The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-03


So%you needn't so and look around
among the poor to Ind sleepfess
night. Come back to Solomon's dole
full cry for just minute What does
he rnean3 Was Solomon n dyspcptic I.
TX there no good In anything that en-
pIoss our timer IL going to school no
better than ioafing On the strectsT IL
being sober no better than being
drunk? Is there no benefit in music
alton OF the beautiful bring nothing
with I. but misery and sorrow oh,
is there nothing but evil In wealth and
In cducadeng
Why wae Solomon SO hungry when
NJ US 1,1zs 51as7,9s ss1a,.,~.>. nm
billions Of money. forty thousand
h6rses and twenty thousand asssrse-
men? Why was he so miserable?
The wisest pan that ever lived, the
richest man that ever lived. put up
the Ereatost building the world has
ever known. whv was he SO miser-
able when he had all of that? He
said so many other things that
about vanity. Would man OF his
wisdom get his wires crossed?
Watt minute. Here's something
that throws light on the whole prop
oe!tion- When he said. "All is van
fly and vsxation of spirit" ne adds
Under the sun
All L. vanity and vexation here on
earth. and that shows the standpoint
from which he drew his conclusion.
What we zee depends upon our view
point Many man talks as though
he was on a mountain top. when
what he says shows that he Is In the
mud and fifth, ard when a man tells
ycu that the wniskey business is q
good business, you will know his view
point: you know he Is not looking at
Il from the viewpoint OF the drunkard
wboh as lost his manhood, from the
drunkard's wife, nor the drunkard's
children. mother or father. He Ia
looking at 1t from the viewpoint Of
the saloonkeeper. Of the brewer, Of
the distilier. of the man who rents
his property. my friends, or the man
who owns stock in the brewery or dis
tiilery.
Oh. know what HIS viewpoint In
by what he says. can Judge all of
that. my friends. Therefore. TO know
"a mans viewpoint you know why
he sees things as he does, Therefore,
If a man can toll what rainbow
looks like while standing on his head
IN . Ccii3F. what uoeS nc AnoW ABOUT
IL:
Why All III Vanity.
Now. i know why Solomon said.
IAN Is vanity" He was looking at
everything from worldly standpoint.
He was looking al the women, concu-
bines. from the standpoint OF hus-
band: ne was looking at his sea of
wine, with its gold. from the stand
point OF avarice and the qualification
of his de.iros. He was looking at the
palace and the wealth from the stand
point OF greed and all that
Now, know why he said all that.
why, can do It. Now ! know why
Solomon said afi was vanity. for he
was looking at II from the standpoint
of the world On, yes!
In Ecclesiaste6 'a'rder the sun oc-
ours th,rty-oue times. He wants us
to understand that what he WAS say
ing WIG from the standpoint OF low
down He was looking nj everything;
fro rnthe standpoint of the materisJia-
ticr, and from that viewpoint every
thing hes aid WAC true. Everything
he said was truef
You talk /away God, you take away
fear of God and fear OF sin; you've
removed the greatest safeguard for
virtue there lie on earth. You create
uislf uSl 6Is'f QoIpL III tttC WoIA oi tToo
and IN Jesus Christ. and the result
wifi be moral wreck, and by the etcr-
nal God hate and despise with every
drop OF blood in my body, every mole
Guile, brsin end corpuscle, | despise
the rup who creates dtatrust In the
Bible AZ the word of Of God. who cre-
ates doubt in God Almighty. who Gre
ates doubt In the shed blood of Jesus
Christ az the only bore for man Il
salvation. | despise the pup with
every drop OF blond IN my veins.
Now. You take away inspiration. you
take away revelation and all hope of
the hfo IN u world to come, all hope
of resurrection: YOU put nothing in
It's place but Sin and despair, and you
have got nothing left to 1--we for. The
life Of the best is no better than the
wors,: the life OF The saint 10 no bet
ter than the sinner. the life of the
wisast Is no better than the fool; the
life OF the prostitute Is TO better than
the virtuouS Life in not worth the
gaT If there is no ince tive AID re-
ward beyond for me to live for here
She ism. worth the gam; absolutely
she is not.
Now, SIT. you ssanssh hope ges. heaven
and man is IN he'll. You destroy hope
In the future. and you will turn this
old world into a he'll. You juss de-
stroy the hope and see what she viii
be. You blot out everything except
what we may know through the
aenses. you keep from us all knowl-
edge from a source beyond this world,
and the best that life can give, my
friends, worse than nothing.
You destroy in every man and wo-
man that which tells him that there
is God. that there is heaven, that
there IL q life beyond, and every grave
wifi hold a. suicide. II is eaid that
within a weaH after Eph Ingorsoii de-
i,vered his famous isctrre on '.Su'-
eide" In which endorsed men and
woEsen that are suicides and encour-
aged them, said that the discourage
ments OF life are sufficient TO warrant
our wanting 10 shuttle Oft the mortal
coil. over hundred suicides were
directly traceable TO the influence OF
this lecture, which advised suicide I'M
der those conditions.
Let hope do nadd cspair will reign
In the human heart
What profit hath a man of all his
labor which he taks;h under the
sun7'
What does fellow get out OF life
II he only lives for this world7 We
have Just begun TO know q little hit
when we discover that nothing under
The sun satisfies our soul
Solomon found nothing but diSap-
pointfnent in the best that the world