The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-19
A sATURDAY SERMON.

He that diligently seeketh good pro-
cureth favor: but he that seeketh mis-
chief, it shall come unto him. Prov
cribs XI:27.
How true it is that the individual
who goes on a hunt for trouble is sure
to find it and become a trouble-maker
He always brings in a full bag FIRE.
quently he gets more thai he bar
gained for. And never are the results
worth the effort regardless of temper
airy successes with their large or small
material gains.
Mischief always springs from per-
Iversity or folly. Therefore to get into
mischief of one sort or another is the
easiest thing in the world. Not only
does it Turk on every hand and in in
Vulnerable varieties. But thu rank and
file Of mankind are also obssssed with
both perversity and folly. The people
who are perverse, who willfully err.
are not as numerous, perhaps, as are
those who do wrong foolishly. There
are a-plenty Of them, however. They
infest all branches of society. You
can find them in the me rket- place as
well as in the drawins-room; in the
church and in the school. No avenue
Of human endeavor is free from their
presence. It is their wrong-doing
which creates the vexed problems, So
Geological. economic and political,
which are so difficult of solution.
Their king is chaos. They are the cause
Of bloody revolutions. They are the
obstacles in the way of a perpetual
peace. They keep the lawmakers busy,
and the courts buster. Nor 70 some of
them hesitate to tampeT with Justice
Is it any wonder then that the struggle
for life is hard on the part o their vic
Tins? To bring the miscEief-seekers,
who become the mischief-makers, to a
realization of the error CT their ways
is the constant and important work of
a progressive civilization. And it is
only going to be brought to a success
full elimination eventually by appeal
ing to their inherent sense of decency
in all things; by awakening that sense
to the real duties of man 10 man; by
impressing upon humanity the need of
the application of ethics III the hand
ling and solution of all questions. No
matter how stringent the laws are
made, perverse people will find a way
have little faith in the efficacy of moral
suasion. But it is actually the great
power that has moved humanity on
ward and upward. And there is need
for more of 1t in the world of today
than ever before.
For the mischief hunters and max
ers who are led on the way by folly,
there can only be pity and sympathy,
even if their acts often work quite as
much hardship as does the mischief
done by those of perverss hearts. The
mischief made through folly is the
more easily handled and corrected
Generally the distressing experiences
of the people led into mischief in this
manner are sufficient as a correction
ary Then safeguards can be thrown
around people by prohibitory laws of
one sort and Notwithstanding those
that hinder the operations of crooks
and knaves-which will not permit
people to give their folly a free rein.
But the greatest enerJ of mischief
of all kinds. as is suggested in the
words of Solomon quoted above, is a
diligent searching for coed on the part
Of every one The rewards of virtue
are of such wonderful proportions that
it's peculiar more people are not con-
tinually striving for them.