The Alaska citizen., 1915-07-26
THE POWER OF SENTIMENT

and drew water from the we'll in Bethlehem by the gate, and brought it to David But he would not drink it-he poured it out unto the Lord II Samuel 23:16.
 In this text we have a homesick king. A king homesick for the joys of his youth. Over every act of his life he had written the words sue. cess in large letters. King of Is rael was he, and the greatest king Israel ever had
 As the night drew on, weary and thirsty, he longed for a drink from the old well at the gate to Beth lehem. The boyhood afternoons had found his thirst quenched there, and longing to be a boy again he yearned for a drink of it's cool depths.
 But the longing of the king went deeper than the slaking of thirst by cool water This was only the outward and visible symbol of a
 
 tion struggling in his soul He long. ed for the innocence, the radiance youth which as boy he possessed youth which as boy he possessed In his desire We see him longing to sit again on the hillside, watch 1 ing the flock. as he sang his sweetest est song. "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want" He wished ha might feel the joy of striking down the giant Goliath, and hear the plau- dits of the soldiers in the unusual exploits of his youth. He wished he might again be coming from the sheep fold called to be the young king of the great nation Israel.
 His life was then unstained by evil deeds. It shone pure as the morning sunbeam dipped in the cool ing dews of heaven. Now he had walked in the shadows grim with bitter temptation-he had previously sinned You can feel the heart ] breaking from heart aching as he exclaims, "Oh, for a drink of exper- fence from the we'll Of boyhood which is by the gate"
 These three mighty men did a brave deed on the strength of the feeling they had for their king Yak ing their lives in their hands they stole out and successfully eluding all danger, came to the well by the gate, secured a jug of water and returned while an eager enemy would have crushed out their lives if cap tured.
 Perhaps it was not very sensible thing to do. But men do not al ways think of sensible things in service of their fellow men. The man who tries. dies, but is making trial and dying failure? The hand of intelligence, where no senti ment is considered, may point to some judgment as clear and definite as the North Star, and as remote from human interest, We are hearts as we'll as heads-we are hearts even more than We are heads" In the last analysis out of the heart man believeth unto righteousness and from the same source comes most everything else in life that is worth considering.
 The gold offered to the child Jesus in the manager by the wise men might have helped the family in their poverty, but the frank incense ment on the part of the donors, yet noble and appreciated. It belongs in the same list as the alabaster box in the scheme of real living. The commercial instinct of a man objected to rash waste. ''It might have been sold" he said, and the reason is given because he held the bag, and was thief Yes, it might have been sold but man does not live by cash alone, he lives by all those great words that come out of the heart of God, love, devo- tion sentiment, and by all the great acts of life that fill mems hearts with joy and inspiration.
 Here in our broad land million men rise against million men in Civil war. After four years of strife the north won notable victory. What made these men fight? It did not seem a very sensibl, thing to do. Leaving home and factory and mill and mine, they stood before each other and shot to kill. During an armistice when the dead were laid out of their sight they traded bacon. and beans, and coffee, and tobacco. They only received $14 per II onTh and hardtack, yet they turned their backs on home and family to go down cheerily to hardship and danger, dis ease and death.
 It was just a bit of sentiment on their part. Believing in the integ- rity of this dear country of ours