Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-05-23

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Of the association of ideas that he new
er saw that kind Of a flower which
this young lady offered to him that IA
tai night than there rushed through
his mind the awful scene Of a dying
president; of the young tragic actor
limping across the stage; Of the blanch-
ed faces Of men and the fainting forms
Of women dropping under the horror
Of the tragedy. Thus, my brother IL
you and | would remember the bene-
fits which God has given to us we must
remember them by the law Of the as
ISOLATION Of ideas.
Law Of Association.
We must find these benefits every
where. When you and go to the din
ner table we must see Gods mercies
there. We must look for him and find
him. We must in our blessings say,
80 Lord, az thou dost feed the birds of
the air and clothe the lily of the field
may we find thee feeding us today"
When we, as pedestrians, go swinging
we cay: 80 Lord, thou didst heal the
sick In olden times. We thank thee
that thou hast done more for us. Thou
hast kept us well that we may not
know the pangs Of physical suffering"
When we come home at night after n
hard days work in the store to greet n
dear wife or little child may we say:
1.-THE Lord gave and the Lord gives to
US our dear ones. We thank thee, Fa-
Their, that thou hnst not taken them
away" IF you would remember the
benefits which God has placed on every
side Of us, then you must find God ev-
erywhere. BY the law Of the assoca-
ton Of ideas you must see him IN the
smile of n baby cooling in the crib, in
the coat that you wear upon your back,
in the refreshing slumber of the past
night You must see him and feel him
everywhere about you. What God
takes away we miss. But when God
blesses the present we often take II
for granted that God Is not in the
blessing and that God is nowhere
around.
But gospel mnemonics" imply more
than mere mental absorption and the
law of the association Of ideas. In or.
der to remember well n fact you must
be able mentally to take that fact ill.,
oh, yes. But. more than that, YOU
must be able to give out that fact. II
the waters within n reservoir have no
outlet and only inlets those waters be-
come murky and brackish and muddy
But if the streams OF knowledge
which flow into the mind are allowed
to flow out then those streams, instead
Of becoming stagnnnt pools, as noun
tain brooks will gurgle and splash, will
leap and sparkle in glorious life
All tumble.
1t is by broadening knowledge that
the grip of the memory becomes stron-
ger. You can illustrate this fact by
your travels. When young man with
your parents you took a trip to Ell
rope. You went from city to city and
from capital to capital. You visited
cathedral and palace and art gallery
and ruined castle and famous homes
without number. Every step seemed
to you an enchantment. But when you
returned home after a three months
tour what was the result Your whole
journey was a h!; tumble. You could
not remember what you had seen or
where and how you saw the sights you
did remembe A few years later. how
ever, you made a second trip to Eu-
rope. Then you went s correspond
ent OF a newspaper. You used to write
weekly articles for your county paper.
What was the result? You saw the
same stones and spires and groves as
you did before, but you saw these in a
new light. In describing them for 9th
ers you fixed those facts indelibly in
your own mind. The reason Benjamin
Franklin had such marvellous mem
DRY and such wonderful clearness Of
thought and expression was due to one
custom. From the time he was young
man he never read an important book,
he never heard an important speech,
he never listened 70 an important con
versation but he always went home,
took his pen and paper and made a
clear and succinct abstract of the
thoughts he wished to remember Now,
my friends, how can you and | by
gospel mnemonics" ever be able 10
hold clearly and distinctly IN our
minds and hearts the benefits which
God has placed about us unless we are
able to write them down and also are
able by long practice to tell them to
Some one else?
But. though this fact is true, some
people never think OF telling their
friends what God has done for them.
They do not care whether any one else
knows their divine blessings or not.
II these same people have received an
honorary degree from some college they
have their diplomas framed and hung
up in their studies. where every visitor
can see them. If they belong to Some
secret order and are high up in the
councils they always have the lodge s
pictures or their badges in conspicuous
places 10 let you know their positions.
They seem to care but little whether
you know the benefits they have receiv-
ed from God. The result is that as
they do not talk about their divine
blessings they are very apt to forget
them. The weakest memory | ever
knew belonged to q hOOkworm He
read about everything. lie did nothing
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