The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-11-30
THANKSGIVING
SERVICES AT
CENTRAL UNION
The Evangelical Bodies Unite in Honor of the
Puritan Holiday--An Eloquent Sermon
by the Returned Pastor

never known before. While we all have
! certain differences that distinguish and
set us apart by ourselves God has
made us so alike that we must live, in
! the large summing up of things, the
same kind of life; we must share the
same experiences; we must meet-to
! conquer, or beEonquered blythe same
| events. To illustrate, have you suffer
/ ed adversely this year In your worldly
affairs? Not only have tens of thou
! sands suffered with you, but thousands
of these have suffered such adversely
/ in almost exactly the same way that
: it came to you. Have you been stricken
by some dread physical diseaseg Not
: only have untold numbers taken their
J place in the ranks of those who suffer
{ from ill-health, but many, many of
/ these have been stricken by the very
disease that has fastened itself upon
you. Has Sorrow unbarred the doors of
your house, and forced herself, an un-
welcome guest, upon YOU? Into how
/ many homes has she gone on the same
! dread mission; and in how many in
! stances have the circumstances of her
coming duplicated those of your own
experienced AS the same sound was
! heard that day my many people in Jeru-
!
experiences have been falling upon the
lives of you who are gathered in this
presence.
You see, of course, how this brings
me directly to the question: How have
you interpreted these experiences?
Have you heard the muttering thunder,
or has it seemed that an angel was
speaking? Have you become bitter and
hard under the cruel stroke, or is there
in your heart a new peace and deeper
trust in God? Did you awake, this
I morning, in the mood of complaint or
of thanksgiving? Is your nature key
ed to such expectation, that in all
events you find that which is of the
storm rather than of the sunrise? Do
you instinctively commiserate your
self over the things you have not, or
the things you have lost; or does your
heart leap to meet this thanksgiving
OCCASION; and do your lips pour out
words of gratitude TO God for that
which you actually have, for that which
you are in yourself, and for all that
you hope to have, and all that you
hope to be? Under that experience of
adversity are YOU allowing yourself to
grow morbid and your nature so to
harden that the very mood of Thanks
giving will be impossible? Are you
saying resolutely: "A mans life con-
sisteth not in the abundance of things
which he possesseth,'' / believe this
word to be true, and / firmly resolve
to live by it. / have lost in business,
but [ am determined thereby to gain
in character. Do you constantly talk
about your ill-health, and throw around
your friends an atmosphere of COM
plant, or do you bravely say within
iS that those
who love me should have to endure
my infrmity l will not make the
burden heavier by any foolish words
of discomfort. If yesterday the sound
of God IS providence seemed to me like
thunder, / will listen more attentively
today. and with the hope that L may
catch within the, dread voice some
sweet strain of melody. Has your sor-
row, whatever it NAV have been, only
resulted in shutting you up to your
own gloomy thoughts, and your own
rebellious feelings, or has it led You
out into deeper sympathy and a wider
helpfulnesss To state it briefly: have
you given to the events which have
swept over your life during the last
vear-have you given to those events
the lower or the higher interpretation
Has the sound, to your ears. been the
sound of thunder, or the voice of an
angel speaking to you9 May 1 not
hope that to some. in this presence, the
sound has been that of the Father IS
voice itself, speaking words somewhat
similar to those which he spake to
Jesus: Il have glorified my name in
thy experience, and | will glorify it
again.
If now we turn to the broader APP
plication of the text, | think we shall
find it is quite as direct as in the case
of our own individual experiences.
Without doubt we are face to face
with national evils of the gravest char
acter. 1t were madness to deny that
there are clouds upon the horizon. 1t
were strange indeed, if we should fail.
at times. to hear the rumbling thunder.
But there are other voices in the air;
and if there is any day of the year
during which we should listen to them,
surely. it is this day of national re
ioicing | have never thought the book
of Lamentations a particularly good
one from which to choose Thanksgiving
texts. Why is it that on this day, of
all others. preachers seem always to
hear it thundere I do not know that
1 ever heard a Thanksgiving Day ad-
dress that was not in the nature of a
warning, and in which the people who
were not present were mercilessly
scored. There must be some things
in our national life, as well as in our
own lives, individually, for which we
Continues op paOa Thraa