St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1907-02-06

Most young people are easily happy,
even in spite of themselves. To them
also has come Natures call Enter into
joy"
But gradually all this changes Appe-
tite grows less keen; the round of
pleasures becomes familiar, and tends to
mere commonplace. Work absorbs and
wearies the man; anxieties and cares
harass him. Exuberant spirits disappear,
strength diminishes, hopefulness wanes,
and the anti-climax of life is fairly upon
him. The pessimist, seeing only the
plane of nature, finds it all mockery
and bitterness. But there is a higher
plane, with nobler joys than these of
nature; and the teachable SOUL looking
up, early discovers that life, with its
satisfactions and ensuing dissatisfactions,
is meant to arouse desires which can
only be satisfied by better things, and by
them can be fully satisfied If a man has
ears to hear, new voice, austere and
sweet as duty and heaven, calls to him
Enter into joy"
The nature of this higher Joy is well
brought out in the parable of the ser
want who doubled his FIVE talents. What
was the JOY to which he was welcomed
Was he to be given some sounding title,
telling OF his former energy or skill,
and introducing him into the life of the
retired, life of inactivity and useless
ness? See his radiant face as he comes
from the King, and ask him what so
delights him. 81 am made ruler over many
many things" The reward of work is
1nt 70 ha iH1at1occ. bcx
endowed with goods he may be, the man
who plans simply for the pleasures of
ease has his Interchangeable characterize
ton in Christ's words Thou fool" The
reward of service is the opportunity to
serve more largely and nobly; the reward
of vigorous and sustained endeavor is
increase of strength, and increase of op-
portunity for its worthy exercise The
lamp that shines during its day on earth
is not to be polished and set away as an
elegant nonentity; "then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of the Father" The reward of
shining like candle is the shining like a
sun. The reward OF him that sows is
always multiplied harvest of the same
sort as he sows.
want was the JOY of service, more service
and ever increasing service, Notice that
he had not only been faithful, but good
There is kind of faithfulness possible to
one who hates the work he is doing, and
hates the man he works for; but such
man does not and cannot find it good to
serve. The ideal ofgood service is found
where a man loves his work so much
that he would do it freely, without COM
pulson and without pay, for love of the
work; and where he loves his master so
much that any work, even work disa-
greeable in ITSELF is done with delight for
love of his lord. To get taste of this
| Joy ofgood service is to know at once
that it far surpasses any mere happiness,
coming to us whether we are faithful or
not; to see that non-moral joys may
we'll be counted but loss, for the excel
lency of this knowledge.
But the parable carries our thoughts
still further. 1t is "the joy of thy Lord"
into which the servant is called upon to
enter. We have thought ofheaven as
Gods reward for the good servant, and
heavens joys as a compensation for
earth's sorrows and struggles. But
what does heaven mean to us? Freedom
from sickness and pain and death? But
this JOY is in the lower realm that of
nature. Is it an automatic excellence,
accomplished apart from our will and
demanding no endeavor on our part?
But this would be sowing noble and
vigorous resolve, and reaping an idleness
and atrophy of will which no heavenly
circumstance could possibly ennoble.
Is it kind of fixed and changeless
perfection, that permits only round
of monotonous joys, never showing any
betterment? But this would be sowing
progress and reaping its exact contrary,
a moral deadlock. This certainly would
not be reaping what we had sown
1t is the law of nature below us that
when progress reaches its utmost and
can go no further, retrogression begins,
| and sooner or later the end comes. The
only vindication for an endless life for
the human soul is to be found in endless
progress, eternal growth toward the
God who will be eternally beyond us.
The service that seeks to please it's Lord
ever more perfectly, and continually finds
experience proving the law, ITO him
that hath shall be given, and he shall
have abundance, this is the Joy Of
heaven. The angels are willing to leave
the heavenly courts at any time in order
to serve. The Son of God thought his
state in heaven not thing to be held to
jealousy, but put his glory by and came
to EARTH to serve We do not under
stand the joy of the Lord rightly until
we understand that heaven and earth
are one in their laws, that they belong
to universe, and that the best thing Of
heaven is also the best thing of earth
that the best thing in heaven is quite
within our reach on earth The WORTH
est JOY of heaven is the JOY of good and
faithful service, approved by its Lord
and if we have any desire to be at home
in heaven we must learn fully this lessor
of enjoying our work, of finding in service
our life, of being able to say, as we lool
toward God, 1T is good to serve Thee.
He who does not know how to make {
heaven on earth, to make his own indi
vidual sphere genuinely a part of tn
kingdom of heaven, is certainly not ii
training for heaven, not preparing him