Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-06-18

umns OF Newspaper. quite - u 0a0
when agreed upon In the 6reoeose
meeting OF powerful corporation. The
means taken to crush q rival or side
track competitor are fair or foul. 40
cording TO the bench OF Judges sitting
on the case; fair In . board meeting
and foul when spread before the OWL
courts David's sin did not look quite
the same to Nathan that It did to
David. and not the same to David UNI
der the searchlight Of conscience that
it did in the murk Of passion. Was
it my OK that was goredT asks the
man in the old time fable. "That puts
a different aspect on the case. must
look into It moro deliberately"
Possibly you are spiritually near.
sighted. possibly farsighted. have you
ever thought Of that? How big does .
dollar look when the alms-basin 10
passing your pew? 10 a dollar quite a.
large when you lay It down at the box
office Of the theater? H0nestly now,
does not $50 given to the support Of the
church look ten times bigger than 800
paid as your annual dues at the club?
Have your eyes tested here" whore
shall a man have his spiritual vision
tested? Surely not where his self In
terest-passion. avarice. prejudice-
perverts his judgment. Many genera
tons ago the writer Of the book of Pro-
verbs had learned that there Is q way
that seemeth right unto a man; but
the end thereof is the way Of death"
The business man knows that "the
man who is his own lawyer has . fool
for a client" It is counting destruc-
ton to trus. ones self Judgment when
self interest defects the needle. II 1t
safe to stake your whole future upon
the veracity of your untested moral
decisions? The fact that a man has
lived to be 90 years Of age without
recognizing the defects Of his eyesight
does not prove his vision perfect.
The powers Of spiritual discernment
are not the same in every period OF
life To the little girl OF 10 or IL the
eye Of a needle appears as clean cut az
the axial reformation OF a grindstone
When the man Of middle life Is In
clined to smile upon the scrupufosity
of youth; when the careless church
member stares at the enthusiastic null
ttudes Of christian endeavorers. 1t
may be that the young eyes see more
clearly than the older ones the COM
parative values Of heavenly and world
" aspirations. It is one OF the mourn
full facts concerning human life that
the eye Of the soul Is apt to grow dim
with the dimness Of the bodily organ.
The man permits himself a latitude OF
conduct that the boy would have In
stantly condemned. The mother has
not always preserved tho moral dis
tinctions which were very clear to her
as girl The heaviest hour child
knows Is when forced to confess to self
that the father or mother or both fall
in those moral judgments Which seem
so obvious to the unperverted con-
science Of early life.
Where shall one have the eyes Of
his soul tested7 There . only one alb
solute test Of conduct and that u be-
before the bar Of God. Whatever helps
a man to anticipate tho decisions Of
that court where "the action lies in Its
true nature helps him to Judge him.
self A critical illness, a storm at sea,
the death OF some beloved one. are all
occasions when soul may see itself
in an unaccustoned light
But no one need wait for such Incl
dental opportunities as these. The
word Of God and prayer offer mirror
to every soul. Men give thousand
excuses why they avoid church. but
the real reason Is that they do not wish
to have tho eyes Of their understand
ing tested. With its presentation Of
divine truth and its union Of prayer.
the church service tests 4 mans spir-
itual vision-and that IL what we all
should wish TEST your eyes here!"
Whose wishes to test the vision OF his
sould may do It BY the word OF God
and prayer.