The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-08-03

is nc influence more bl1ghtlng IN all
the world than that of u man who
] sedulously c%ultivates the philosophy
of despair. He is nothing but a nuis-
ance. and an Internal one at that. be-
| cause his philosophy Is hell-born. He
becomes a hinderer rather than a
helper. He is deliberately withhold
ing from others, in their cares and
burdens and sorrows. that cheer and
courage which God has meant him to
impart. If that alone were true. 1t
would be bad enough, but other
holding: he is injecting, he is poison
ing. He is offending one Of Gods
little ones. He pretends to be your
friend, but he is drilling holes below
the water line. He is pulling out the
bricks from the wall and the rivets
from the bolts. He is undermining
the moral constitution of every n
he meets. He is damping mems ar
dor. he is chilling their e%nthusiasms,
he is putting clouds into clear skies,
because he is discounting hope. The
further such a man keeps away from
his fellow men the better for them.
He has no business with them. The
only proper place for Elijah was the
wilderness and the juniper tree when
he had ceased to hope. And the
only proper place for him when new
hope and JOY had been born within
his soul was back among the SOL of
men. When our Lords soul was
troubled He was alone, the shades of
night were about Him, His disciples
slept. When He spoke to other than
God It was the message of hope:
Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden and 1 will give
you rest" There is only n heart
strong enough to bear the weight OF
a hopeless soul and that is the heart
of God. He alone is the "joy of the
comfortless, light of the straying.
hope of the penitent, fadeless and
pure"
The world has no time and no use
for the mar who has no time and no
use for hope. A gentleman on be-
ing asked to contribute to the erec-
ton Of a monument replied: mot a
dollar. I am ready to contribute to-
ward building monuments to those
who make us hope, but I will not give
a dollar to help perpetuate the mem
DRY and influence of those who live
to make US despair" The men who
find the world waiting for them. re-
sponsive to them, grateful for them,
are the men who bring into its r
ness something Of light and into its
.sufferings and sins, the aleViatlon
and stimulus Of hope.
A singer sang a song of tears, and the great
world heard and wept;
For he sang of the sorrows of feeting
years. and the hopes which the dead
past kept;
and souls in anguish their burdens bore,
and the world was sadder than
A singer a a SONG of cheer, and the
great world listened and smiled.
For he sang of the love of a Father dear,
and the trust of a little child:
And souls that before had forgotten to
pray looked up and went singing
along the way.
Perhaps, after all, to those who
are listening tonight, it is not neces-
sary to say all this. You know it
already. If you don't, it is because
YOU have never yet entered into the
JOY of your Lord, which is not re-
served, simply for the life to come,
but is impaired to His followers in
the life that now is. It is a joy that
no man taketh away. For it is the
10y that comes from the knowledge
not only that in the hiding OF God
there is safety, but that in the hands
of God all things are made to WORK
together for our good. 1t is the JOY
of the consciousness that the bars
and bolts that once held us in the
prison have been Withdrawn, n
the door has swung open, and we
have passed out into the light. And
it is the Joy that, having passed u
into the light there is given to us not
only freedom from bondage, but af-
filiation, the privilege of partnership
with God; the power to do and TO
become. And if WI still feel our
selves hedged about by unpropitious
circumstance, and assailed by the
temptation of that illicit self which
still clamors for recognition n
claims enforcement, there is born
within us the hope that out of strug-
gle and defeat, out Of striyings n
groanings. out of bondage and I'M
prisonment. we are at last to come
off more than conquerors through
Him who has loved us and redeemed
us by His blood. When we receive
Christ, who is our Hope. the Bright
and Morning Star Of Life, we enter
into privilege and possession. All
things are ours; the world about us,
the skies above us; the heritage OF
soil and the heritage of souls; the
deep happiness Of proprietorship in
the things of the life that now is and
the fadeless hope bf the life everlast-
ing: All things ars ours, for we are
Christ's and Christ is God. What
place is there for doubt, or despair IN
such a life? Why should we not, II
we believe in Him, who, though un-
seen, is ever with us, rejoice, with
iey unspeakable and full Of glory
What matters it that the sorrows OF
the present seem not joyous, but
g~rievous? They are the light Attic
tions which are but for the moment,
and which work out for us the far
more exceeding and eternal weight
Of glory. While we look at the
things which are seen, while the
shock of the storm is upon us, the
cathode rays of hope reveal beneath
the deep calm the unseen things
which are eternal.
Now abideth hope; its fingers point
upward and onward-and God is at
the end.
Unfading hope! When life's last embers
burn,
When soul to soul and dust to dust return,
] Heaven to thy charge resigns the awful