The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-01-04

tiers. Inc store is crowded viii GUS
toners. But so perfect is the system
there is no confusion anywhere. l en-
ter your glass Office. You are an old
boyhood friend. | say Hello Joe!
Business is booming. Your store is
growing by leaps and bounds. Why,
man, you will be a millionaire within
a few years. But old fellow, what is
the matter with you? You are sick.
Why, Joe, have you seen the doctor
latelyT EYES," you answer, Il have
seen the doctor. He has prescribed
enough medicine for me to float bat
tleship.N But medicine does no good.
He says l cannot live in this climate.
| should go to Texas or Arizona or
California. There | would be well
man. But how can / go? This awful
cough is draining my life away, but
cannot pull out and sacrifice my life's
work. / cannot sell the business for
what it is worth. l cannot sacrifice the
labor of twenty years." Eyes, you can,
Joe. You must sacrifice it now or give
it up altogether within a couple of
years. If you pull out now you can go
to warm climate and start anew and
have a long life with your family. If
you do not pull out now they will take
you south winter after next, when
your two lungs are nearly gone, and
then the sacrifice will be too late"
''Let go'' is the command. LET 60"
No matter whether you have spent
three long months in digging the reser-
voirs on the drought accused Califor
mia mesa, let go. As a man whose life
is doomed read you not Gods hand
writing upon the wall as Belshazzar
read it in the Babylonish capital?
The Spiritual Application.
But we must not stop here. Our SER
mons theme has an application in
spiritual way as well as in a financial
and a physical And especially are its
teachings pertinent to the spiritual
lives of our children. Those broken
down fences and that wrecked home,
that hard baked clay of the deserted
farm lands of the California mesa, re-
semble the spiritual situation in some
Of your homes. You have formed hab-
its that you know are running you and
your relation to God. Let
go. The struggle will be hard, but it
is for your life. Let go. Some Of you
have formed associations which are
your spiritual life. They are
dear as right hand or a
right eye. Let go. What did Christ
say? Cut them off. 1t is better to en-
ter into life MANNED than to keep them
and perish. As you value your soul,
let go.
l enter your home, and what do ]
find? A beautiful home. Yes, it is n
beautiful home. The lawns are well
kept. The walls are delicately tinted
and have upon them the copies of some
Of the best masters. The library shelves
are flied with rows upon rows of the
best books, both of the past and Of the
present day. The grand piano is in the
corner of the parlor. You have look
If pride as we settle down to a chat
after the well cooked and well served
Inner. Then, in a sort of reminiscent
mood, you tell me the struggle of your
life. Yes" you say, Il have had a
hard time of it. All that l inherited |
from my parents were good physical
health and big heritage of prayers. l
came to this city thirty years ago abso-
utely alone and friendless. Now |
nave this home. My business is grow
ng every day. My family will never
want, and am living on Easy street"
Not All Well.
"WelI, WELL" l say, "is that so? l
congratulate you. l suppose
you are now very happy man. What
With a home like this and your chill
lren growing up all right, you have not
much more for which to wish this side
If heaven" With that a shadow passes
over your face. Then you say: "Ah, l
wish that were true. But my children
ire not turning out as they ought. The
loys seem to have the wrong kind of
The girls-oh, they are
80 different from that first sweetheart
IF mine, who was my mother, and my
own sisters" Indeed, that is strange!
Why, how could the boys form the
wrong kind of companionships when
you are so much with them? Then
the girls! OF course you have brought .
them up with the same kind of reli
yious teaching that made your mother
and your sisters the noble Christian
they were?"
With that another shadow passes
over your face. You say: "To tell the
truth, have had very little to do with
my children. My boys hardly know
me. For years my body, mind and soul
have been concentrated in the store. l
have not had any time to waste in
pleasures. At night bring home my
important papers and go to my library
after dinner. There |
work on until after mid
night. If / did not do so, would lose
thousands upon thousands of dollars
each year" What! You cannot afford
to make your boys your companions?
What! You cannot afford to give up
part of each day for the spiritual de-
of your children? Is the
dollar question so malforming your life
that for a gold brick you are willing to
let the spiritual lives of your children
absolutely become a deserted Califor-
lia mesa, filed with the serpents of
and the hideous poisonous
-arantulas of sin? Let go that money!
Every dollar that stands between you
and the proper spiritual development
Of your home, let it go-let it go!
Let II Go.
But, if the dollar which stands be-
-ween the spiritual lives of your loved
mes and sin should be sacrificed, how
much more should every dollar or ev-
Try position of life which tends to
lraw us away from Christ be will