The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-05-25
THOUGHTFUL APPEAL
TO HIGH THINGS
Given by Rev. j. w. Barnett in Annual
Memorial Address to Clan
Gordon, o. S. C.

their hail. members of Clan Gordon, No
IL, o. S. c.. assembled in body yester
day and paid tribute to their organi
cation by attending memorial services IL
the Congregational church. A goodll
number were in the line of march to tn
church. There they listened with deeI
and thoughtful interest to the sermon
preached by the pastor, Rev. j. w. Bar
nett.
The substance of DIR. Barnett's re
marks are as follows:
"The subject Horizons is based or
the text found in Ill Cor. 4:l6-5-l.
mans life is commensurate with his
horizon. He is as big as the range Of
his vision, no bigger. do not mean, Of
course, tie physical horizon, though in
a measure even this is true, for the
man whose horizon is limited and who
never gets beyond it is provincial in his
life and interests. The people who live
on the great plains of the West are less
provincial than those who are hemmed
in on every side by mountain ranges
The highlander is always poetic ane
predetermined, because he is far-seeing
His horizon is larger than the man OF
the valley. He takes in a wider range
and sees life larger. But this is espe-
cially true when applied to man in the
larger and truer aspects of his life. He
has a mental and spiritual horizon as
well as a physical, and his life is deter
mined by the range of his vision. Some
men have wider interests and broader
sympathies than others because they
have a wider horizon, because they see
farther.
Owe need to cultivate the broad hori-
zon habit As was said by w. Morgan
Shuster, Every man should occasionally
cease burrowing in his own ant-hill and
climb to the top for survey of his
neighbors.' And he should do this not
! TO criticise his neighbors, but to learn
from them. He will benefit in any case;
he may find that his neighbors have
something that he has not, may get
some ideas as to how he may improve
his own life, and if he is wise he will go
back and adopt these make the i'm
provements; or, perchance, he may find
that his own is superior, in which case
he goes back with greater satisfaction
and joy in his own.
"If, however, he is so busy burrow
ing in his own ant-hill that he forgets
that he has a neighbor-th there are
others beside himself in this world--his
life becomes very small and poor indeed.
Now there are many applications
that may be made of this, not only with
individuals, but with organizations, cit
les, states and the nations. If life is
to be what it ought to be-large and
full and rich, consistent and continu-
ous-it must have the widest possible
horizon. That horizon must encompass
(ll the Iast. We cannot see life whole
till we see it in its relations to the past.
The present is the product of the past,
In the life of this hour there pulsates
longing, every hope, every desire, every
struggle, yea and every failure and sin,
every high-souled and every base desire
of all the past; and he will be proyin-
cisl in his thought and narrow in his
sympathies, whose horizon does not COW
er the whole range of human history,
written and unwritten, and his life will
be small and poor accordingly.
''The glory and strength of the pres
ent lies in conserving the past. Honor
thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee says the
old commandment This applies to
churches, cities, states and nations, as
well as to individuals.
"(2) The future Life is not going
to end to-day-it is going on to-mor-
row and will be greater or lesser. We
need the vision of tomorrow in order
to make to-day what it ought to be-
II life is to be consistent and continuous
it must have the widest possible horizon
and all our actions must be determined
by that and not by what may seem TO
be for our advantage from time to time.
The man or the nation who has no large,
definite and clear-cut policy and pro-
gram cannot live consistent life. Take
our national life, for example. When
national policies change every four
years or with each new administration,
it viii be both inconsistent and expen-
sive.
UNLESS there is large and clear
ideal and policy for the nation, each
administration viii destroy all
that the proceeding ones built up and
will begin all over again. New times
demand rev measures and new men is
true, but not new ideals or a new di- |
rection or new goal; these ought to
be seen from the beginning.
"(3l The seen. We are now living |
in this world of material things and |
interests. Our life has to do |
very largely with these things. We can
not ignore them. There has been lot |
Of absurdly foolish things said about |
these things. Things must be valuable |
else God had not made so many of them
Life will not be whole If these things |
are not encompassed in your horizons.
90 The unseen. But we must see
beyond these into the unseen. We must |
look beyond the present and temporal
Il life is to be sane and whole. The |
man whose only world is what he can
see with his eyes and what he can
weigh and measure, is provincial in his
thought and sympathies and in his life.
Greatness is in mind and spirit and
not in matter.
How far do you see3 Beyond the
seen into the unseen? Do you see those
,hings that cannot be seen? Does the
'ange of your life include those things
hat cannot be measured or computed Il
Do you know that if the earthly house
If our tabernacle be dissolved you have
/ building from God, house not made
With hands, eternal in the heavens?
"Onlv the man whose horizon takes Il