Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1908-01-18
Caln,ase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. d. d.


and what we most desire To be Is the
theme Of this practical sermon. the
preacher taking for his text James !.
xiii. lie is like unto man beholding
his natural face in mirror OK. W.
Ii is strange fact that most people
know little of their physical appear
ance The shrewd Scottish poets de-
sire is familiar to us all:
OH wad some power the giftie gle US
To see oursels as ithers see us.
But the ''glftle" he invoked never gave
the power. No man ever sees himself
as he is seen either by his friends or
by his enemies When looking at our
selves we nearly always have blurred
spectaclcs SIR Anthony Vandyke, like
other great portrait painters, used his
own face for model but II 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-
klcs that q straw might have been laid
in. She had not the courage of Crom-
we'll. who told the artist 10 paint him
as he was and not leave ont the warts.
Most Of us want To look better than we
are. and we often deceive even our
selves
once heard n 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 Il
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 a thousand different places.
lie saw every motion and gesture re-
pcated from every angle and learned
how he appeared full face and side
wise and he was unplcasantly aston
ished. WHAT" he soiloquZed. 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
ity would he for him occasionally to
visit n hall Of thousand mirrors,
where he can see himself as others see
him.
The figure OF my text implies that
we are rs unconscious of our faults OF
character as we are OF our physical de-
fects. As the man vain Of his outward
appearance is rcproved by his mirror,
go the man proud OF his character is
reproVed when lie looks into Gods
word But he like the other. ~ prone
to forget the revelation aud gOeth his
way. forgetting what manner ot man
lie H. This is unfortunate, because
we might remedy the defects of our
character II We studied them and
sought Gods help.
The Defects Of Character.
There are other mirrors that help us
10 get n true estimate OF ourselves and
| want to point out this morning how
we may use them for our self i'm
proyement In the first place. | want
you to carefully examine the retiec-
tions we may see IN the looking glasses
held before our faces by the loving
hands Of our best and tenderest and
dearest friends II is not 10y any
means pleasant mirror to look at.
Somehow many of us are deceived by
the idea that friends above all man
Kind should think that our faces are
perfect faces and our natures perfect
natures but that is unreasonable. The
true friend by intimate association
may find virtues III us hidden from the
eyes of the rest Of the world, but he
also finds imperfcctions in us which
the world does not see. Then the true
friend proves his affection 10y pointing
out 10 us those defects and warning us
against the disasters that may come
from them. Wise Is tile man and the
woman and the child who heed the
warnings spoken by those they love.
Those warnings began 10 come 10 US
way back In our childhood days, when
we were surrounded 10y our brothers
and sisters. We now live in n great
big world where we have hundreds.
perhaps thousands. of acquaintance.
We have daily and hourly dealings
with our fellow men. But ! want TO
tell you that in all your business and
domestic career MS mature man the
besettlng sins Of your life are not
more self evident 10 your friends than
they were 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 IL because You
are selfish. and that is the besetting
sin you must fight all your life OR
she says. John. you are naturally de
ceitful" John that was the act OF a
coward" John. the difficulty about
you is you are vain and jealous. You
hate to hear any one else praised. You
are not satisfied unless every one is