The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-17

there Is an evil thought, for "as a
man thinketh in his heart so is he."
No man ever did wrong thing with
out first thinking wrong thoughts.
For from within, out of the heart OF
men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries.
foundations, murders, thefts, covet-
BUSINESS, wickedness, deceit, lascivi-
BUSINESS, an evil eye, bias phemy, pride.
fooiishness; all these evil things come
from within, and defile the man. We
Of the scriptures, Keep thy heart
with all diligence, for out of it are the
issues of life"
Shun Evil Habits.
We should seek to keep ourselves
free from the defilement of evil
habits Habits are easily formed, but
when once formed they are not easily
broken. The story is told of a black
smith to whom a stranger came one
day with the request to make chain
Of certain size and length. But when
it was completed the man said, 1T is
not quite long enough. I wish you
would make 1t longer" When this
was done he was not satisfied but de-
manded that 1t should be made still
longer. At last the blacksmith had
used up his materials and exhausted
his strength, but the stranger said
1T is not quite long enough for the
purpose think you have the mesA,:
of adding a few more links" So he
gathered together some scraps and
with his remaining strength he forged
the additional links. "Now," said the
stranger to his servants, 1.-The chain
is completed, entwine Its links about
the workman, for he shall be no long
ar free" That is only story and yet
it points moral--the man who forms
evil habits FORCES his own letters by
which he is enslaved at last.
We should keep ourselves free from
evil companions. 1t is our duty to be
courteous, kind and considerate to all
even the most depraved and degraded,
but 1T is one thing to be courteous
kind and considerate, to evil-minded
men and quite another to make boon
companions of them If man Is
known by the company he keeps it is
simply impossible to escape contami.
nation if he consorts with the vicious
and evil-minded,
Foundations for Character.
In the building of character we
should look well to the foundation.
The temple at Jerusalem Was built
on Mount Zion, q veritabie symbol OF
strength and security AS the Psalm
ist says, '"They that trust In the Lord
shall be as Mount Zion. which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. AS
the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, SO the Lord is round
al bout HI raon1o From, avon
forever" A building cannot be
stronger than the foundation upon
which it rests. If the foundation is
unstable. the building no matter how
beautiful Or substantial will be inse-
cure. In the sermon on the mount we
are told of two men, one of whom
built upon the rock so that when the
storm came, the winds blew and the
rains descended, the house, because
it was founded upon the rock, with
stood the floods and the tempest But
the other built his house upon the
sand it may have been just as beau
tiful and just as costly, but when the
rains descended and the foods came,
because it was founded upon the
sands it fell and great was the fall of
It NY friends, can We build our
characters upon a better or frmer
foundation than this oid old book,
which we call the Holy Bible, the
book which We as Masons have ac-
cepted as the rule and guide to faith.
If our characters are founded upon
this grand old book we shall rear a
structure which shall stand not only
for time but for all eternity.
In the building of character we |
should be careful of the materials with |
which we build With what infinite !
pains and toll the timbers for King !
Solomon's temple were hewn and pre- !
pared in the forests of Lebanon and !
the rocks shaped and polished in the !
quarries some miles distant, Does not !
that impress Us that we ought to exer