The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1911-02-09
Is Life Worth
Living?
By REV. ?. N. HUBBElL
Psssos Of Congregational Church
Msyv,ile, N. ID.

TEXT-M soul In weary OF lifs.-Job
X
AT one time Job, with large happy
family. had lived in comfort surround.
ed by fiocks and herds and great album.
dance. But calamity after calamity
fell upon him. The Sabeans carried
of his oxen; the lightning fell upon
his sheep; the Chaldeans took away
his canels; a storm buried his sons
under a fallen building; he himself
was smitten from head to foot with
loathsome sores. And Job began to
wish that he was ead-perhaps he
even thought of committing suicide.
But calamity stricken Job Is only
one of vast multitude who, crushed
TO earth by the relentless weight of
adversely. have eked out miserable
existence. while perhaps the mind has
been crowded with thoughts OF self
destruction. We are moved therefore
to ask, with Job of old and with the
poor wretch. the tragical ending OF
whose life is noted In last nights pa.
per.
Now ones answer to this question
depends, not so much upon the expe-
riences, painful and pleasurable.
through which he passes. as upon the
significance which he attaches to those
experiences. This is conclusiyely
shown from the fact that from no
quarter are the answers uniform.
out of similar conditions one be-
| ~
ia IT, From the fires of persecution
there comes back to our question. now
positive negative, now as possible
an affirmative and again a mere ques-
ton point. Such different estimates
OF life grow out of a mans funda-
mental beliefs-they seem often to de-
pend absolutely upon his experiences
the experiences often affect the be-
liefs; but mans philosophy OF life
is the determining factor.
one man declares there is no God;
another believes in the Christ reYe
Iation of God-and they reach differ
ent conclusions as to whether life is
worth living.
Take the first man who denies the
existence OF a personal God. Then, for
him, there's no conscious. intelligent
yolitional cause for his existence. His
own mental and heart powers are sim
ply unique products of such materials
and forces as food, water, light, air,
heat and electricity. He is but a crea.
ture of circumstances, developed from
"a material thing-call il a protoplas.
mic germiinto a sentient being that
burgers and thirsts, suffers physical
pain, writhes in mental agony.
Moral responsibility is excluded:
| there's no moral source for it-no
higher moral TO be held responsible to-
1hen there's no obligation resting up
On the strong to regard the weak; the
midnight ruinan is as innocent as the
babe he murders, groveling millions
must suffer to no purpose, for no di
recting God means no directing pur.
pose. To endure for a time is OF nc
avail for immortality has no mean.
The soul is but a flgment of the imag
nation; imagination is but bubble
| oozing out of brain tissue; human
love merely the effervescence which
passes of from chemical reaction.
The bald pessiminism of Won Hart
man and Schopenhauer is a widely &C.
cepted doctrine of life today. Won
Hartman finds no purpose In history;
progress simply increases mans con.
sciousness of the vanity OF life. Schop-
enhauer says: To live is to desire,
| to desire is to want. to want Is to suf-
fer; hence. TO live is TO suffer.
But the average man cannot escape
the conviction that God lives and
reigns. What answer. then. does the
man make who knows only the stern,
relentless God discoverable from IA.
ture? This man admits a controlling
purpose. The apparent inyariableness
Of natural law seems shut out the pos
sibility of special Providence. Though
his whole nature cries out to God in
prayer, he has no assurance Of being
heard. And he feels the burden OF
sin with no hope OF mercy. Conscience
cries out his guilt; swift penalties fall
ne when physical law is violated sug
bcSl uIit consequences iOE lhc hiOAA
ton of moral law.
To square himself with an angry
God he mutilaIes his body. consigns
his children to the flames. expects 10
become an Ixyon bound TO a revolving
wheel, Tantalus with an Unsuitable
thirst To drown the voice OF con-
science he plunges into dissipation or
throws himself into the turmoil of
trade, and yet conscience speaks
tie tries TO fulfill its behests. but the
man, tempted in all points like as he,
yet without compass or rudder. he
struggles in turbulent waters to enter
harbor Of safety.
And that harbor may be the very
vortex of a whirlpool. for he knows
not his own destiny. To this man who
Knows not Jesus Christ. II Is a real
question whether life be worth living
job never doubted the existence OF
God, bur he knew him moi as a faith
z, and In the hour Of calamity he
cursed the day Of his birth
To the Christian man however,
here can be only an Affirmative an
~er To our question God Is Chris:
.'eyealed To him: and he is borne IRE
sistibly onward through ali crcum-
stances. murmuring: All things wors