The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1914-12-02
SATURDAYIINIG
SERMON lSg{ZazIEssAAa
BY,:,.l ;,lIN -
REvSAMUELW. pURvIS,D.D.
THE ERECT ANIMAL.

THE ERECT ANIMAL.
Text, 'Son of man, stand upon thy feet
and L will speak to thee."-Ezek. ii. 1.
This is an unusual verse. Man is
always represented PROSTATE before
God When a messenger appears from
God mortals fall on their faces. There
is a great truth in all such pictures.
1t is that only to human humility can
God speak intelligently. The word
humility" by the way, is from Thu
mus" the ground. But in this little
passage of Scripture there is another
picture, with another truth. God says
to Ezekiel: Don't lie upon your face.
Stand erect Not humiliation, but
self respect; not stripped of all strength
and lying dead, but alive, strong,
ready to cooperate with the living
God. l wonder if it may not be true
that man may lose the message of
God through a low and groveling esti-
mate of himself? If so it is a great
truth that you must honor your hu-
mainly if God is to do his best with
you. The creed of despair Wanted
much under the name of "cynicism"
is really pessimism. 1t declares that
life is great machine; we are simply
cogs in a great wheel. 1.-The will to
live" is delusion which fate mocks
US with. We see men bitterly cynical,
satirical, ENORMOUSLY discontinued, or,
worse, silently distressed or bewilder-
ed, no hope for themselves or fellows.
To such God says, "Son of man, stand
upon thy feet, and l will speak to
thee"
Don't Apologize OVermuch.
Do not be too cheap. You are taken
at your own value. Don't be forever
apologizing. You are familiar with the
woman who fills her gUests' ears with
apologies so profuse and incessant that
she becomes an object OF dread. Apol-
ogizing becomes a habit What does it
matter if the dinner is not perfect in
every detail? 1t may be the maids
fault or your own. In either case your
guest doesn't care. If you r2primand
your helpless maid you drop in your
guests respect and your own Eelf CEN
sure is not appreciated. If necessary
explain once and be done. A cupful
of tea with an unaffected smile and
hospitality is better than a feast sea-
soned with faultfinding and apology.
Women err oftener in this than men.
They are seldom profuse in apology,
and perhaps it is just as well. dread
company manners" They are excess
of politeness and refinement. We put
them on to meet strangers, but do not
bore our close friends and loved ones
with them. People who are dependent
on the good will of folks, those who
must be popular or good mixers" doc
inc
men and especially ministers, get so in
the habit of putting their best foot
forward that they contract a chronic
case of company manners. 1 know a
minister: big hearted, large bodied,
able minded, strong in character, but
he is overnice. You feel like saying,
''Now, quit that; brace up; be manly"
Company manners, like evening
clothes, have their place. but to carry
them all the time is about as absurd
as for a man to wear his evening suit
all day.
"What Will People Say?"
1t is nice to have a decent respect
for the opinions of others. Sometimes
it is well to ask what people are say
ing But some folks are miserable by
everlasting fear of comment. Folks
starve and deny themselves in their
own family life to pay for party and
spend out of all proportion to do it
Ii they don't "What will people say?"
As a matter of fact, they may say
"They couldn't afford it. How foolish
they werer' Silly humansl Let peo-
pie say what they will You have
your life to live in your own way.
Snap your fingers at the barking dogs
Do not stoop to anything coarse, mean |
or untrue To be genuine puts you on
n high level No one can have the |
good will of all. Win the regard of |
the good and the wise. II the foolish |
and he shallow take offense don't put |
yourself on their level; just give a
quiet smile. what will people sayT
Well, they will say something, you
may depend on that. But they will |
have a better opinion of you if you
will attend to your own work and hold
ND your chin Remember the inscrip-
ton at Aberdeen college? "They say!
What do they say? Let them-sayr'
Stand Erect!
One of our former postmaster gen.
erals brought the tall desk to Wash
ington which he had used when he
was the speaker of the house of repre-
sentatives in Massachusetts. He
wanted to stand up at his work. 1
have seen in the famous tower room
at the "Wayside" in Concord the stand
ing desk Hawthorne had made for
himself to write his great romances
and charming sketches. Stand up to
your taski There is a sitting down
habit of mind as well as of body. The
shoulders Of the soul ought to be firm
and erect, the spiritual backbone well
poised. 1 am going to put my type
writer on dry goods box today. The
human form was made for erectness.
Man is the only creature with such
vertebrae. The bending of the body
and face down is the symbol of OPP
preston or unworthiness. Milton de
;cribes Mammon:
Mammon. the least erected spirit that fell
from heaven for even in heaven his locks
and thoughts
We're always downward bent.
Sometimes accident and disease
bend the body. 1t is possible to have +
l bent body and straight soul. Sick
ness and sorrow may bend the life