Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1908-03-21

the BOSpel udl w ~" '"N -
that sign which is tackled over your Of
fee door. Business During business
HoursY Does that mean that God has
no part in your business? No! linen.
If that is not so, why do you not ask
God to help you select your partners
and guide you In your great financial
deals2 Is that sentence Of the Lords
prayer mockery, "Giye us this day
our daily bread" All, my brother, as
a business man you had better get
down on your knees and pray for wis
dom. God VIII guide you. Yes, he
will. He will answer your prayers
In the store just the same as he helped
the disciples to choose Matthias for
the vacancy In the apostolate. God
hears his children pray by the store
counter on Monday and Tuesday and
Wednesday just as much as he hears
his ministers pray on Sunday In the
church pulpit.
But, though our partnership papers
at the store are important, there are
closer and more important human re-
lationships than even this. And this
other partnership has as much to DO
with what we financially make as 1t
has to do with the home and with the
happiness of domestic life. | am al
luding to the partnership OF the mar
riage altar Some people look upon
marriage as a joke, but it is far from
being a joke. The marriage altar
should be the most solemn place this
side Of heaven, for If it is not the JOY
full enslavement Of love 1t is the most
awful tragedy Of life, and 1t is In too
many cases the merciless rock upon
which the craft Of earthly happiness
Is shipwrecked
The Marriage Contract.
But, though marriage is one OF the
vital pivots upon which usefulness as
well as happiness turns, yet how blind
ly and ignorantly most people enter
sacred wedlockl Too often it seems TO
be the blind leading the blind. And |
am not alluding simply to the young
when they get married. but to the mid
die aged and to the old who get mar
ried as well. Indeed, ! sometimes
think II IS far easier for young man
to pick out a good wife than it is for q
middle aged man to make a happy Sc
lection. The older people grow the
more expert they become In the aoil'
ity to deceive If they are naturally near
and contemptible in disposition. Ano
some of the meanest people on eartf
can make the most pleasant, fascinat
ing impressions If you do not see then
too often. And surely woman mas
to be a very repellent specimen or
sloven if she cannot dress up and make
herself attractive for a couple Of hours
a week during the time her lover L
with her. And yet it is upon tni'
slight and meager acquaintance Una
some of the momentous partnership
of marriage are entered into for bette
or for worse. Do you wonder tnat s.
many of the marriages are failure
and are truly made for the worse! ID
Won wonder that so many people Loo
upon marriage as a lottery where
man. does not know whether he WI
= uru,g as u pa t1e 49, tiiae - .
honey or wasp that finds her cnle
delight in thrusting a merciless sting!
And. If it is difficult for a man TO Sc
lect the right kind Of wife. how muc
more difficult for a woman to make I'll
right choice Of a husbandi woma
seems to be entirely helpless. lie
, danger IS greater, and the results |
= her at least may be even more tragi'
3 A man may make success IN spite Q
an unhappy marriage, but when w
5 man marries a man beneath her sn
inevitably drops to her husbands leve
! and there is hardly an exception 10 I'll
: rule Now. when men and women
d courting. what should they dor III
most important act Is to go to Coo
: prayer. God would select for isaac
r Rebecca and for Jacob a Rachel. Sur
It IL he will select for you a marital con
: nanion and make no mistake. Phil
= Henry used to say to his chlldre
s "Please God and you will please me
II Then at the wedding he would sa
II "Others wish you all happiness.
8 wish YOU all holiness; then there Is
d doubt that you will have all hapI
d ness" Was it a foolish caution!
g we please God, are we not sure
le make the right move when we plig
-e our troth under the orange blossom
n We have often heard ministers ple'
a with wives to pray for their errlng hr
ID hands. If some ministers would tea
u their people to pray before they G
" tered the marital yoke, there would n
II, be so many erring husbands to pr
rs for nor so many broken hearted wiv'
e. But where should we make pra
at erful selections more earnest and
ch tense than in our church WORK.
at i1ere is any one place set apart for I
be purpose of prayer and for the demo
ey strations of the power Of prayer, II
ST place should be the church OF Coo, a
i'll vet am amazed to find how often
IL church in the crisis Of its history NJ
CD lects prayer, and this fact is never M
let demonstrated than In the way the
10 erage church goes about to select
Ic' pastor
d. Selecting a Pastor.
no Now, how does the average cnul
select a new pastor? First the cong
CATION chooses a committee to look
al for a suitable candidate. This CONN
ar fee sends it's invitations to differ
lie ministers to ask them to supply
ng pulpit. The candidates come bef
ON the congregation and preach their u
he sermons. The congregation is diyl(
ter Into factions or cliques. One fact
nd likes one candidate because he
lall curly hair and creases in his trous
20? and has a winning smile and Is g
oily looking Another faction fayors
are other man because he is endowed "
ing a fine voice and has perfect elocutl
is Another candidate is rejected beca
= 4. .,o-+ 6ftv on1 tho church wa