The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-12-31

half equipped or takes in hand an
undertaking as if he were afraid of
it, he must inevitably meet with de-
feat. 1 know that life has its strug-
giles. for I have tasted of them. and
thank God that I have, that l may.
more. deeply sympathiZe with those in
the pew, But l also know that if we
keep aglow on the altar of our hearts
the flame of ambition, struggle will
enlarge and brighten the fire rather
than have a tendency to extinguish
it. Let me emphasize the fact that
there is no substitute for ambition.
Sometimes people will thrust one in
it's place, but it always proves a
failure. Religion will never accom-
plish what ambition should, and am
bition will never bring about what re-
ligion should. They each perform a
particular and different function in
life. When a man thinks that in en-
bracing religion: she receives the> title
to success in his commercial orr pro-
fessional undertaking he is deceiying
himself. One may be:truly religious
| and yet ambitionless, =: and on the.
other hand one may be intensely am:
bilious, and yet void Of religion. OF
| course an ideal life should have the
| two, but we must not place them. In
their wrong sphere, as seems the,
tendency at times. If then it is I'M,
possible to substitute ambition, and
we fail to. cultivate this God-giVen
| gift, it is almost hopeless II in. this
world of enterprise to expect any re-
| suit, to-: secure, any. profitH Provided.
however, that man keeps aglow this
! inward flame she: will bring the sue
cess of: his Undertaking, nearer. and
al L
in his possession: Profit is what :he
through the channel of. ambition
There is not the. slightest element, of:
-depravfty Here. Then pray, why. did
our Lord ask of His disciples and the
people this @seaching. and. important
question, What sha11:it profit a, man
| if he Shall gain the who'd world andl'
+ lose his own soul?" Peter. had given
the reason for the question almost "a
moment before, for Christ had
T uttered, the stfnging ..rebuke>to.. him.
I-@Get thee, Behind Me, Satan; for thou,
/ savorest not the: things that be. Of
+ God, but the things that be of men"
+ Peter: allowed his ambition to rush
him headIoffg into placing earthly dis
| tinction. before. devotion TO his Mas:
ter: And this has been the tendency
|, of human nature ever since: When a
man puts his. money making in the
place of loyalty to Jesus Christ, when
| the":summit of achievement ecHpses
the position Of the Saviour in the IN
dividual life, or when: a man wins
| fame of any kind at the expense Of
personal >. religion ambition-God's
great gift, has been. distortet;@ and
| been "a destroyer instead of con-
structor. Should man make money,
| should he <achfeye.. hould..' he gain
! fame? Yes, these are the goal of am
! bition. The more one makes, the
more one achieves, the wider. the
| fame, the more is the, ambition
stirred, and because of this restless
ness of the ruling power within, does
our Lord bring His searching 4ques-
ton to us, emphasizing the, danger
that we are in" In substance, the. Saw
| Jour says, Whatever world. your am
bition has for its goal, if it should
reach the impossible position-the
! the expense of the soul. Or as St. Luke
puts it.. the loss of the Self what are
you profted? Here, then, is the SUI
preme thought Of the text. You can
gain and lose at the same time, para
doxical as it may seem. You can so
allow your ambition to lead you in the
quest for fortune, or achievement, or
fame, that you pay dearly for these
! things, for you have sacrificed your
own soul-your SELF We might de-
scribe this as process of building up
with one hand and pulling down with
! the other. What then is the remedy
| you ask me? Am I to give up the en-
terprises that are interesting me to-
/ day? Am to extinguish the fire of
my ambition? If gain must lose?
! Not necessarily so. The whole trOu
BILE is, that you have not given JESUS
| Christ-the questioner,' the right po-
Bition in your life. You have left Him
out of your ambitious schemes You
are reluctant to allow Him to be "a
! silent listener in your office. =. You
have" given; Him. no place in your
thought: You shave-treated Him as
a servant, rather than as your Lord
and Master. When such is the case
your gaining is. losing. While your
ambition is all alive; and you are
reaching the goal of Earthly distinc-
ton or earthly possess ions, your own
manhood-your soul fyour self lis
being sapped to satisfy your rest less
thirst. The things of the world and
the soul of man are Here in conflict,
and from whatever standpoint You
look at it, it: resolves Itself into 4adlos-
ing game Unfortunately, however,
we play the game, we Dive life, before
we realize the severity of the. loss:
The association of our Lord with: His
disciples was rapidly: drawing to a
close. :. Heehad already begun to. speak
jof His crueifixion, butt before~tbe end
H4a mis- tO thS m the III lest lion .Of' cur
text And in spirit has not the sans
| question again and again been put 20
us when men are about to pass from
ife,s scene, men whom the worldGh as
called great, men who have built up
colossal fortunes~or have won great
fante?. Yes, they will Invariably hold
ure, not the following, of their9 ex-
.ampfe,,sbut Father tIef safeguarAi hg
4 and. elfisaVatinSc 0eaaER rseu 3&sth# de-
! velaping soft he ..seIs a1seT here can be
.-f:no -..coTuitct between the goal of a
: + man s.a1ifb ftfon and soul when the
highest plane ST ffff. Thts@ is its
rightful position, and once dethrone
it, and you -sgive creation to antag-
onis1n. Ambition must still play its
part in The life, but It will be sec
ondary part, and thenithe gain will be
pure gain, for there can be no loss of
SELF, but rather fuller Development.
Here is whereewe hate the combina=
ton OF a religious. ana ambitious man.
Religion first, ambition Second. The
former controlling the. latter. Gains
ing profit mt he',w6h1d of things, de-
veloping. the soul in the world OF re-
ligfon+: Prosperity is "a desirable and
a legitimate thing. Nay. the. fire of
ambition demands it, and yet this
very prosperity is dangerous, because
it is likely TO usufp itself. . 1t needs
to be handled firmly and intelligently
if our life is to escape the danger.
Our Lord knew this we'll when He
said, How nardIy snail they Inat
have riches enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven" Sometimes l think We
pray too much for the poor man and
too little for the rich. We lavish our
sympathies upon the pauper and we
| fling: seat hing Recommendations at the