The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-24
THE vIRoINIANs WEEKLY SERMON
"The Blue" Their Cause and Cure
By Rev. R. H. Bennett, D. D.
a. AZ: H. ..why art thou cast my soul" etc.

traveller lost in the Mammoth Cave.
wandering round and round with the
daily task I'm hand, until the body
falls exhausted to sleep Its long sleep.
Some day posterity will ind his bones
and write his cpitaph, Lost In the
Cave" No wonder he Is blue"
Any one poorly occupied Is often
gloomy. A man may open oysters ana
clean fish to perfection and be happy,
Ii that is his true place In life, but
II he has the making of a great nnan-
cier or a university professor in him,
he will find no happiness at the
shocking" table. / know of man
who married woman of means, and
surrendering his occupation as need
less. spends his time at the sewing
machine making pinafores for the
babies. They say he does II well. But
I'll warrant the mercury OF his spirits
stays near the bottom of the tube.
Talents squandered on inferior occu
patton bury cheerfulness in fog.
The ghosts of strophied faculties cry
from their graves for justice. haunt the
man who has let them die and pray for
q resurrection to life and usefulness.
God hasa plan for every mans life
and deviation from that plan writes
wrinkles on the brow and shadows In
the heart. A merchant may be de-
pressed because God made him for
farmer. A conviction that the pulpit
Is his proper place weighs lawyer
down. Just as the parent eagle de-
stroys the nest TO teach the hedging
how to fly, so our Heavenly Father
sends dissatisfaction into our hearts
TO move us out of present conditions
into truer and better ones. What
proof of His love, that he gives US
temporary dependency now. rather
than allow 1t to permanently enshroud
us when too late to be of any help.
Dead hopes, unanswered prayers, un-
satisfied longings, the failure of pet
plans are often sent to lead us TO
the best usefulness
Is II not true that dependency is
sometimes a direct temptation ana
to be resisted as such. The experience
Of many a Christian justifies the be-
lief that II Satan finds one whom ne
cannot tempt TO sin. he viii take his
pleasure in worrying such a saint. For
often Ii IL the most conscientious child
of God who is thus disturbed. How
the ravens of temptation to gloomi-
ness perch upon the gaunt limb OF the
skeleton trunk In the dreary midnight
and croak 10 one another.
And does not God at times to test
our faith, send us alone through the
darkness. He wants no untried war
riors, or veterans OF the camp. who
have never taken the field. Only those
who have smeit powder and faced the
lannon's mouth. and paced the lonely
sentrys beat In a bitter midnight
under the peitinK hail and with body
barred to unseen bullets are to wear
the laurel in the crowning day ahead.
II We could see all things, and IL we
ever walked in the light, where would
be the room fer faith to grow? Ana
go God departs from us in the dark
ness. and we cry and pray for hght
and no light comes, simply because we
can be tested only in the dark. | well
remember how one winters night at
home when a child of eight. my father
offered me large reward to go into
the distant cellar and bring up a
waiter OF apples No one knows the
cost of that Journey across the hall
and through two rooms closing all the
doors and down into the dark and I'M
canny cellar wi,hs It's mysteries and
unknown tsrrors- was far from call
il any OF the hobgoblins of which
had been reading in the fairy books
had appeared and seized me. l know
now the errand was but to test me.
and l have since been thankful that
in that as well as many other trials
since I have received grace for every
need.
We can never estimate too highly
the victory over melancholy and me
possession of cheerfulness In the sonl.
The distance between success and fail
ure is in the sunshine or shadow in
the heart. Nothing put wings on our
feet like hope. Nothing foreordains
our failure SO surely as despair. a
gloomy spirit cripples us in our work.
and irnnairs the quality of fhat A0ne
ruins our disposition and our char
acter. discourages others destroys
our influence over them. and tuTne
them In disgust from the counter
felt of religion We have given them.
There are some people after whose
health We dare not ask for fear OF hav
ing a whole medical eyciopaedia Of
ailments rehearsed In our weary
ears. Some one has said, do not
tell your friend your troubles. You
are taking his time, He Is waiting
TO tell you his" What man has a
right to throw with a scowl or frown
over the life of his happy child or
CHEEKY wife the wet blanket that en-
wraps his own sour heart?
A peripatetic Dismal Swamp afire.
to which our Norfolk friends are
sometimes treated in the fall. is
nuisance anywhere. and by whatever
sAG Eyes VI the COM
munity with smarting and tears, sa-
rluting its nose with bad smells, OBJ
securing the vision and obstructing the
very sun itself. As DIR. Guthrie says.
the battle of Giiboa was lost before
II was fought. The Witch Of Endor
and not the Philistines defeated King
Saul, for when she took hope from
his heart she dug his grave. Victory
vanished with the mantled phantom,
and the contest was decided before
Saul, pale, haggard, with spirits de-
pressed and courage as sunken as his
eye. dragged himself to the fight.
In view OF the tragedies reported
In our daily press, this Is a more
serious question than one might think.
for these are the steps of fearfully
swift descent: a surrender to the
blues" settled dependency, melan-
cholia. dementia. despair. suicide.
Julian. the Roman Emperor. who
apostatized from Christianity. would
teach this lesson by his sombre coat
Of arms--an eagle with an arrow tip
ped with its own feathers, passing
through Its breast and under 1t the
motto. I'VE are pierced by our own
deeds"
And you have noticed, possibly, that
the three greatest sins are those OPP
posed to the greatest virtues: doubt.
despair. hate: faith. hope. love. And
OF these none holds more pilgrims
caputive in its noisome dungeons than
Giant Despair.
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