Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-08-13
JESUS BELIEVED IN ENJOYING
THE GOOD Things OF THIS WORLD
Frorn tne Baltimore SUM

(Frorn the Baltimore SUM
Isn't it singular thing, for exam
PIE that those who reject the mediae-
val theology nevertheless cling 10 the
medieval idea of saintliness? We.
hardly think OF a man as being a saint
unless he is q man for whom this
present world has no attraction or
charm. He must not take even tran
silent satisfaction in any pleasure eY-
cept those thai spring from worship.
For him everyday occupations are
only hindrances to communion with
God. He is very quiet and placid and
subdued. If We are to be quite GER
tain about his satntliness, he must be
little thin and pale, not too strong
certainly not hale and hearty and
robust. Everybody knows the figure;
the saint of the stained-glass win
dow, with wasted form and transpar-
ent hands and thin, pale face and
eyes heavy with tears or weary with
watching"
AS matter of fact, the good" peo-
pie we know who have come nearest
that type are the ones We usually like
to avoid as much as possible. We
feel that
To live with the saints in Heaven
Is bliss and glory.
To live with the saints on earth
Is quite another story!
if we would, and we would not be if
if we could, and We would not be if
we could; and therefore we give up
trying to be any kind of a saint Ut
all.
/ We make something of the same
mistake in our conception of what a
minister should be. We are a little
bit shocked if he lacks a certain Sc
renity of temper and alOOfness of
manner, a gentleness of speech, and
perhaps a deIicacy of physique. II
he happens to be man of another
sort, with plenty of muscle and color
with a cheerful satisfaction in the
pleasures of life, man who loves q
dine with his friends and eats his full
share of the dinner, who lives q
, CHEEKY family life, has hearty human
: friendships, has his likes and dislikes
, has his little failings, to, but is with
al very Iikable and very human-we
wonder whether he has not missed his
calling.
Of course he hasn't. He is a good
minister of the religion of Jesus
Christ. And without becoming stain
ed-glass saints we can all of us, N
the same way, become good servants
of Jesus Christ. There is room for the
saint of the counting house as we'll
as for the saint of the cloister. We
can be good without ceasing to be
natural. Above all, We can be good
] without being miserable
| We have so happy an example ot
. that in the life of Jesus Christ him
self. There is a great deal of truth IN
Remains picture of our Lord, in it's en-
phasis on His buoyancy of spirit. His
eager delight in life, His frank and
alert interest in the common affairs u
common people, His love of nature
His animation, His thorough enjoy
J ment of pleasant things. Some one
! has said that nobody who wanted i
wedding to pass off cheerfully and
pleasantly would have urged John the
Baptist to be the chief guest, but ii
> was the most natural thing in the
| world that Jesus should always have
| been welcome He had a disposition,
a name, temperament, full Of Joy
and brightness and sunshine. Though
life was very serious for Him, and
the shadows lengthening towards the
end, and He was a man Of sorrows
and acquainted with g"tef. yet He
never lost a healthy, hopeful, sane
outlook on life. He always had
friends, and one feels that He need
ed them, not simply that they needed
Him. He attracted men by His life
as well as His teaching. People were
. never afraid of Him. Some objected
that He was too much OF a diner
OUT" they called Him a gluttonous
man and a wtnebibber; but neverthe-
less in Him wisdom was justified Of
her children.
Not that thou shouldst take them
out of the world, but that thou
shouldst keep them from evil" IT
gives us the right idea Of Christian