The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1911-04-07
ASATURDAY
&ls&) NIGHT
4 SERMONS
BY
MSA4UElW .PURyHll
THE ETERNAL WEIGHING.

T6XI, 'InOu art We1BneQ IN tn6 Dai-
ance"-Dan. v, q.
Education is really the cultivation of
the critical faculty, judgment setting
one thing over against another and
rendering verdict. Belongs to all con-
ditions. "Robberr' shrieks juvenile
voice on bfeachers. dat man wasn't
out at firstw It's the keenest, most
used faculty in human nature. We get
it from the Almighty. Only no man
ever thinks he will ever strike the
scales himself Judgment is archaic"
says the malefactor. There's to be no
Judgment cries one rogue after an
other. So it runs on to the end of
long, disgraceful chapter. Certainty of
q sure, swift, terrible judgment would
have a magic effect on business and
political methods in America today.
"Do / believe in judgment dayT
One or thousand. For all men"
All or none If none then the kingdom
of heaven is worse than some cities
that sit corrupt and cOntented," for
they punish violators Of city ordi-
nances-if they're poor and friendless
their offenses." Yes, suffering conse-
quences, not penalties. Aren't you
appealing to fear when you talk judg-
ment?" Yes, fear and comfort also.
Your Own Scales.
Anybody can weigh himself. If I'm
too stout I'll juggle the figures when l
come to tell If too thin the prob
LENS easier still. Figures don't lie,
but liars figure. But then l myself
know the truth. A pounds pound
sixteen ounces. Not thirty-fve, but thir
ty-six, inches is yard. Rights right;
wrongs wrong. l may scribble figures
and multiply words but all the while l
know. | know with what | filed my
shuttle before the cloth was woven.
The truest human register is in the
soul itself One is his own district
attorney, judge and jury. Aye, suicide
statistics show one may be his own
executioner. Whether the Bible story
of heaven and hell is correct or no |
doesn't matter. They are within us,
now and here. And the black pages, |
the closed chapters, the hushed up |
things, are on the scales of our own
balancing.
Your Neighbours Scales. J
The worlds scales are a little I'M
certain. Depends on when. where and
who. In one age "witchcraft" is a
serious thing; in another it's laughed
at. The world swings from Puritan
to a wide open" Sunday. Follow the
crowd on Sunday night in Toronto
you'll go TO church; in San Francisco
you'll go to the theater. One state
hangs for murder; another adds rape
another train wrecking, another arson.
Your friends, your enemies, your
neighbors, your community, is weigh
ing you. But their scales are mighty
imperfect. liable to ignorance, mistake,
prejudice. They know only part of the
facts. You're neither so good as your
friends think nor so bad as your enc
mics think. Their judgments are a
queer mixture of hate. love, kindness
and selfishness. There's very little
sympathy and a great deal of cruelty
in your fellows weighing, because he
takes your worst trait and measures It
against his best He doesn't mention
his greed when he condemns your pas
sion. He forgets his untruthfulness
when he excoriates your fondness for
drink. Nevertheless your neighbours
Judgment can be deep, searching and
fearfully just If your shopmates unite
In declaring you are untruthful, If
your neighbors as whole declare you
are an imprudent woman, II your best
friends or even your worst enemies
hint that your capital is empty. swell
ing. Haunting, pretentious, then II is
at least time to stop and take account
of stock. 1t may be that you are mis-
Judged and Ill abused, but it looks as
If the scales may be giving you your
true weight.
Gods Scales.
You cannot weigh all things In same
scales. Coal scales and gold scales are
different. One scale will weigh a
freight car, another an eyelash. There
are others yet more important on
which thoughts and motives, conduct
and character, are weighed. They are
the invisible scales of the Almighty.
One may be using world scales and
feel satisfied. God balances afterward
and says. Weighed and wanting" Ma {
poleon says. God Is on side Of heav-
lest battalions." Gods answer is ST.
Helena. A great constitutional lawyer
rises In national armament, sways
United States senate. Drink is on one
pan Of scales, presidency the other.
Weighed and wantingl God puts a
great church In the scales-minister.
officials, choir, pipe organ, cathedral
Ike structure on one side. spiritual life
on the other. Weighed and wantingl
Once upon a day the Master stood
over against the treasury and watched
the wealthy Jews drop their rich gifts
into the treasury box Of the temple A
poor widow came. dropped IN her mite.
He declared she gave more than any
that day. he weighed cost Of gift and
how much was left. There's no weight
ing scales, binding beams. Wrestling
pivots. altering figures after that. His
scales are awful IN their exactness. ,