The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-10

Everyday experiences in this world,
as they develop on all sides ard before
| the eyes of every one, substantiate the
| great truth that is conveyed in the
words quoted above, and which were
uttered by Jesus of Nazareth in his
famous sermon on the mount The
gate which opens on the way to de-
struction is just about as wide as the
dimensions of the earth The roads
which lead to it are countless. Travel
along many of them is especially easy
for lesser or greater part of the jour
ney There are many false attractions
builded on these highways which are
particularly enticing to many men and
women. People are often blinded by
the glitter of them, it would SEEM To
many, these broad avenues-and they
are usually lined with the things that
make for vice in one form or another
are as ways lighted with sunshine
and strewn with roses. But such folk
are victims of decisions. They do not
realize the utter folly of their endeav-
ors and pursuits until they near the
end of these paths. Then destruction
sucks them into its maelstrom Their
future in life, if there is any left to
them, is as dark as is their future in
death.
Undoubtedly the Creator of all
things, the supreme power which or
ders all the affairs of the universe,
has purposely made the gate to de-
Struction and disaster a wide one. He |
would test to the limit the strength |
of mems bodies. the force of their |
souls. For surely the good life, the
really happy life. the true life would
not be worth the living if it could be
obtained with little or no effort. Moth
ing is actually worth very much if it
be procured with ease, if it be attained
without stern exertions and sacrifices.
The gambler who wins a pile of money
on the deal of a deck of cards is gen.
orally borrowing the price of a meal
from his friends on the day or two
after his successful coup. The money
that came to him so easily is usually
dissipated much easier. But the man
who works hard and long in an honest
way for the money that comes to him.
it be a large sum or small
one, is almost always certain to have
money in his pockets. He has learned
and appreciates the value of it.
So it is with all other things. Those
that are worth having. which are most
desirable, are the ones which come
only through the expenditure of hon
est and laborious efforts. And because,
as Christ says later on in the same
wonderful sermon, to which attention
has been called, ''strait is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth
INTO life, and few there be who find
t. that is the exact reason why I'M
usual efforts should be made by every
1ne to travel in it's direction. Perhaps
t will not be as apparently attractive
4 route at the start as the one going
.owards the wide gate leading to de-
struction. But that is because the
real essentials of true happiness and I
right living are not as readily appre-
eiated and understood by most folk,
as the grosser things of life which
nave well-nigh irresistible charms for
most humans because they appeal to
heir more sordid passions. A reveler i,
n false philosophy once remarked [
hat ''to sin beautifully is to be great"
The fallacy of such an argument, or :
is so apparent that it en- !
,hasizes the true philosophy that there {
8 nothing of the beautiful in any sort !
Il sin or vice. 1t should be Stunned ;
Is is the poisonous serpent.