The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-10-30

and gave them a g11t,-a nttle tear,
TO tighten the woes of their broken
hearts. Thank God for the tears
which often express our greatest
depths, the finest Of what is in us.
And there is no tear so precious
as the tear of the sinner, the tear
heart crushed with its burden of sin
and guilt Jean Paul says: Man
Is never go beautiful as when he begs
pardon, and when his heart is peni
tent and contrite" The tears which
express penitence and contrition are
the most beautiful man can shed.
For they are not tears Ike all the
rest, selfish in their falling, shed s-
cause Of something which We needed
and which we miss,-whether it be
something material, of little who
from a higher point of view, or the
dearest possessions Of life,-but they
are the tears that express an inner
want and hunger of the soul, the
tears that we shed when we are at
our best, when we most long to
achieve the highest, when we arc
most conscious of an unselfish puT-
pose that gives meaning and value
to all the rest. They are the eE-
pressions of the MODEST that is in
man. the finest in manhood and wO-
manhood This night is time of
special communion of our souls with
the Infinite, and the tear is the sign
of the covenant between God and us,
the symbol of our remorse and of the
peace that we make with God. The
most precious offering We can bring
at this season is the sinners tear.
A. J,.fv, -ir-~,
or thanksgiving, or rejoi ing; tonight
we have but little tear, the tear
Of the sinner,--the tear of repent
ance, the tear of regret over wasted
past, the tear of hope in pardon and
in new life, the tear of forgiveness
Of others. the tear OF reconciliation,
the tear Of peace.
The sinners tear is wonderful too
in this respect, that, if shed in time,
IT is not bitter tear, not a tear
of despair or of helpless woe. Rather
It is q tear that comes from a heart
touched with the sense of its weak
ness and imperfection, and from re-
awakened conscience, a conscience
aroused to new sense of duty, a
heart stirred with finer impulses,
throbbing with the hope and the de-
sire to cast of the weakness of hui
man fraility and TO overcome the i'm
perfection Of the flesh, TO be and to
do, to accomplish something true, and
genuine, and lasting, over which the
world will not weep, but will re-
iofco which in the end Will cause rot
for tears but for triumph. The sin
ner's tear is the first step to nobler
life. No matter how grievously we
may have. sinned. no matter how low
H.
can reform again and rise AGAIN as
long as our hearts remain tender and
young, as long as we can still weep
the tear. of remorsd ard repentance.
And weeping this tear. we can be
men again, and on the ruins of a
wasted life, we can build new, and
firm, and strong. a sounder character,
a nobler life:
II hold it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in diverse tones,
That men may rise on stepping
stones
Of their dead selves to higher
things"
-Tennyson
Oh, that We might indeed tonight
feel the need of the sinners tear.
Oh that We might let the warm tear
of remorse moisten our cheeks, I'M
ashamed and glorying in tender and
cOntrite heart. Oh, that We might
admit, each one of us that we cannot
be zultless in the sight of God How
foolish of us TO harden our hearts
and in vain pride think that no one
will know our shortcomings. God
knows them and we know them Now,
In the heyday of our youth and vgor,
we can throw them off, but in old
age. what then? When our strength
begins to fail, as life's evening draws
swiftly nigh, when thoughts of the
great beyond make the heart heavy,
when che BY one the friends of our
youth are taken from us, when lonli-
ness and despair make entrance into
our lives. as we sit gazing into the
ashes of wasted opportunities say,
what then? oh" we say, then.
when we have gotten all that we
can out Of life. It will be time enough
to repent. Then will be time for the
broken ard contrite heart" Alas!
the laws of God work otherwise The
heart TOO often hardened remains
| hard. The tear of remorse too often
checked in the eve refuses to flow
We frequently hear it said that at
is never too late to mend" Mere
idle words, these, Of the shallow
pr6verb makers who behold not the
| depths Of life, Yes, my friends, If
We wait too long, it will be tdd late.
| If we allow our hearts 70 grow hard
and Gallons TO the finer impulses and
! the softer sentiments, The time will
! come when we can no longer soften
them. II we tarry too long withom
/ the gates of repentance, the gates will
/ be closed and We will he forbidden
to enter:
/ Late. late. so late, and dark the
! night and chill,
I Late, late, so late, but we can enter
still
Too late, too late, We cannot enter