Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-10
Sunday Morning Talk
VEN EERS

|. Hark to a parable. Once upon a time there were two balls. One was
 made of wood covered with very bright new gilt. He was shining and handsome. The other was made of
 solid gold clear to his heart, but he hadn't been polished up much and he looked a triAe dull. They were put to- gether in the same box. The gilt ball was placed on a soft bed of cotton in
 one corner. but the gold ball was left free to roll about. Pretty soon he be- gan to explore the box, rolling from side
 to side and from corner to corner. The
 more he travelled about the brighterhe
 grew. Soon in his Journeys about the box he began to roll across the bed of
 the gilt ball. Don't do that ex- claimed he gilt ball in terror. Don't what off?' asked the gold ball in sur prise.
 1t is hard for people conscious of in- tegrity in life and purpose to under stand how thinly spread are the virtues that some other people assume. They never quite learn that all is not gold that giitters. They do not realize that
 the bright surface that looks so beauti- ful will rub off under rough handling. Whether it be true or not, that beau ty is but skin deep, it is true that much politeness is. Parlor tricks and rules of department vanish under the stress of some crucial occasion. Shipwrecks and theatre fires have been hard tests of the After you, my dear Gaston'' philosophy. It is then generally each
 man for himself. The native instinct for rsef-preServation SurgeS up through all outer wrappings of convention. Against this. however must always be set the glorious behaviour of the men of the sinking Titanic.
 There is at present profound depres- sion in many minds over the net result of all our centuries of training in hu-
 manity morals and religion. The war has brought instincts to the fore we
 had supposed the race had done with.
 Underneath the smiling surface of civ iiization have smoldered volcanoes of
 hate and cruelty that needed but the appropriate occasion to burst into
 flame. The step from orderly and re- spectacle citizenship at home to blood
 thirsty savagery in the field has proved
 not a long one. In a few short months ten of thousands of men in Europe have taken it. Millions who, a little while ago, would not think of making a dog uncomfortable now judge it their highest duty and privilege to kill as many as possible of their fe1- lowmen-and by any means at hand. How quickly the veneer disappears under the acid test of war;
 One need not cross the water to face the situation. He can find 1t in his own nature. Few of us realize how close we are to savagery till some un- foreseen temptation or peril swoops down on us- At such times we may discover the call of the wild to be very strong. We feel tlsat we have much in common with people whose deeds, in our better moments. We deplore and condemn. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" Let us beware of casting stones at other people while we live ourselves in glass houses. Kipling has touched the sore spot in his remark that
 The governors lady and Susie O'Grady Are sisters under the skin.
 Gold that will not rub off in an emer- gency must be solid clear to the center. Character that is to withstand the buff fetfngs of the world must have a deep | CT foundation than expediency. con- vention or public opinion. It must seems to be, not matched by a real stock back on the shelves.
 :. The sincere person Is rid at once of one of the great human worries-that of keeping up appearances. He has no appearances to keep up, being all the way through that which shows on the surface He walks s~through life as a fact and not as a sham.
 Life proceeds from the center out ward and not in the other direction. Character is first of all integrity of soul The prayer of the Psalmist IS for every one who wants to be genu- I inc: I.et the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be ac- ceptab,e in thy sight. O Lord, my strength and my redeemer." THE PARSON-