The Washington herald., 1911-09-09
IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
BY REV. CHARLES r.. BROWN.
DANIELS CLEAN, STRONG LIFE.
LESSON FOR SEPT. 1O-DAN., i:s-2O.

the tlliterate can understand and heed
Daniel stood ready to appeal to ex-
perfence rather than to some arbitrary
source Of authority for the vindication Of
his course. His chief urged upon him
the other mode Of life lest he should
stand before the king worse liking"
than his fellow-servants. But Daniel
replied, Prove thy servants, 1 beseech
thee, ten days" Let time tell! Let the
resultant quality of life render its YER
dict as to the worth OF the principles
and ideals to which he declared his al
legiance!
The returns are not all in as a rule at
the end Of ten days" Longer periods
Of experiment are demanded for the full
manifestation Of the effects Of obedience
or Of disobedience to the divine law. But
when an accurate account of the matter
is at last made up, It will be apparent
all along the line, as well as in the
particular case of Daniel, that aspiring
men make no mistake in committing their
interests, physical, financial, intellectual,
and spiritual into the hands Of faithful
obedience to the highest mode of life
they know.
When the Chicago and Northwestern
Railroad, intent upon the safety OF its
passengers and upon the prosperity Of
the road, issued an order that any EN-
ploye seen in a saloon would be liable TO
instant discharge, the moral plea for
sobriety received reinforcement from an
imposing array or economic consideration.
When an enterprIsing brewer in a West
ern city in his advertisement OF a new
addition to be sold on in lots stated re-
Gently that no saloons could be started
owing to q clause IN the deed which
would cause the land to revert to the
former owner and thus cloud the title in
case a lot was used for saloon purposes.
II was corroborative evidence land that
from the enemy's own lips) that the liquor
BUSINESS initiates against prosperity as
well as against personal morality.
The example of Daniel in his exercise
of self-control amid the temptations Of
foreign capital was contagious. His three
associates were emboldened by his moral
firmness to declare themselves abstainers
also from the kings meat and the kings
wine. No man lives a right life unto
himself-the dynamic OF It is inevitably
communicated to adjacent lives, whiSn
are thereby more firmly set In the way OF
honor.
The reward for their sobriety lay not
merely In the sense of having been true
to their principles or in their enhanced
physical weIl-being. God gave them
knowledge and skill IN all learning and
wisdom; and Daniel had understanding
in all visions and dreams" The sttmu-
lant which clouds the face Of reality for
an hour entails at last a confusion OF
brain which becomes chronic. The fine
perception and the accuracy OF judgment
demanded under scientific management"
of ones life belong to him who sees the
world habitually not through a glass Of
liquor uncertainty, but face to face.
The familiar promise, IF any man will
do the will Of God he shall know. may
justly be given an extended application.
The life lived in obedient fulhllment Of
the divine purpose for It is sharpened
and widened in insight while the brain
soaked in stale beer and the living tissue
picked in alcohol show reactions less
prompt and less accurate.
Copyright lS1l. By Luther H. Caryl