sixty.
or an hundred-fold
Meditation is the second requisite for
permanence. '"rhey KEEP the word
Meditation is partly passive. partly an
active state. The subject presents i.self
in leisure moments, and this sets tie
mind to work-contriving. imagining, re-
jecting, modifying.
Meditation is done in silence, and only
in the sacredness of inward silence does
the soul truly meet the secret-hiuing God.
The strength of resolve is the fruit OF
those solitary. moments. There is divine
depth in silence. We MUST mset God
alone.
This is followed by patience. Patience
is also OF two kinds, passive and active.
We must bear and persevere.
Life is not done, and our Christian char
acter is not won so long as God has any
thing left for us to suffer-anything left
for us to do. 4.
we must wait and strive, and wait
again. 1t is the work of a long life to
become like Christ. But every advance
is a real gain, ana part of it is never lost.
Both when we advance and when we fail,
we gain. we are nearer to God than we
were, and shall be nearer still.
Faint not! Persevere! And in due
time thou shall reap"
Sarah Bernhard denounced a Youngs-
town, o.. audience as stupid and lacking
in annrecia +ionS the other night Yollnes-