The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-03-16
d THE
DAILY
CHIT
CHAT

The very sweetest lady l know, that
dear, unselflsh saint, in fact, on whose
prayer / place my best hopes of
Heayen-I don't, suppose ! need 10
Identity her farther to anyone who
has mother-has regular habit Of
saying at Sunday dinner This morn
ing in church thought
What she thought may have been
EthesadylsabilIty otdying my light blue
house gown dark blue next winter, or
| it may have been a recollection that
we had forgotten TO call up Aunt
Maria "a. ask her about Wednesday, or
| 1t may have been wondering II the
cat were shut up where she couldn't
get at our Sunday dinner, but it is
always at astonishing variance with
the subject OF the sermon;
And vet the author of these, heresies
lis, as ! said before, the very sweetest
lady | know. Now II she thus betrays
the presence. OF secular thoughts at a
time when one should be thinking
only Of sermons and deyotions, what
about the rest Of us? Truly It is an
appalling thought
How often do You listen straight
through to sermon over half an hour
lin length, and not so OFF on a single
Irrelevant train Of thought? Perhaps
ITm more inattentlve or rattle-brained
Ithan most people, but as for myself,
III will frankly admit that | could
scarcely claim half a dozen such oeca-
slons, in lifetime.
Some years ago, used to attend Il
Time old church which was quantity
and beautifully finished in natural
beans Said the minister's wife one
day to a group of us, 81 think the
architecture of this church is beauatqI.
When ! nm not especially interestfd
lin The sermon, JUST love 70 at a4d
llbok up atAhose great beaIS.9
Il And size was, the rhnisterE vile, the
FIRST lady Of the church. with a con
yicing reason, nay two or three Of
them. II anyone ever had, foS listen
ling 10 every word of the sermon!
Another dear, good woman admits
frankly that she plans all the childrems
clothes in church, q.
What are you going to do about it'
ATay ! offer two or three little sugges
tons?
| Nv first is not to have any sermons
over. half an hour long, preferabi!
nearer the fifteen minutes mark. 4
wicked shortening OF sdevotions
! vo1 say? | don't see ii that way.
think we could listen to fifteen min
u,es sermon throughout, and surely
that's better than hearing a few words
| of a longer discourse.
| Another is for ministers 10 talk IN
stead of preach. As say, there MAJ
lhecn n few occasions when ] listened
| 10 the whole sermon. On most o
these sat under minister who. sci
dom raises his voice; never get ora
torical or audience.y, but just taIX'
MS II he were talking right to me
whereupon feel in courtesy bound {
listen 10 him just as | would to any
one who was talking to me. Whereas
| with a minister who is preaching
feel that he is addressing an AudiencS'
with a capital A, and 1t doesn't really
,o.+sr whether | listen or not.
Nv third suggestion is for the aNai
ence-for you and me, in other words
And it is for us to realize that w
don't honor God aud worship Him, AM
do our duty by sitting in a pew AM
thinking Of clother and pleasure am
business, any more than by siltlhS "
! homo ana thinking Of those things.
Presumably when we go to chureI
we are dedicating certain amount 9
time to honoring and worshipping God
and time spent in selfish secu'a
thoughts is stolen from this dedicate
time. Perhaps If We. bolstered up o."
resolutions to really listen, by tAa
4. noint of view we might do bit better
Here's good luck 10 you-and me-