The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-11-15
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
Or. CHARLES EDWARD LOCKE.
Subject: Crime of Unhappiness.

- brooklyn, y. N.-Dr. Charles r..
Locke returned TO his pulpit in the
Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal
Church Sunday. DIR. Locke's subject
was THE Crime of Unhappiness: or.
Where Happiness May be Found"
His text was Isaiah 35:l0: They
shall obtain JOY and gladness, and
sorrow and signing shall fee away"
DIR. Locke said in the course of his
sermon:
il is our duty 10 be happy. il is our
right TO be happy The philosopher
stone, which can transform all the
dross OF life into purest Joys, is hope
The tabled fountain which will in
sure eternal youth and beauty is con-
tentment. True happiness is not only
a duty and right. but IL is a pos
sible possession; il is the sure prize
OF those who seek Alright.
The rapt prophet Isaiah boldly
foretells the time when the people
shall obtain JOY and gladness, and
sorrow and signing shall flee away"
and everlasting JOY shall be upon
their heads" The radiant promises
of the Word Of God are not to torture
and TO tantalize mankind into woes
and slaveries more abject, but are
intended 10 awaken our lethargic
natures and somnolent consciences
that we may he aroused 10 claim our
high and holy and happy estate. I'm
happiness IS crime. against God and
our fellows, as we'll as against our
selves.
There is an intricate and exquisite
conspiracy in the universe 10 make
men happy. There are carrivals of
beauty, panoramas of snlendor. ora
torios Of music, laughing waters,
dancing sunbeams, singing birds.
chanting seas, delicious fruits and
enchanting flowers. Nature is not
cruel. health is contagious. there is n
survival of the fittest THE COM
mon course of things is in favor of
happiness: happiness is the rule, mis-
cry the exception"
AS God made the sun TO shine and
the flowers TO bloom and the seas
10 ebb and flow, so He made man to
be happy. IF any man is unhappy"
said wise man, this must be his
own fault, for God made all men to
be happy The very law of our
being is happiness. A crime is an
offence against the laws of God and
man; unhappiness is such an offence:
hence a crime.
Happiness may be discovered In
life's activities-in unremltting en-
deavor, not in the bluster and haste
which enervate and defeat. but in the
constant use OF our capacities. I'm
rest and atrophy occur when ener-
gies are allowed to become stagnant.
An aimless life is always an unhappy
life. Leisure and rest have exquisite
flavor where they are the punctuation
points Of duties faithfully discharged
and ambitions steadily realized. Ac-
tivity defies infirmity. and octogena-
rians like John Wesley and John
Whittier. Gladstone and Pope Leo
XIII hold old age at bay while they
elaborate the closing achievements OF
eventful careers. The benevolently
inclined young lady who cut off the
tail of the pollywog TO hasten the
stages of its evolution wept in dis
may when she found she had ended
the life OF the little dismembered
creature. II needed the labor Of get
ting rid of its tail TO develop strength
for the responsibilities of it's promo
ton. IL there are stunted growths
and undeveloped lives among the
youth OF these prosperous decades,
may IL not be that our educational
and. domestic methods are affording
too much assistance, or ease, or lux
ury TO these little human pollywogs?
Every faculty Of our being Is made
more robust by constant and sensible
activity. 70 be able TO bring things
20 PASS conduces TO true happiness.
What real 10y is stored away i'm n
good book, Study NAV be found an
unfailing source OF pleasure. The
culture Of the mind brings forth the
flower and the fragrance and the
fruitage Of our intellectual natures
Truth invigorates; IL makes buoyant
and youthful. Truth Is never old,
never discordant Then, too, what
perennial fountains Of sparkling hap
piness are music and art and poetry
And what shall be said about nature?
If people would be happy, they must
get out Of doors. God made the
heavens, but man made the houses
Many houses are devices of Satan TO
shut man away from his God. All
nature is redolent of divinity. II is
hard for a naturalist to be an un-
believer. Some great nature students
have despised creeds, but IL was be-
cause their great God was too mighty
10 be bounded and measured by mans
dialectical tape line or foot rule. Let
us get out of doors. God, music,
might and men are out OF doors. and
II we would be happy we must asso-
ciate much with the world outside,
for we have a divine commission 10
subdue the earth. The flower in
the cranied WALL has yet many beau
tiful lessons TO the thoughtful visi-
tor. Like tia story Of Edward Row
land Sill, let us fling open the win
dows Of our grim towns and let in
the gust OF sunshine and the sum-
mer scent Of rose, and be sure that
the window sill stands open and shall
never be shut again"
Exquisite happiness Is found in
life's true friendships. The widow
OF Schumann says that whenever she
was 10 play in public any Of her hus-
bands music she would read over
and over again the dear love letters
he had written her during his life.