Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-06
FINDS GOOD
IN ALL HUMAN KIND
Rev. Hodgin Says Every Man Has
His Inspiring GIimpses of
the Higher Life

In his sermon, ION the Heights" at
the First Unitarian church yesterday
morning the pastor, Rev. E. Stanton
Hodgin, said:
"It Is not difficult to rise to the noun
tain tops occasionally and gain inspir-
ing glimpses of the higher life. Every
one has his TRANSPORTATION moments,
in which he is chastened and purified
All his evil and low desires slip from
him. He wishes only for the better life
and is determined to live 1t. The test
of character is in the ability to carry
those higher visions with us and to
keep them potent and powerful, di-
recting our activities and aims during
the humdrum days of common toll so
that temptation may not again have
dominion over u.s.
"The valleys of temptation are nu-
merous. Only God and the brute are
free from temptation; the one because
he has not sufficient ideality to expert
ence a conflict between duty and de-
sire, the other because Of that perfec-
tion that causes duty and desire to
always coincide. But humanity, that
part of creation between the brute and
divinity, fired by the divine spark
which makes him strive for divine ends
while ever held back by the beast with
In that resists his ideals at every point
humanity is subject to continual
temptation.
Here is a man sorely tempted to
dishonesty. Impulses to take advant-
age of his fellow men are ever arising
within him. How shall he find help
and strength for his integrity. He may
find some help on the low level on
which he is standing. He may think
of the disgrace he will suffer If he
is found out. He may imagine him
self walking the streets Stunned and
despised, even the children pointing the
finger of scorn at him. He may rea-
son that 1t IS poor business policy that
will react upon his commercial success.
Fear may keep him steadfast in the
path of rectitude.
There are legitimate helps that are
very effectively used, oftentimes in
the hour of temptation, but they are
helps of low order. They are tenn
porary makeshifts. They do not exalt
one, make strong his character and
put life on a firmer foundation. They
are like bits of wood thrown to
drowning man; they may keep his head
above water for few minutes, but
he Is not safe until he has the solid
ground beneath his feet. No man
should rest content with such life as
that-to simply struggle along to keep
his reputation above the line of dis
honesty, feeling that he is likely to be
submerged at any moment. He must
ascend to the heights. He must see
the beauty and strength and divine
ness of honesty-must concentrate his
thought upon honesty as an ideal,
build himself up in honesty of thought
and feeling and action until dishon-
esty becomes distasteful and repulsive
to him and is no longer a temptation.
He then has the solid ground of integ-
rity beneath him and is safe.
''It is by forcing visions we gain in
our moments of exaltation to sink
deep into our consciousness, by dwell
ing upon them continually until they
enter into the very warp and woof
of character, becoming the guiding
principle of action, directing and con-
trolling our impulses, that we have
a safe and unfailing guide through the
many dark valleys OF temptation that
must be passed in the Journey of life."