Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-01-09
Caln,aSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, d. D.

Los Angeles, Cal, Jan. 5.-What
we think we are, what we really are
and what we most desire to be is the
theme of this practical sermon. the
preacher taking for his text James 1,
xiii, "He Is like unto n man beholding
his natural face in n mirror Or. W.
It Is strange fact that most people
know little Of their physical appear
nnce The shrewd Scottish poets de-
sire is familiar to us all:
Oh, wad some power the gifte gle us
To see oursels as ithers see us.
But the "giftie" he invoked never gave
the power No man ever sees himself
MS he is seen either by his friends or
by his enemies. When looking Mt our
selves we nearly always have blurred
spectacles Sir Anthony Vandyke, like
other great portrait painters, used his
own face for model, but 1t Is very
likely the picture was not true to life.
Queen Elizabeth babe the court artist
omit the shadows from his picture Of
| her face, the shadows" being wrin-
kles that straw might have been laid
in. She had not the courage of Crom-
we'll who told the artist to paint him
as he was and not leave out the warts.
Most of us want to look better than we
are and we often deceive even our
| selves.
I once heard a great speaker give Il
humorous description Of how he first
saw himself as others saw him. Like
most of us. up to that time he never
knew how he looked. but one day a
friend took him to visit "the Hall OF a
Thousand Mirrors When he went
into this palace he found the floors. the
ceilings, the walls, all composed Of
looking glasses. In these thousand
mirrors he saw his own face and body
reflected in q thousand different places.
He saw every motion and gesture re-
peated from every angle and learned
how he appeared full face and side
wise, and he was unpleasantly aston
lshed "Whatw he soliloquized. DO
| look like those people? DO act like
those people? Well. one fact is certain
other people may like me. but could
never learn to like myself" The cas-
lest place in all the world for an aver
age man to kill his egotism and van
lty would be for him occasionally to
visit a "hall Of a thousand mirrors"
where he can see himself as others see
him.
The figure Of my text implies that
we are as unconscious Of our faults Of
character as we are Of our physical de-
fects As the man vain Of his outward
appearance is reproved by his mirror,
so the man proud Of his character Is
reproved when he looks into Gods
word But he, like the other, is prone
to forget the revelation and goeth his
way, forgetting what manner Of man
he is. This Is unfortunate because
we might remedy the defects of our
character If we studied them and
sought Gods help.
Tho Defects Of Character.
There are other mirrors that help us
to get true estimate of ourselves, and
l want to point out this morning how
we may use them for our self I'm
provement In the first place, l want
you to carefully examine the rehec-
tons we may see in the looking glasses
held before our faces by the loving
hands of our best and tenderest and
dearest friends. 1t Is not by any
means a pleasant mirror to look at.
Somehow many Of us are deceived by
the idea that friends above all man
kind should think that orr faces are
perfect faces and our natures perfect
natures, but that is unreasonable. The
true friend by intimate association
may find virtues In us hidden from the
eyes Of the rest Of the world, but he
also finds imperfections in us which
the world does not see. Then the true
friend proves his affection by pointing
out to us those defects and warning us
against the disasters that may come
from them. Wise Is the man and the
woman and the child who heed the
warnings spoken by those they love.
Those warnings began to come to us
way back In our childhood days, when
we were surrounded by our brothers
and sisters. We now live In a great
, big world where we have hundreds
perhaps thousands, Of acquaintances
, We have daily and hourly dealings
+ with our fellow men. But l want tC
tell you that in all your business and
domestic career as mature man the
besetting sins Of your life are not
more self evident to your friends thar
they We're to your father, and especial
~ to your mother. when you played
with your brothers and sisters in the
nursery. You can feel that loving ma
ternal eye now boring straight into
your heart and finding the flaws there
Even now you can hear her say, John
the reason you took that big apple
from your little sister is because vol
, are selfish, and that Is the besettinf
sin you must fight all your life" Oh
= ,he says, John, you are naturally de
retful." "John, that was the act OF ,
coward" John, the difficulty abou
e you Is you are vain and jealous. Yo,
hate to hear any one else praised. Yo'
are not satisfied unless every one II
: praising you" Though years have
vassed since your mother uttered thos'
( words, yet you know she placed he
finger upon the weakest part Of you
nature. Today, though she Is dead
you know that she did her duty to yo'
by showing you your reflection in tn
- looking glass.
r The True Friends Criticism.
Time passed. and you entered tn