The Detroit times., 1914-03-21
BORN
OFTENER Than
EVERY MINUTE
-REX. II. T.. SMITH.
Must be To Keep Up Supply in
United States, Pastor Tells
Lenten Audience
GOLD-BRICKING SELVES
WORST OF ALL, HE SAYS
People Are Swindled Out of
Character and Repu-
tatiOn

THE harvest" was the subject oil
the Rev. II. Lester Smiths MONDAY
| Lenten address In the Detroit opera
house. Saturday. He said in part:
The fakir Is prosperous citizen
and his name is Legion for he IL
many.
Americans love to be swindled
| 1t 10 part Of their recreation. The
|prOverb says that there IL suckei
born every minute. That is not near
|ly fast enough to account for the
number of the victims. The only ex
PLANTATION Is that Americans have
such short memory for such matters
that they lite more than once.
And this explanation Is plausible
enough when you consider the con
summate skill the swindler uses when
he Ia angling for victim. He covers
the hook with such great big juicy
bait that even the mouth that has
just been hooked fairly waters to try
Ia bite.
1.-The prosperity Of the crooks who
thus fatten upon the gullibility OF
their victims Is almost enough to
shake our faith In the common sense
and good judgment Of men. But any
careful student OF human nature 6nds
a still more astonishing evidence of
the weakness of humanity In the al
most universal habit of self-deception
by which people swindle themselves.
We laugh at the man from the coun-
try who buys gold brick But for
every gold brick which a fakir sells
to someone else he sells ten thou
sand to himself.
THE most astonishing part of II
all Is that men will sell themselves
the same old gold brick again and
again and pay for 1t every time the
most extravagant sums In the gold
of character and reputation. 1t Is
exceedingly important, therefore. to
emphasize three or four of the funda'
mental laws Of human life that deal
with this weakness of human nature.
The words Of the great apostle con-
corning the harvest Of human life de.
clare that whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap Countless
people have swindled themselves by
persuadtng their own minds that they
could SOW one thing and reap anoth.
err, or at the worst escape the harvest.
"The harvest OF sin and folly can.
not be evaded or changed. Perhaps
the lust of man has brought a dis
eased body. God will forgive his sin
but the man must reap the harvest
Of physical weakness and pain. II he
escapes q harvest of physical conse
Quences he must still both In this
world and In the world to come reap
the dwarfng and Gripping results OF
his sin In his sin-scarred, sin-weak.
ened and sin-dwarfed soul.
Again q man swindles himself by
vest by giving only part Of his time
or part OF his capacity to right
thoughts and right action.
1T takes time to grow harvest
and II takes room for II to prosper.
No man Is big enough to be able to
afford to keep any part of his life for
a private weed patch Of sin. Nor Is
any man wise In trying to raise the
full harvest of perfect life In any.
thing less than all the days of all the
years.
There is just one other exceeding.
~ important matter that men are
prone to forget and that IL that the
harvest Is always more than the SOW.
ing. This n an encouraging fact to
those who are trying to produce the
best In life and character. Il 10 q
tragic thing when they forget It and
are hoping somehow that they may
finally be able to escape the harvest
of their sowing entirely. We must
not only reap what we sow--but also
more than we SOW"