St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1916-10-25
81. JoHNsBURY,s NEEDs.
Continued from page one.)

startling predictions; nothing novel
merely by quickening memory.
There are few people in a com
munity but possesses enough truth
for salvation and power. The same
as made martyrs, the same as is to-
day transforming the civilizations of
the Orient.
Why is there so little dynamic"
because of the tendency of truth to
sink into circumstances, to be-
come tradition; to become old. 1t IL
not lost, let there be a special crisis
and 1t would flare up. For common
ly truth is in "cold storage" and to
be a power it must be revitalized.
The same is true of patriotism The
great necessity is OF keeping greal
facts of revelation alive in conscious
ness; that they may be spiritual dyn-
annie.
Bacon speaks of "Bed-ridden
truths" How can we make them
alive and effective? AS in the text
stir them up" With truth as with
existence inaction is death, action
alone is life. We must seek to bring
them from the storehouse into the
workhouse of the minds. How? By
fresh Bible study. meditation, refiec-
ton, prayer. by constantly keeping
ourselves under influences and in as
sociations which will keep these
fundamental realities alive.
st. Johnsbury is not worse than
other places and is better than some
Following are some reasons: AS ap-
plicable elsewhere as here: Lament
able neglect of the Bible and what it
purports to be; what it has done; and
is doing. Neglect of prayer personal,
family. and social. Neglect of the
church.; what it is supposed to be,
the medium by which Christ would
express himself to the world, and a
lack of the sense or responsibility on
the part of churchgoers.
Rev. f. S. Tolman
In our rides through the country
section we often come to a railroad
crossing, having a sign with these
words on it: Stop, look. listen. and
if we value our safety and that of
those who are with us we will heed
this sign. for battered and mangled
bodies bear witness every year of
negligence on this score.
The other night l called a good
friends to my side in a lodge, and
told him we were to speak on est.
Johnsbury's Need" and 1 asked him,
what was the greatest need in St
Johnsbury? After a few moment OF
thought he said to me, THE greatest
need of our town is some good con-
scientious thinking. The purpose OF
this exchange of pulpits is to ask the
people of our town to stop, look, lis
ten.
Some of the most conspicuous in.
stances of the need of q spiritual
awakening are: The awakening to q
sense of personal responsibility; tC
our homes, and children; an awaken
ing of our moral responsibility.
Rev. @. L. Eaton
Text. John 1910, L came that they
may have life and that they may
have it abundantly.
BY a series of pictures he showed
that just as a man maybe tone dea
or color blind or lacking in physica
energy through some defect in hi
physical body and in that measure i
dead and not alive, so many may b.
worldly intellectual and spiritually
dead. Indeed he is only thorough,
alive as on every side of his natur
he is alert, intelligent, sympathetic
and responsive. If we are altogethe
joyously alive we can romp with chill
dren, appreciate the finest in art AM
music, feel for and desire to uplif
the prisoner and the drunkard. ar
righteously indignant over and desir
to remedy the things that are wronl
in our social and political life an
are sensitive to the presence of Co
as He reveals himself in nature an
in the soul of man; yea we are onl
thoroughly alive when we are so fill
ed with all that is great and true il
character and spiritual life that h
can give rich treasures out of GU
own lives to every man we NEE
whether saint or sinner.
Jesus had this abundant life. H
stood in this world and everything il
it spoke to Him and He answere
back to it with the responsiveness o
a spirit that was completely and Joy
ously alive. To every man He ha
something to give. He is therefor
an ideal of attainment a vision o
what we may become.
None of us are alive as He wa
alive but ours it is to become as H
was. If we set ourselves that tas
we shall find the largest satisfaction
in living, the joy OF helping to Great
a better World and the higher spirit
ual values of life.
That we be no longer dead let u
join together for one united edifica
ton, for the realization of the high
er possibilities of our own being an
for the bringing in of the Kingdo1