Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-04-16
TULSA DAILY WORLD, SUNDAY. APRIL 1e. 1916


afation Tor the greatest event in hui
man history. There are, however, two
outstanding lessons that we may learn
therefrom, and which | am persuaded
to believe are essential in the church
and in our civic life, II we would find
an open sesame into the kingdom
The first of these is that The great
ness OF ones life depends upon little
things.
We are SO prone to recall most fire
Guently and pleasantly the big things
as being the prime essentials, where
as hundred incidents in the midst
OF the ordinary life-the smile of a
child; an ineffable face beckonir :
! to us from behind an old mans tears
the yea or nay murmured by some
| great soul-wi!l cause noble thoughts
| To pass across the heart like great
| white birds And we pause TO note
as incidents of our daily experience.
these little things" and say to our
selves. we have not been kind enough
| we have not loved as we should have
loved; we might have done more
and then yearn to begin before it will
be forever too late.
| The other outstanding lesson to
| which | refer and to which Jesus
| Christ gives his unqualified approval,
| is that of character in action. The
|
What Is character A mans char
acter, as ] see it, is discovered in part
| at least. in what he is. Every per-
son has his own individuality. And
| TINS leads US to the thought that there
/ Is no study so important as the study
of ones own life What YOU are. my
friend and brother. is the most i'm
portant thing in your career. and thar
IL matter settled very largely by
choosing IA
Control thyselt.' 'Deny tEyself.'
These three greatest maxims in all
human PHILOSOPHERS are of the ut
most importance i'm this matter of up
building earth's highest product, the
thing you can take With you up
through the realm of silent air, even
to the great white throne--a noble
character.
My work, as pastor, has often
taken me into great manufacturing
establishments. Time and time again
| have been in the great engine room
and have looked through the open
furnace door into the great fireplace
ablaze with white heat. | nave seen
the fresh coal poured in and the asn-
es pulled out, while within there re.
mains the white heat that was TO be |
transformed into power.
Now life itself is like that. Mans |
inner life is a furnace into which |
are being poured the fresh Goals of a |
new day-its hopes. its problems, It's |
opportunities, and out oil which are
being driven the residuum and the
debris. And all the time there Is
within us the constant blaze of the
inner fires. That is mans life. his |
real life; almost everything else is
the clothes he wears, the
friends he has. the house he lives in.
These are essential in q way, it's true. H
but they are subordinate to the place
within him, where all the battling
motions of life struggle FOR the mas
terry The place where the will dc
taches the hard task from the many
tempting visions OF ease that fit
across the Imagination, and adopts it
for the program of the day. Tho II
place where the memory becomes the
house of good to reinforce
the moral purposes of life, or a pris-
on house of evil to incarcerate good
purposes before they have gained
their end, and to chain each new hope
and awakening ambition to monu-
ments OF ancient disillusionment and
defeat.
No man can estimate how largely
his ability to achieve is dependent
upon the resources of his inner life.
Iiere was and here is, Ine unspcak |
ible marvel of the Christ. He UNDER
stood and understanding, he seeks 10
interpret our inner lives to us. He
ellis us first of all that if we abide
n him, he will abide in rs. He tells
rs that we shall not be tempted be
,ond our ability. lie tells MS that
,ur lives are not made strong on the
Easy field of compacent endeaNor,
Jut, rather, or the battlefield of con
lct and conquest.
Mans character is discovered in the
margins of his life. And that man
$ indeed fortunate and blessed who
ives with good margin The man
Who is not satisfied with mere health,
Jut who seeks robust strength. the
nan who is not satisfied with mere
but who seeks happi
less and good cheer; the man who is
lot satisfied with mere outward con
ormity to conventional standards of
thics and morality. but who wants
o possess that aboundmg life that
omes from association with and ap-
,ropriation of, the character of one
Who loved to be called the Son of
dan-Jesus of Nazareth
In his earthly ministry Jesus never
urned deaf ear to the needs OF
humanity. He saw them hungry, not
My for food but for instruction, aud
vas moved with compassion toward
hem because they were as sheep no.
laVing a shepherd. He laid down
lis life for them in every iessor lO
aught, in every service ne rendered
n every sickness he healed. in every
in he forsave, in every sorrow he
hared with his fellow men. His was
he ideal marginal life. He realized
hore fully than anyone else could how
artial and incomplete other lives
'ere. He gave to the beggar. He gave
D the weak. He challenged the op-
ressor. In his whole life how sci
ON we see Jesus in the role of the
ecipent.
he Hest Evidences for Christianity's
Divine Origin.
There can be no doubt that in this
ay and age there is peculiar obliga
on on the part of humanity to help
the upbuilding of marginal ives.
'e need men and women who have
,served out of the past, energy and
rength enough not only tC care for
,eir own problems but to help in
lring for the problems of others.
|e need men and women in our
ONES who are so trained and pre-
ared that they may be able to adj
luately care not only for the main
ntance of their own household, but
18th means to spare for the care of
lose who are miserable through mis-