Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-08-02
Atisesllaneulls Rsaains.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MIND.
Men Must be Careful What They Think
and How.

l
The following is a summary Of q
sermon preached by Rev. w. c. Ewart
pastor Of the Yorkville Associate Re-
formed church last Sunday morning
on the last clause of Philippians iv, 8:
Think on these things"
| 1t is not for edification to spend
much time on metaphysics, and yet
there is a practical side to this sub
ject which we must study in order
that we may know our great mission
in this life. The possibilities Of the
human mind cannot be measured by
any finite rule. for while the human
mind is finite, each age Of the world
has furnished some mind which has
surpassed the product Of its kind In
the preceding age. Man was made In
the divine image, and when correctly
guided, reaches upward toward that
| noble sphere from which 1t fell by
contact with sin. In the social world,
it is mind which distinguishes man
from the lower order of animal crea-
ton; it is likewise mind which classi-
fes men in society. The mind is not
the product of a day or year, but
of a lifetime. That is to say, the
mind at it's best is a product resulting
from cultivation.
l. We will therefore notice the
minds exercise. One of the we'll de-
fined facts of the constitution Of our
being is. that the mind is. always ac-
tive. Indeed it is claimed that while
the body is relaxed in sleep the mind
is just as active as when the body Is
alert. The fact that we can recall
dreams Is instanced as a demonstra-
ton Of this fact Let this be as 1t
may it is certain that the mind, so far
as we have knowledge Of it, Is always
active. 1t is no less true that our ma
ture has been perverted by sin, and
that the tendency Of our thought Is
toward evil things. Unless correctly
guided therefore, the mind in its ex-
ercises learns to reason illogically,
and thereby to arrive at incorrect
conclusions. We act in keeping with
our conclusions, and so our lives are
made up Of a series Of failures and
disasters in so far as they have been
misguided by conclusions at which we
have arrived by false reasoning. Thus
we meet with men who have done
wrong and come to grief thereby, and
their excuse is that they did not think.
1t Is not that they did not think: they
must have thought in order to have
reached a given conclusion, for they
would not have done what they did
without having this conclusion as a
basis of action. They did think, but
they did not think correctly. A fall
ure to reason logically sinks man
from a higher plane Of intelligence to
lower. The correct exercise Of the
mind is therefore a matter of greatest
Importance. You see drunkard wal
lowing helplessly in the gutter, and
you wonder why he is devoted to the
life Of drunkard and libertine. He
is only the result Of process of ex-
ercise Away back yonder somewhere
he got into bad company, 1t was In
youth and therefore excusable; he
grew in the habit of drink and licen-
tiousness until after these years have
come and gone he is helplessly bound
in the iron fetters Of his habits. You
see minds which might have been
stars in the mental world, yet drunk
ell and debauched until they will only
lay hold upon and enjoy the vilest
exercise of thought. They did not
reach that state in a day, but away
back yonder somewhere the mind got
into bad company; frivolous litera-
ture and conversation led on by slow
degrees to the lowest form Of mental
| debauchery. The reading of dime
novels has done more to debauch the
mind than any other one evil. Men
pretend to read for style, yet I tell
you the drunkard pretends to drink
for toothache with more plausibility.
Dr. w. M. Grier late president Of En-
skine college, once said by way Of IL
lustration of this subject, "Who
would think of dragging the Atlantic
| for a few little fishes, or of securing
the slums Of Paris for silver spoon?
So the little good received from these
sources are as nothing when compar-
ed with the losses sustained and the
waste Of mental energy. We select
with great care the clothing with
which we would adorn our bodies,
and our food is selected with great
caution, in order to prevent poison or
corrupt matter from being placed In
our hands; the government aids us In
this matter by the appointment Of in
spectors of the great food supply: but
how little protection Is given to these
| minds of ours, how little are they safe
| guarded. Yet 'it Is the mind that
makes the man." The thoughts Of the
mind feed and determine the condi-
| ton of the heart. and the condition OF
the heart determines the conduct of
the life. "Out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh."
II. We are to seek out the things
| therefore, suitable for thought. Know
| ing that the mind will be occupied, If
not with good. then with evil things,
God has suggested some subjects for
our consideration. Cd. Think on
true things. Think on the verities of
life. Let the subjects of our thought
be fact rather than fiction. There Is
tendency to think of, and to weep over
imaginary sorrow. when there Is plen-
ty of real sorrow at our hand. and by
us all unseen; we are delighted with
imaginary happiness, when there is
real bliss before us. We spend much
of our time in the building of air
castles of earthly glory, when life at
its best is none too long to be used in
the building and maintaining a real
home, and for the most part. an hum
BILE home. But If our work Is accom-
plished in harmony with the truth,
we have met life's highest mission.
That which we should be concerned
| above all else to know Is Truth.
"Thy word is truth; therefore the