River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-04-04

done-he must
displace it by something else.
Never in all the history of the race
were the appliances for physical we'll
being so numerous and well adapted
to the end sought as today. Home
making, Notwithstanding the passing
of the single dwelling as home, was
never so perfect; sanitation is far
and away superior to any period OF
the past; medical and surgical skill
defy many diseases that were former
ly fatal; institutions for the care and
cure of defections of various kinds
are found even in small places; pro-
vision is lavish1y made for the educa-
ton of the young in literature, sci
ence, and art as never before; and
millions of money are being poured
out. and great conferences are being
held in advancement of universal
,peace-but the cry is yet heard,
20, where can not be found,
Rest for the weary SOUL
We may ask, Why is this, when the
things Just enumerated are undenied
facts? We may have partial answer
in the consideration Of the things that
stand out as an Offset to these things,
facts as undeniable as they. If we
consider the conditions which charac-
terize all activities we are given
pause. If we look at men in business
life, whether in commerce, finance,
manufacturing, or even agriculture,
the elements of competition and
chance keep the nerves stretched; II
we consider the professions, law, med
icine, or theology, the rivalry, now
ever inexcusable, proves nerve
racking experience; and IL we enter
the spheres of politics, the game at
first pleasant, at last comes to effort
to overcome opponents sometimes by
chicanery or even the use of corrupt
practices To such men the modern
conveniences and appliances bring lit
tie relief Even that which was pos
sible ten years ago, the getting be-
yond the reach Of the mails or the
telegraph by an ocean voyage, is no
longer possible. And SO it is that
men are crying for the lodge in the
wilderness, the man of sixty seeks his
chicken farm, in a few years to find
disappointment.
Is the Case HopeIess3
Just at this point the Christian re-
ligion. by it's head, Jesus Christ, ap-
pears with a solution of this problem.
He says: peace, | give unto you,
and all that man needs, Of rest quiet,
contentment, and more, is offered.
Loyalty to what Jesus meant COM
pels us to say that the peace here
offered rests ON another peace. This
peace belongs to experience, the
thing men and women are crying for.
That peace refers to the right rela-
tionship with God, the lack of which
is the true explanation of the unrest
from which we would escape. That
peace is a status or condition secured
by trusting or resting on Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the only me-
diator between God and man. We
have peace with God through faith,
and are placed in a position where we
can have the peace Of God, that Jesus
speaks Of in the text. In no case can
a man have the peace Of God without
the peace with God, emphasis being
on the propositions.
The world gives to the basest part
of our being, to the part that relates
us to the brute creation, and only in
exceptional cases to the intellectual.
IF so how ephemeral is it's Offering
for today with no promise Of tomor'
row! How quickly the body gives
way, and soon after middle life the
pleasure is no more. The world
never gives, it demands it's pound OF
flesh without failure or diminution.
For one dollars worth Of pleasure CIV
en- it demands one hundred cents Of
disgust and bitter dregs. The world
never satisfies. It satiates, but, as
Ruskin has said, There are no pangs
so sickening as the satellites of pleas
ure"
Jesus Parallels This Giving.
He gives to the highest part Of our
being, the spirit. His invitation to
men as followers is not to a Moham-
medan heaven, or a modern club
house. but to physical hardship and
suffering-but 1t is to the spirit,
which is to live forever and whose
requirements are lasting. He gives
really, and the man or woman who by
any chance seeks the peace because
of conscious worth is doomed to dis
appointment. What he gives satisfies.
It is deep, quiet, strong. 1t took
away the fears Of the early martyrs,
It enabled a Mckinley to die calmly
and gladly and to sing Nearer, MY
God. to Thee" and today enables Chi
nese and other Christian martyrs to
face death without fear.
This peace was tested by Jesus
himself and sustained him all the
way to the cross, and 1t is the peace
of him who was God and who said to
the waves on Galilee, Peace, be
still" What guaranty, my peace"
tested and proven adequate, and that
of the infinite God himself!
Go out and see whether the hills
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