Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1908-06-17
ALMA BACCALAUREAIE
CONTINUED from page one. }

lOOHllnucu from ldkS Ohc.J
of journalism than these our country
is doomed Such is the power of the
press in this land that ii ID shall pre-
sent united front against ideals
against the best that can he done and
satisfy itself with what the subscriber
wants. il will certainly defeat the
aspirations OF the best men and leave
us in the hopeless realm of mediocrity.
But the subscriber in the newspaper
office is hardly less potent than the
pewholder in church. No minister of
the Gospel can afford to preach TO
empty pews. If he would be of any
service TO the community he must
have a congregation. That cong!e-
CATION will remain so long as the
preacher is agreeable and entertain
ing. That will continue while
orthodoxy in religion and the average
morality are the themes of discourse.
Should the pastor, however. be no
longer satisfied in his conscience with
attack the sin of nation, or like
Lyman Beecher smite the iniquity of
strong drink, or like Henry Ward
Beechar. expose the horrors of the
slave traffic. or like Washing ton Glad
den. show how much of faint of in
guilty there may be in the thirty
pieces of silver flung at the feet of
the church by the Judases of today
let him take heed for the average
pewholder is likely to be Offended. He
will leave the congregation. His de-
parture will diminish the income and
that means cutting down of the
salary, or he-departure of the pastor
TO some other church. When pas
tor has thus been driven by the pew
holders the question is will he go to
the next parish with undiminished
zeal and attack the same sins dear to
the congregation? If he is ero
he will Ana friends. there are
giants in these days. real wor kmen
that need not be ashamed rightly di-
vining the word of truth" men who
are ready to sacrifice large congre-
cations ard long pastorates to loyalty
to ideals. and the best work in the
pulpit Ii that could be said of the
average minister how like an angel of
God he would look what tongue Of
flame would be bis when he preached
And this suggests to me to mention
the .noblest sentiment, the finest SER
mon I have heard in Alma College.
1t came not from q member of the
faculty. not even from one of the stu
dents II came from one of the kit
chen helpers. She was greatly dis.
satisfied with her work and was so
expressing herself when a neighbor
tried 70 comfort her by saying. You
must not be discouraged. l am sure
that the matron is perfectly satisfied
with your work. Her answer was
II am not trying to please the ma
tron. am trying to satisfy nv con-
science and my God. " That senti-
ment makes that woman the peer of
the prophets and the apostles.
The true workman then In any call
ing is he who works from the soul"
whether he be digger of bitches.
maker of books. a carver of statues,
or builder of sermons. He works
to satisfy his soul. Nothing will
satisfy him except the very best he
can do. This is bound.to be true be-
cause man is part of the workman
ship of nature. The stamp of the
very best is upon him-as upon flowers
and snowflakes-.a and stars. There is
no .wage-earning. no. man pleasing
spirit In the workmanship of Nature.
And God saw everything that be had
m ade. and behold it was very good. -
1t was simply an odd and somewhat
shallow conceit that induced Robert
Burns to write
Ask why God made, the gem so small
And why so huge the granite
Because God wants mankind to see
The higher value on it, F"
If that we're really the Divine pur-
pose. why did God hide the gems
under the mountains of grantee Why /
hide pearls I'm scar Far nearer the /
truth and far wortbier is that inter
probation of Nature in Country
Full many gem Of purest ray serene
rhe dark unfathomed caves of ocea n
bear.
Full many flower is born to blush
unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert
air. &"
God. then. IS the model workman,
and perfection is the measure of his
If now we take broad survey and
ask ourselves to what extent does the
of our time and country
up TO this and we shall
hardly find reasons for self congratu-
Iation.
Are we the equals of our predeces-
sors2 We shall have to confess that
there we're fine arts Hourishing ~ the