Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-12-05
SAYS TRIVIAL THINGS OF
EARTH MUST PASS Away
World Is Strcwn With Wreck.
age of Proud Civilizations,
Says DR.. Bowie.
STRESSES THING WORTH WHILE.
without Relationship With God. Life
Is Hard and Harsh. Declares R-cto.
or st. .Inn and Nincvch
Sand Heaps In Desert.

In st. Paui's Episcopal Church last
night Rev. W. Russell Bowie. y. u :.
preached on the words Of Jesus
spoken in Jerusalem. Heaven and
earth shall pass away. but Ny words
SHAH not pass away" DR.. Bowie dis
cussed tho ways in which heavens
have passed away-tho heavens Of
false and unworthy conceptions Of
God and OF the unseen realities. one
after another. before the power of
the thought o. Jesus.
And. as all small heavens shall
pass away" he went on. $50 all the
trivial things OF earth must. likewise
pass We know the earth passes
away before the permancncc OF the
thoughts Of Jesus, because. III the
Hfst place. We see lis periShablencss
IN Time. Even the things we imagine
we build most lastingly begin to
crumoic. ana every tomorrow is the
tomb OF that which yesterday we
Imagined should endure forever
World Strewn with wrccknEc.
Tho world is strcwn with tho
wrccka8e of the proud civilizations
which have gone. The pomps and
ranitics are dust upon the drifting
sand heaps in the desert; Tyre and
Carthage only mournful echoes on
the empty borders OF the sea Out
side Of Delhi, where the MoguI Em-
perors OF India had their cities OF
vast dominion. high upon it's towering
rock is the abandoned city Of Fateh-
pur-Sikri. built by Akbar. tho might
lest monarch of them all. and over
the gates OF that now ruined capital
arc craven these words of strangely
president prophecy: The world is a
DridSe. Pass over IL, but build no
house upon il. The world cndurcs bur
Tor an hour. Spend II In DEVOTION
And IL. at any time. we should for
get this pcrishablencss OF the things
or earth. and ever look I'm foolish van
ny on LIES achievements as though
these things might fence us round
forever there comes that certain mo-
incnt when knock sounds at the
gate. Then before the Knocking of
that hand OF death shall all the
towering structures vanish in n mo-
ment and the soul confront the bear
cr OF it's summons alone and solitary.
with no gain of earth remaining and
naught 10 plead in Judgment save
those spiritual values which II may
have wrought within Itself
Sh.inks; becomes Unsntisfyiny.
And. as the earth passes away.
because of its pcrishablencss in time.
So. before the test OF the mind of
christ. 1t shrinks and becomes un-
satisfying. even through the time
when ft seems to endure. There are
many who imagine they can feed upon
me substance OF Il goddess life and
ma II suiiicicnt. They seek. in their
world all the excitement which Das-
sion and selhshrcss can lay claim TO.
They exploit IL for their luxurious de-
sires They gain. perhaps. the things
theE coveted. and. 10, the things are
aShes In their grasp. For In their
soul there is wrctchcd turmoil.
There is hunger of the God in us
that cannot feed upon the husks of
earthincss. tnhallowcd lives may he
bo'sterous N their loud mockcrv OF
mlrth; they may try to conceal. i'm
mastering prctcnsc. the Indebtedness
ana scorn by which they are con-
sumcd within, but. sooner or later.
therc comes to every soul the stark
moment of its self-rcvcia,ion. when
II Knows the hollowncss OF every
earthly gain that has forsworn the
search for God.
The one ching which is trans
ccndently worth while in any life is
IT'S relationship with God. From that
all else Will now Without il life is
hard and harsh, thing. pcrhaps,
Wnich mas the glare of lis fierce noon
tiue OF success, but ends with the
,hirst and fever of the drifting sand
that SHOWS no path To the oases'