The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1914-02-09
HUMAN LIFE
subjsct OF stirring Sermon Delivered
Sunday Morning by Dr. Arthur Mills
In Fourth Street Church.

Taking rs his text James ala and
I'm some form this ns's question sa appears
In all serious literature. Who of us has
not followed the Psalmist's thought. who
work OF thy fingers. the sun and the
moon which thou hast ordained: what is
man that thou art mindful Of him?
Trucking a flower out OF the crannied
wall or beneath the bright procession
OF the October stars. the query rises In
our minds as In the Psaimist's. the
and what IL the end OF this life OF
oursT But the answer is far from sat
solution of the problem. we shall he
disappointed. The birth-chamber and
the couch OF death alike are dark with
mystery. and the mystery IL equally
great whether II be the birth OF n child
or of bird. whether the death be that
OF a man or of his dog. The river and
the sea seem sublimely superior 10 the
creature that questions them. The little
Flower might say with truth. I am as
stars II they Were animated. might
make reply. And who are you, mere
pencil,points in distant space. that you
should dare To interrogate u.s.?
First. Nature is not particularly
flattering To the pride OF the man who
seeks to know his own place in creation.
The power of the natural forces brushes
him: the beauty OF the flower shames
MIN; the bulk of the mountain over
shadows him; the rapidlty of sound and
light out-distances him; the magnitude
OF the stellar space bewilders him. Yet
man Keeps on forever asking. What is
my litey So runs my dream, but what
am l? Man alone asks such a question.
Ihe river. the sea. the flower, the bIaz-
ing star-no one of these ever wrestI.d
with the mystery OF the meaninr OF i,s
own existence. So. human life is the
self-prorosed problem OF the universe.
only problem man sets himself to solve
lie studies the natural forces and ele-
Inshts mat seem superior TO him. and
isated. tunnelled, bridged. turned OUT of
us enamel The sea is dotted with
t,eets and nayies Of nations. The wild
] mower IL made to multiply in variety
and fragrance. The stars are measured
weighed analysed.
Phases OF life in the sight n, VII
man seems an inconsiderabIe being and
i LIE "a thing to be dospised. GO
10 those provinces in Japan where dur
ing the famine in 1905 men and women
ana children were starving by the thou
SANDS. the bodies were piled in heaps
| mine where eleven hundred men nerish-
| ed by the explosion OF fire-damn-
human HE Is a small thing II seems
Yes seems. but things are not often
/ Nhat they may seem. Look at Japan
again and you will see the Christian
1 love OF the world pouring its treasurs
into the starving province 10 feed tba
hungry and comfort the Distressed
Look again az that French coai-mine,
| ahu you VIII see "a collier struggling
/ through the darkness and suffocSiins,
espor win comdrae's body in his
| arms.
Fourth. The holy scrip,pros o,,,,.t,
Two or three significant sentences touch
| ,ng the worth and meaning 90 human
| ne. Ihou mast made him a little lower
tndh tne angels. Is "a comforting assur-
ahce. But let us read - in another YER
sion; \ little lower than God Each or
4 ~ ~ porn OF Two worlds. We get our
| bodies from earth. our sririts Co.,
| above our lives are what our Spirits
| make them. our bodies are mere CON
.,ssnlences. We shall get along without
tith IL * because our lives are
lgIeater than they seem that We are So
| .,al beings frutes afflicted Green
away or die alone. In our time Of friaI
We crave the clasp Of brothers hand
~ common mongrel cur g. under no oh
ltauohs 70 grow towards God IL is
Deciuse We are made in the image Of
sod We have heart-hunger FOR Him
FROM tod We came. 60 God We shaIl 70
turn. Whether we live or dic 49,.
iiore; whether We wake or sleep we are