Evening journal., 1912-11-23
CHRISTIAN
ENDEAVOR
Christian EndeaHor Topic Tor Nov. q,
1912; Christian Virtues; Gratitude.

az iuia htdeOu OF lhe year III te GUS
tomary for men to deliver discourse
on Thanksgiving Day But this one
day should not be the only day on
+ which 10 give thauks. Every day Of
our lives should be attended with
/ some outward showing OF our heart
/ felt thanks; our gratitude 20 God
! Gratitude for what2 Firs TO my God
/ for life and all It's surroundings. the
warm rays of the sun. the gentle
rains that water the earth, making it
possible for The seed to burst its
bands of captivity and produce food
( for our sustenance. the sonw blankets
that enwrap Old Mother Earth dur
ing the winter to keep her warm
Second to my fellowmen, the thou
sands who are toiling TO procure ar
ucles for my comfort; the mechanic
the merchandise artist-the sailor
all who are ministering to my bod
lily comfort, to my Intellectual growth,
] to my spiritual enjoyment
Gratitude is the emotion of the
heart excited by a favor on benefit re-
| ceived; a sentiment of the kindness or
goodwill toward the benefactor; an
agreeable emotion consisting in or ac-
companied with a disposition to make
a suitable return for a service rem
dered; IL is the virtue of the highest
excellent, as II implies a feeling and
generous heart and a proper sense OF
duty Someone has said, THE love
of God is the sublimest gratitude"
Then why not seek to emulate the
sublimest? Men nowadays seek those
things that are lower: they do not
like the climbing up to obtain the
richest treasure Just how we can
show our gratitude may be summed
up in; first service. When a fellow
man has done a good turn for me
then il the opportunity presents itself
grasp Il eagerly. IL was the great
4 Paul who said that the love of Christ
constrained him. You see he burned
with the desire to be OF service to
his Master by working among his
fellowmen.. Sir Launfa rode forth
on his quest Of the Holy Grail At
the gate of the castle he espied a beg
gar to whom a coin was tossed i'm
scorn as he passed into the foreign
lands Years have gone and the
knight broken in spirit by suffering
and grown old by fighting turned
homeward. AS he rode over the
bridge he saw before the gate the
beggar This time he did not toss
the coin but forthwith dismounted
and breaking the ice from nearby
stream he filled the wooden bowl
with water and offered to share his
crust and drink with the beggar Lo.
he saw not the beggar but Christ and
the wooden bowl was no longer there
but the Holy Grail How true the
example isl Serve Christ by serving
al 81.
your gratiture 10 your great Creator.
Second in cheerfulness. Dscon-
tent comes very easily TO the one who
looks at the other person and his
possessions. So we ought to make
the best Of our lot No calling. no
social position. is lowly In the sight
of God A slave may be the noble
man of God while the prince is many
times the bondservant of Satan
"Honored," is the view to have OF any
position no matter how lowly Il may
seem for il will keep the mind sweet
with cheer. fullness and II will fl
the day with the perfume of the In
cense Of gratitude. Our gifts will be
the greater and will have the more
influence when we give with the
B. cheerfulness of heartfelt gratitude
This is not only true with men but
with God also as we see that moth
ing but heartfelt thanks ever reach
the throne OF our God.
Third in prayer. OF all creation
man alone is granted the gift OF
speech that he might look up to his
. maker and utter his thoughts In
words of prayer is the overflow OF the
hearts cup of gratitude. Now sup
pose God had not wanted TO be thank
ed In prayer. do you think he would
have planted the instinct so deeply
b in our souls? Not a bit of il. We
, too often get the idea in our minds
that we can sit thirty minutes lis.
+ tening to a sermon and we have done
all that is required for the week. in
the line OF our worship. If there
were more praying people i'm the lan'
our country would be In a much hap
pier state There are a great man'
; more people who need TO pray thar
who need to listen to sermons.
Last in imitation. Christ has lef
us the example to follow We mus
step in His footsteps. There is ne
better way to show our gratitude thar
4; to follow in the way that has bee
marked out by Christ. Seek Hi
spirit of gentleness and love. AM
practice the Golden Rule. The YER
{; essence OF ingratitude is to take tn
blessings that Jesus brings and d
nothing with them. OF the lepers VIII
we're healed only one came back Z
II thank the Master. We are like tn
It other nine in a great many of on
d transactions because we accept tn
5. blessings He brings; we become hor
est men: respected citizens; churc
.3 members, and there we stop and
nothing i'm return Realizing whs
1, the Master has done for us would
not be we'll to say TO Him that "
/; will never let the world hear tf
last OF our wonderful friend Chril
e Jesus? This will be only a ia
amount OF gratitude to one who hS