The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-05-26
SENIORS TOLD :.
PATH. OF RIGHT
'lSSURER0U|I|1E| !;| e
!: !. :: TO SUCCESS
Rev. L. P.Warford Gives Splen.
, did Advice in Baccalaureate
Sermon Sunday Night.
SERVICES HELD IN
! :. ~ METHODIST CHURCH
High School Graduates and
Friends completely Fill Aud
= itorium Of Church. >:"-

g.. = = r.
=. Taking his text from Joshus 3:4,
,'"Ye have not passed this way hereto
FORE" Rev. Lester P. Warford. pastor
Of the Presbyterian church, delivered
a. splendid baccalaureate sermon to
the 1919 graduates of the Bemidji
high school last evening, the serv-
ices being held in the large audi
.torium Of the Methodist church
which was completely filled. Rev.
Blaine Lambert of the Methodist
church, and Rev. A. NJ. Whitby, Of
the Baptist church, assisted In the
ceremonies. :"
% Rev. Warford's sermon. the text
beilg'as above stated, follows:
GLOW true these words are of the
situation of one about to graduate
from the high school. Think Of the
Isreaiites! They had spent toilsome
years apart from the promised land,
ever looking into the way of hope
dreaming OF the time when they
should be! counted ready to pass on
into the appointed land. And now
tho appointed time had come. They
stood at the very banks of the Jordan
and shaded theiE eyes, and looked
oyars into the land of promise. Their
hope, their dream had become real
tty,S r
E''These4 are the instructions de-
Myered to- the people with regard to
their entrance into the land Of prom
ise. They were commanded to be
watchful, and when they should see
tho Ark Of the Covenant of the Lord
being borne OF the priests they should
move forward, stepping into the way
! of prss NisN, essd oxen the Jordan
] scoHld not siP1t Them out. The Ark
Sof the covenant was the truth of God
4. which ever went before to{guide and
instruct them,~ and as long as: they
could see this truth of God, and fol-
low in} its lightfthey might move for
ward confidently. Z, Then the. word
COMES to them they must be fearful
lest they fail to see the Ark with Its
precious possession, For ye have not
passed this way heretofore
"As' these words came to them the
people became solemn. In a. sense
the old and familiar way was over
and$Ethe unknown country and un-
"krown land was before them. i Can
nan was ahead OF them and all their
pettier life became serious. and
thoughtful. The pressure of a new
experience was upon them. Even as
a company OF our soldier boys who
have. lived together for a few days
growing, accustomed to their ship
board life at last draw near to France
toward whence they have been SAIL
ing, so it Is striking to see how a
quietness and seriousness seems to
come oyer them in the last hours be-
fore they 60 ashore. New things are
waiting them there, and they shade
their eyes and look into the future.
Full of Novelty.
"The best element in the old life
was to become the best element and
the guide in the new. The young life
launching out is full of novelty You
have not passed this way heretofore,
seems to be written in fascinating
letters on every pathway. The mon-
otony Of the way has not found you
yet sToistoy says there are. three
periodsfto every life. First the period
of youth when all is novelty and
every pathway glitters with alluring
Hight. Second the period Of matured
manhood when service becomes thu
all important ambition. Third the
period OF old age, when personal sal
walton becomes the most real element
In life. But through all periods there
is controlling power not external. but
within which guides and controls ac-
ton. That influence is the control
ing influence Of God. When the Is
raelites moved forward they laid
aside the rubbish and rags and waste
of the dessert; but the Ark which
stood for the truest instruction, the
guiding influence, they placed before
where all eyes could see 1t, and as it
moved forward they followed it. The
good influences, the problems master
ed, the lessons truly learned will
never be lost in their influence upon
your life, no matter what new ex-
periences you may have. / we'll re-
member when at school how we used
to row across the Hudson River in the
fog. We took pains to start out d.
rectly at right angles from the shore,
and then the path behind the boat
was always an index to the straight
direction in which we were going,
and it helped and directed us to the
other side though we could see but a
few feet through the fog.
There are many figures by which
your passage from the high school
into the broader walks of life may be
symboiized. Sometimes 1t is called
life's voyage. and over the trackless
expanse beyond there is written. aye
have not been this way heretofore.
1t is sometimes called the journey