Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1908-03-27

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middle aged man to make a happy Sc
lection. The older people grow the
more expert they become in the abll-
fly to deceive If they are naturally mean
and contemplate in disposition. And
some OF the meanest people On earth
can make the most pleasant, fascinat-
ing impressions II you do not see them
too often. And surely a woman has
to be a very repellent specimen OF q
sloven If she cannot dress up and make
herself attractive for q couple OF hours
a week during the time her lover is
with her. And yet 1t 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 50 many people look
upon marriage as q lottery where a
man does not know whether he will
draw as a prize a bee that VIII gather
honey or a wasp that finds her chief
delight in thrusting a merciless sttngf
And. If 1t is difficult for man to Sc
lect the right kind OF a wife. how much
more difficult for a woman to make the
right choice Of a husband! A woman
seems to be entirely helpless. Her
danger is greater, and the results to
her at least may be even more tragic.
A man may make a success in spite OF
an unhappy marriage, but when wo-
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 go
counting, what should they do? The
most important act is to go to God in
prayer. God would select for Isaac
Rebecca and for Jacob Rachel. Sure
ly he will select for you marital COM
panion and make no mistake. Philip
Henry used to say to his children,
please God and you will please me"
Then at the wedding he would say:
"Others wish you all happiness.
wish you all holiness; then there is no
doubt that you will have all happi-
ness" Was 1t a foolish caution? II
we please God are we not sure TO
make the right move when we plight
our troth under the orange blossoms?
We have often heard ministers plead
with wives to pray for their erring hus-
bands If some ministers would teach
their people to pray before they en-
tered the marital yoke, there would not
be so many erring husbands TO pray
for nor so many broken hearted wives. /
erful selections more earnest and in
tense than In our church work? If
there is any one place set apart for the I
purpose Of prayer and for the demon
stratiOns of the power Of prayer, that
place should be the church Of God. and |
yet l am amazed to find how often a |
church in the crisis or Its history neg |
lects prayer. and this fact is never more
demonstrated than In the way the Az
erage church goes about to select .
pastor.
Selecting a Pastor.
Now, how does the average church |
select a new pastor? First the cOngre-
cation chooses a committee to look out
for a 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
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 a winning smile and Is good
looking. Another faction faVOrs an
other man because he is endowed with
q fine voice and has perfect execution.
Another candidate is rejected because
he is past fifty and the church wants
a young man. And so the seesawing
goes on until at last q man comes along
who sweeps everything by storm. He
has a genius for getting calls. He has
four or FIVE good sermons. He has
spent weeks and months upon them.
Like the mOsaics of the AlhambEa,
those sermons are a patchwork OF
many different sermons. 1t would not
be so bad if that minister had made
them a mosaic of his own discOurses,
but sometimes they are taken from the
sermons Of Beecher, Brooks or Parker,
we must have this minister and have
him right awayw cries the cOngregs
lion. Wait" says some old cOnserva-
i've elder. You do not know yet who
his man is. Let us investigate q little
further. 1t is not the first sermon or
he tenth, but what kind Of 4 sermon
/ man can preach after he has been In
he pulpit for Eve years. that decides
whether he is a good preacher or not.
Then let US find out what kind Of a
Christian leader this man Is. VIII hs
- a true guide? Is he right upon the
doctrine Of the atOnement? Does he
gamble at progressive euchre parttes9
Does he drink and dance and 90 to the
heater? If he does we do not want
lin even though he has the golden lips
II 3 Chrysostom. Let us pray over
his matter a little while. II we ask
3od to lead US he will not let US make
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 If we are to lead the right Chris
Ian life we must ask God what we
hall do for others as well as what
tho-s shall do for 11a oOh I cannot