Middletown transcript., 1919-06-21
\. .t,,,,v tr,nk. while festooning moss

be- sturdy trunk, while festooning moes
nal parasitic plants appear amio sn ?S
ranches. Though the wa er may SUI
e heard gushing at the bottom OF the !
rell its sound is not 80 clear nor ics
,tresm 40 free as Of yore, The lana ie
with Philistines OF al kinosi
moral Philistines, spiritual Phl!lstines,
"a well as social and economic ones;
These Phillstines often exhibit small
interest in the wells opened by your
fathers and less inclination to preserve
ard protect them.
TODAY it is more often than not wnat
q man Possesses that makes him pre-
eminent. Yet is it what one owns IN
wealth that should count? Rather IS
+ what a man stands for in character
and noble achievement, that should
gain him honor. To-day there IS NOT
as much scrutiny of the way wealth. IS
acquired as there ought to be, nor as
much scorn for him whose methods are
disreputable or INSCRIPTIONS.
To-day religion is less generally 90:
served in public and private than OF
wore. It is more formal and mechanical
and less personal than it used to be.
And IN our religion mediaevalism has
revived; laying emphasis on correct
external rite, rather than on the state
Of the heart, by which it comes that
the appeal of religion Is addressed
more to the aesthetic sense than fraught
with moral and spiritual power. In,
dustrial relationships are avaricious and
cold, not personal, brotherly and init
mate. In social intercourse there is
less refinement Of speech, less dignity
of manner, with sort of daring which
leads our young people to outrage all
conventions, and in dress and behavior
to appear much worse than they prob
ably are. have been much impressed
by a rather recent book called 1.-THE
Goldfish, which might be read with
profit and interest by all. A quotation
from it is as follows: "Unquestionably
the general tone of social intercourse
in America, at least in fashionable cir.
cles, has recently undergone marked
and striking change. The athletic girl
Of the last twenty years is gradually
giving way to an entirely different type,
type modelled, it would seem at
least so far as dress and outward char
acteristics are concerned on the French
demimondaine. And further: 1t is but
| another and unpleasantly suggestive
| indication that the simplicity of an
older generation rugged virtue
of more frugal time-has given place
to the sophistifcation Of the continent. :"
| The impression that have formed from
casual observation in recent years is
that these words are true. If indeed
they are true it means that the man.
ners and morals and even the religion
of our children have been formed 2
great deal more by decadent stage,
and the usages of the capital cities of
Europe than by the Bible and our own
rough but virtuous ancestry.
What did our ancestors stand for
Let the atmosphere which here we
breathe remind US. For being rather
than seeming; for character rather than
wealth; for having rather than display
| ing; for conception of life which was
earnest and serious; for simplicity and
courtesy and dignity and modesty and
| industry; for self sacrifice and duty; for
honor; for virtue; and above all, for a
strong religious faith, back of which
were personal experience and convic-
ton, and which had power over daily
life. The emblem Of those stately days
flowers, or the shock of corn fully ripe;
while as the emf lem of these days we
should rather select the orchid, delicate,
expensive, exotic, parasitic.>
This sermon must not however be
brought to close without mention OF
that quality most of all characteristic
of our forbears, viz : freedom and love
of liberty. Our fathers had it, anc
they derived 1t from the wells of Abra
ham and Christ.
Abraham went forth from Ur of the
Chaldees for the wide and free uplanc
plains of Palestine. Jesus said: 1.-THE
truth shall make you Free Whose
spirit was ever so free rs his -? To be
free, our progenitors sought this land
and for the maintenance Of this free.
dom they fought and died. We ough
to realize more clearly than we do thai
their right to freedom and our right tt
freedom is deeply rooted in the nature
Of God. Our fathers were Trinitarians
the fact of the Trinity explains anc
permits of the freedom of Cod Goo
is by his nature free. His freedom is
the pledge of ours. 1t is happy con.
currence that this anniversary should
fall on Trinity Sunday.
We have heard so much Of late about
the unity of God, and the consequent
necessity for unity now amongst Chris
tians, that one might think there was
nothing else to consider. 1t is true
that there is one God. It is Just al
true that there are three persons.
Either of these two statements, when
made alone, is incomplete and mislead.
ing. They are always to be held to-
gether and inseparably.
Because there are three distinct per.
sons, or Individually separate beings ir
the nature of the Deity, it follows that
man possesses the right to be diverse
from others, to follow conscience, to be
himself, to be independent, to be differ
ent, to be self-determinative.
| Our fathers were free for they were
Trinitarians. : They did not however
push their freedom into anarchy OF
license as do the Bolsheviks, for be.
lieving in the unity of God as well as in
his Trinity they were believers also in
| q unified or constitutional government.
Belief in the unity of God alone leads
| to tyrrany and oppression. Belief in
the Trinity alone leads to the other
extreme Of anarchy, which is individ-
ualism run mad. When both parts of
this truth are held in conjunction they
give US the balanced and perfect belief
in God, the right pattern for human
thought, action and life.
Let US strive to hold in letter and in
spirit the religious belief of those
whose hands laid these tilnbers. Let
us study it more diligently, and try
more earnestly to apply it to life and
conduct, refusing to change or to abate
aught of its form on content, the Phil