Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-08-09

did when girl. yet you are never
happy unless she Is in touch with you.
When evening comes and you are sit
ting by the library table, the book is
never Interesting. nor does the fire in
the hearth burn brightly enough. nor
do the children play right, unless she
is On the other side of that table You
who have been married for a quarter
or century, you know what II is to
have devoted. unselfish companion
by your side. You know what il Is to
have that love pour out its life's blood
for you. Like the aged poet you can
sing this sweet love song i'm your old
age:
Oh. no. not even when first we loved
Vert thou as dear as now thou art:
Thy beauty then my senses moved
But now thy virtues bind my heart.
Might kindle with more wild desire,
Believe me. IL has gained in truth
Much more than II has lost i'm fire.
That then but sparkled DER my brow.
And. though seemed to love thee more,
Yet. oh. I love thee better nowl
Real Love For Christ.
We'll. that is my idea OF the Chris
tian life. In the beginning we accepted
Christ from selfish motives. Perhaps
we were in some great religious meet
Ing. aud the evangelist was picturing
the tortures OF the lost We became
SO frightened that we gripped the
church pew for fear we should fan
over the precipice OF eternal doom.
But after we accepted Christ with
such low motive the Christ love be-
gan to grow upon us. We see how he
has been protecting us and how he
has beca leading us. We see in an
other place how he has clothed and
fed us. When death came into our
home we saw his great tears Of COM
passion and love. Even in our financial
distress or social persecution he was
always by our side. Then we began to
realize how good and kind and loving
he is. As we grow in grace ws are
never happy unless we feel his pres
ence near. We talk to him as we do to
n dear friend. We find ourselves say
ing: Jesus, thou knowest best. Thou
art leading me. o Master, thy love
=.
close to thy heart Let me never stray
away from thy touch" Church men,
bers. are you strangers to the raptur-
Gus Joy Of the close companionship Of
this divine association? Then you have
never reached the higher development
OF tue Christian life Believe me.
there is something yet for you to pray
for and struggle for in your Christian
experience. DO not think today of
Christ as au enemy. Think Of Jesus
as an ever present personal, tender,
loving friend. That can be one Of
your greatest joys of the Christian
life. He can be q friend who will
never leave your side.
But the true Christian finds in the
higher spiritual life more than this
divine companionship. No sooner do
we truly become one with Christ than
we enter into the elcvating associa-
tons OF the best and purest men and
women living upon the face OF the
earth today. We enter into holy as
ISOLATION with those who have felt the
divine touch and who have been re-
created and made over aud been
stamped with the divine image. These
children OF God are different from all
other men aud women. for they are
radiating with the power OF the spirit
filed life.
Fun and Religion.
"But," says some church member.
81 do not want to live I'm prayer
meeting all the time. 7 do not want
IN bo Sin,,fn., nSolrn 4,,noS ,,o~,i,.,
noon and night. Sancti1ed people
may he all right in their places. but a
steady diet OF angels food nauseates
the stomach like to frolc and
play other kinds OF games. like to
fish. like TO hunt. Indeed. | like
fun just rs much as | did twenty
years ago. In other words. | like to
do something besides going to church
and talking about the Bible and for
eign and home missions" So do good
people like fun. So do the purest and
best of Gods disciples like recreation.
There is no class of men and women
that have II better time than Christian
people. But, my friends, 1t makes
great deal of difference what you call
fun. II you cannot find your best enjoy
ment In life as well as your best spir-
itual exhilaration among Gods chill
dren, then there is something wrong
with your own spiritual life, and you
had better get down on your knees and
ask God to place you In one of his
spiritual kilns to refine your nature so
that you will be able to find your joys
In holy companionship.
An old proverb goes thus: what is
meat for thy neighbor may be poison
for thee" That means the food upon
which your brothers physical organ
Ism thrives may be that which will
not nourish your body. This proverb
Is emphatically true In reference to
the enjoyments OF the spiritual and
the worldly life. The pleasures that
fascinate the ungodly are generally
pleasures that are repugnant to the
spiritual man. / was never more i'm
pressed with this fact than when Wis
iting San Francisco some weeks ago.
l have seen San Francisco under all
conditions. l visited il twice in nv
youth. i visited it in its strength and
power year before the earthquake.
! saw 1T burning and in ruins. A year
later also visited it when its walls
were about half rebuilt 1 never enter
this city of San Francisco but my
mind runs back to the old mining
camp OF 1S49. which was established
when California gold was first dis
covered. The mining camp had some
good people in 1t. But the adventures
OF the east, the libertines, the gam
blers. the lost women and dissolute
characters from all over the United
States, fiocked there by the thousands
and the tens of thousands. Now. what