Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-16
Sunday Morning Talk.
Hot Weather Religion.

How have your faith, hope and love
stood the test of this extraordinarily
warm summer? Have you been quite
as pleasant and considerate as you are
under less trying external conditions? A
frank answer might embarrass some OF
us. 1t must be admitted that the fierce
and prolonged heat is exceedingly trying
and that it makes severe demands upon
ones stock of patience and good cheer.
And yet why should exceptional weather
conditions affect ones inward state or
outward behavior? The martyrs in the
early Christian centuries found 1t consid-
erably warmer, especially those who went
to the stake, and If we once allege as an
excuse for surliness and irritability the
fact that the mercury is lingering in the
Cos we at once make conformity to high
moral standards a matter subject to the
prevailing climate. On that principle you
| would not expect person dwelling near
the equator to exhibit the virtues and
graces that we should expect in a man
dwelling in the temperate zone or even in
the arctic.
Then. again. when we lower our flag
because the weather is nasty" or other
wise not to our liking. we practically go
back on the fundamental principle of our
religion, which is that 1t creates and
| maintains in the soul an attitude toward
life that makes one superior to the f1uc-
tuations of the weather and to the out
ward environment In general AS the
poet put 1t long ago:
mind within itself can make.
Heaven OF He'll. He'll Of Heaven.
Modern thought is dwelling much upon
the power of the mind over the body.
Some say that 1t can, to a large extent,
control and perhaps eliminate disease.
We may not go as far as that; but If we
have any conception of what the spiritual
life is as that life has been described and
illustrated. by the great poets, prophets
and seers Of the human race. we ought
| to realize that in what Mathew Arnold
calls 'inwardness' is the secret of quiet,
composed and joyous living in the world.
Certainly If religion is good for any
thing 1T ought to be good the year
through. and to be able to stand the tests
OF one sort and another that are sure to
arise as the weeks sweep on. If you
have no religious life in the winter and
spring, you are not likely to have any in
the summer; but If you have sought to
do justice. love mercy and walk humbly
with your God in January and March and
May. you will not find 1t difficult so to do
in July and August.
Why not carry the war to Africa and
welcome the extraordinary chance the
summer gives to be patient. kind, for
bearing helpful and hopeful? Even the
tedious waits at the stations, even Ian
guor and physical depletion, even hot
days and hot nights. even unpleasant
surroundings and uncongenial COM
panions may furnish the best opportuni-
ties to witness to our power of self-cOn-
troll and Of self-sacrifice. AS some one
has we'll said: Character is what a man
is on his vacation"
happen to know a young woman who.
at the beginning of this summer. quietly
said to herself. having in mind unfor-
tunate experiences in other years. that
she would strive to register a real moral
advance before autumn. If I am any
judge of character she is doing 1t, without
any palaver or fuss. but simply by trying
to be her best self, however hostile the
circumstances however strong the temp
tation to selfshness. THE PARSON.