The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-26

Los Angeles. Cal January 19.-In this sermon the preacher reveals the secret of the true enjoyment of life and tells l us how to escape worry and the thou sand and one afflictions that make ex- istence a burden to so many of us. The text is Proverbs iii, IT, "All her paths are peace"
 At one of our church prayer meetings l had an experience that l shall never | forget. It was one of the happiest of the many such meetings that l have attend | ed. Love seemed to be reigning every where The songs were sung as If every one was enjoying them. The prayers came yelling up from the heart as the | bubbling brook leaps over the rocks or ] the mountain side The preacher was sit | ting in his chair, but the meeting was | being run by the people. The hour Tn which we prayed and sang and testified was gone too soon. The subject of the | evening was, Why the Christian Life ! Should be a Happy Life, and Why It Should Grow Happier Each Year It | was a great subject to talk upon. Each | Christian was able to speak upon 1t out of the experiences of his own life Truly it seemed that each testimony was a llt- 1 tie better than the one that had preceded 1t. Then, when all our hearts were over flowing with gratitude to God for his many mercies, a dear friend arose and 
 told this suggestive incident:
 Some time ago in a northern city was very much depressed. Things seemed to be going against me. l did not know which way to turn. Then, as if to in- tensify my discomfort the weather was indictment. It is always harder for me to worship God when the wind Is from the east than when the sun is shining. But suddenly the storm seemed to break. From a rift in the clouds the sun burst through and flooded the branches or great tree just before me. Then as If by magic a flock of sparrows came from every direction and flew up into the branches of that tree and began to twit- ter as If in ecstay. I stopped and said: If a lot of sparrows could hunt out little ray of sunshine like that and be happy in it, surely I, who can bathe in the sunshine of Gods mercies and prom ises, should be happy, too. When my friend sat down, I seemed to be sur rounded by a great flood of God sun shine. In the glow of that sunshine there seemed to arise before me the in- numerable blessings which crowd into the Christians life And then there came to my mind these beautiful words Of my text: Her ways are ways of .pleasantness, and all her paths are peace
 The Paths of Peace.
 The paths of the gospel are fragrant with peace, first, because those who tread them learn to love the simpler things of life. They have not vitiated or a depraved taste for pleasure They can tune their songs of life to the Key note of Channlng's symphony They love the flowers and the birds and the chii- dren. For them the pleasures of home are the sweetest and dearest They can find endlessness enjoyment in a walk through the woods and in the cultivation of a garden in their back yard. Ihey would rather gather around the plano in the evening hour and with the members of their family sing the old gospel hymns than hear the most exquisite opera sung by the most famous prima donna i'm ported from foreign lands They would rather see their children play pranks upon the nursery floor than go to see the finest tragedians act their masterpieces in the theatre They do not need cathedrals in which to worship God or palaces in which to find pleasure, but they can take de- light in the simple things of life Like the poet, they can sing in a garden the words:
 Were I. God. in churchless lands re-
 maining,
 Far from all voice of teachers and di-
 vines, My soul would find in flowers of thine
 ordaining
 Priests, sermons, shrines.
 I was deeply impressed with this fact in reading the life of Phillips Brooks. That prince of preachers had the simplicity and the tenderness of a child. Witness the regret he had when he felt himself growing out of the com panionship of children. Though he had no child of his own, he adopted all l the children in the families of his ac- 1 quaintance. When he entered home 1 he was like a big boy out for a frollc. He could not be made to obey the rules and the regulations of the house. He raised the standard of mutiny against decorum. and every child ran to him. He would get down on his knees and nlay and romp as the merriest boy or the lot Then, when he was nearing the twoscore milestone, when one would suppose that, like Paul, ne would be willing to put away childish things. we find him writing these de- lightful words of regret to an old fhil- adelphia parishioner: The worst thlng l see about getting old or being olo IS that you get farther away from the |oung neonle. who are the best people in the world. I never see a lot of boys without wanting to be among them and wishing they would let me into | their company and being sure they won't. I hate to think that boys or | IA think of me as I used to think | of men of ST wh en I was their age. | Could there be a sweeter fragrance or spring blossoms than that? Could you | dream of great man being simpler or purer and gentler and more loving than Phillips Brooks wanting to play leapfrog or a game of baseball with lot of bovs when he himself at that time was the honored guest or the great Dean Stanley and was preach ing to England's greatest men, who crowded Westminster abbey 10 hans on his words?
 The Simple Things of Life. My friends, one of the most positive n,,oofs that a man Is not a true Christian is when he does not love the simple things of life. Ills mind and heart and tastes are cloyed with artificial enJoyments. He IS living upon ephemeral stimulants. There is not a night when he has to stay at home that he is not restless. No sooner