Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-03-20

many cases the merciless rock upon
which the craft OF earthly happiness
Is shipwrecked.
The Marriage Contract.
But. though marriage is one or the
vital pivots upon which usefulness as
we'll as happiness turns, yet how blind
ly and ignorantly most people enter
sacred wedlockI Too often il seems TO
be the blind leading the blind And 7
am not abiding simply to the young
when they get married, but to the mid.
die aged and TO the old who get mar
ried as we'll Indeed. | sometimes
think II is far easier for n young man
TO pick out good wife than II is for Il
middle aged man to make happy Sc
lection. The older people grow the
more expert they become i'm the a0ll-
ity to deceive If they are naturally mean
and contemplate in disposition And
some or the meanest people on earth
can make the most pleasant, fascinat-
Ing impressions If you do not see them
too often. And surely woman has
to be very repellent specimen of
sloven IL she cannot dress up and make
herself attractive for q couple of hours
a week during the time Der lover Is
with her. And yet it Is upon this
slight and meager acquaintance that
some OF the momentous partnerships
OF marriage are entered into for better
or for worse. Do you wonder that so
many of the marriages are failures
and are truly made for the worse? Do
you wonder that so many people look
upon marriage as n lottery where a
man does not know whether he will
draw as prize bee that will gather
honey or a wasp that finds her chief
delight in thrusting merciless sting?
And. II fr is difficult for a man TO 80.
lect the right kind of a wife. how much
more difficult for a woman TO make the
right choice OF a husbandl A woman
seems to be entirely helpless. Ter
| danger is greater, and the results To
her ut least may be even more tragic
A man may make a success IN spite OF
an unhappy marriage. but when vo-
man marries a man beneath her she
inevitably drops to her husbands level.
and there is hardly an exception to the
| rule. Now. when men and women -
counting. what should they do? The
most important act is to go TO God In
prayer. God would select for Isaac n
Rebecca and for Jacob n Rachel Sure
~ he will select for you a marital com.
panion and make no mistake Philip
Henry used to say to his children.
PLEASE God and you will please me"
Then Mt the wedding he would say:
"Others wish you all happiness.
wish You all holiness: then there is nc
doubt that you will have all harni-
ness" Was 1t a foolish caution? If
we please God. are we not sure to
make the right move when we plight
our troth under the orange blossomst
We have often heard ministers plead
with wives to pray for their erring hus-
bands. II some ministers would teach
their people to pray before they ON
tered the marital yoke. there would not
be SO many erring husbands to pray
for nor so many broken hearted wives
But where should we make pray
erful selections more earnest ..nd In
tense than I'm our church work? Il
there is any one place set apart for the
purpose of prayer and for the Gem "
STATIONS OF the power OF prayer. tia.
place should be the church OF Col. anl
yet i am amazed TO find how often :,
church In the crisis OF its history neg.
lects prayer, and this fact is never more
demonstrated than In the way the av.
erage cnurcn goes about TO select n
pastor.
Selecting a Pastor.
Now. how does the average church
select n new pastor? First the congre-
CATION chooses committee to look out
for suitable candidate This commit
tee sends its invitations to different
ministers to ask them TO supply the
pulpit. The candidates come before
the congregation and preach their trial
sermons The congregation is divided
Into factions or cliques. One faction
likes one candidate because he has
curly hair and creases In his trousers
and has winning smile and is good
looking Another faction favors an.
other man because he is endowed with
a fine voice aud has perfect elocution.
Another candidate is rejected because
he Is past fifty and the church wants
a young man. And so the scesawing
goes on until at last man comes along
who sweeps everything by 1orm. lie
has a genius for getting calls He has
four or five good sermons. lie has
spent weeks and months upon them.
Like the mosaics OF the Alhambra,
those sermons are patchwork OF
many different sermons. 1t would not
be so bad IL that minister had made
them mosaic OF his own discourses
but sometimes they are taken from the
sermons OF Beecher Brooks or Parker
I'VE must have this minister and have
him right awayr' cries the congrega-
ton. Walt" says some old conserva-
tive elder. You do not know yet who
this man is. Let us investigate a little
further. Ii is not the first sermon or
the tenth. but what kind OF n sermon
a man can preach after he has been in
the pulpit for five years, that decides
whether he is a good preacher or not
Then let us find out what kind of
Christian leader this man is win he
be n true guide? Is he right upon the
doctrine OF the atonement? Does he
gamble at progressive euchre parties?
Does he drink and dance and go TO the
theater? If he does we do not want
him even though he has the golden lips
OF Chrysostom. Let us pray over
this matter little while If we ask
God to lead us be will not let us make
a mistake" Is the old elder right?
Shall we not ask God to lead us when
we are about To choose a new pastor?
Ask Gods Aid.
But tf we are to lead the right Chris
tan life we must ask God what we
shall do for others as we'll as what
others shall do for Ms ooh cannot