Norwich bulletin., 1914-02-27
SHOP TALK ON HABIT
 AT CRESCENT ARMS co.
Is Tyrant Compelling obedience-May
 Be Good or Evil.

Rev. Joel B. Slocum, D. D., address ed the men of the Crescent Fire Arms company at the Y. M. c. A. shop meet ing at noon on Thursday. Mrs George T. Lord sang very pleasing solos. Be- fore the large and attentive audience the speaker spoke on Habit, and in part he said:
 The word habit" comes from word which means to have. Habit is something that has possession of you, not merely something which you pos sess. Habit Is a tyrant that compels you to obey, rather than a weak slave whom you control with your slightest wish.
 There is a picture of the power of habit very vividly drawn for us in the book of Proverbs In brief but start ling words there is presented the sor- ry spectacle of a man who has lost himself to the power of drink This man went down into the depths of a carousal, until 8 hog, wallowing in the nose repulsive mire would be clean 1 grunts that as soon as he is able he will seek it yet again. That is the 1 logical outcome of relentless habit. l Does any real man welcome that kind | of slavery?
 Gradual in Growth.
 l Habits are not so much the things we do, as the things that do us. But l we I1uSI not suppose tHdL lucy ShOOp down on us suddenly and with full grown power They have their birth in little tendencies and temptations 1 that at first appear to be harmless 1 But by and by these pigmies become giants The process begins with 8 mere desire. The desire develops into an incination-an appetite. Before l long this appetite finds an opportu-
 nifty for qualification. That act is re- peated again and again until it has
 gained the mastery over that man't 1 will The very repetition increase:
 the power of the habit; for each acr leaves the desire stronger and the abil- l ity to resist weaker. There are some
 that reach that conclusion sooner thar
 others, but ther is only one conclu-
 sion to the whole mtter. There is
 terrible logic in the scriptural state
 ment that sin when it is finished brings forth death.
 There was a man who trained a boz
 constructor from the day when he ob
 tained it, when it was small and young
 until it became a full grown snake
 One day in an exhibition before ;
 great audience the man colled the oil
 reptile about his body and receive'
 the applause of the audience. Thel something happened. The audteno , thought that it was a part Of the show ; l But it wasn't. For once the snaN
 tried the game of being master. H . 1 1 a. mere pulp. That is a fair sugges
 ton of the treachery and power 0
 habit. The darling sin which ma
 has for years been hugging to hi 1 breast turns, some day, and gives hi time master a death thrust 5 Form Good Habits.
 And now, since the principle tha
 controls in all habits is the same, wh
 not resolve that we will form onl
 habits that are good? It is grea l thing to live in such a way that ou : lives will be dominated by only tha
 kind of mastery that keeps ou
 thoughts pure and our actions right T There is One who has power for ev : cry demand that can possibly be mad
 upon us. That One knows what temp
 tatfon is, for He met it and conquere' ! 1 If you men are tempted and tried an 1 are in danger of losing the battle, ask you today to put your hand Il
 into the hand of Jesus and find in Hi
 the sufficiency for all your needs. For Il Il the habit of prayer and the realizatio ,, that He who was once tempted is nee you to comfort and sustain.