The Pleasantville press., 1924-10-25
One minute SERMON
By r. ASHLEY CAKE
Sunshine Haven, Absecon, N.

Il have learned in whatsoever state
| am Herewith to be content Phil.
4: II.
What is the secret of your happy
life?" This was the query l heard
made of one who had learned that
gladness was the ideal for Gods chill
dren.
Better to hope though the clouds hang
low,
And to keep the eyes still lifted;
For the sweet blue sky will soon peep
through,
When the ominous clouds are rifted-
There never was night without a
day.
Nor an evening without a morning,
And the darkest hour as the proverb
goes,
Is the hour before the dawning."
The answer we are now giving is in
the language of Channing's Sympho-
ny-"Live content with small means;
seek elegance rather than luxury, re-
finement' rather than fashion, then let
the spiritual unbidden and unconscious
grow up through the common"
A rich man was heard to say that
the years when he had to carry his
dinner pail on his arm to his daily
tolls were the happiest years of his
life. Did he mean what he said? We
are not tc be the Judge, but observa-
ton of what we have heard and seen
proves conclusively that there is moth
ing in real wealth itself to make men
happy. We have known cases where
the actual attainment OF wealth has
been not only a disappointment but a
positive misfortune. Many million
aires to-day have become nervously
exhausted. They are to be pitied in
deed, but in their seeking they became
too ambitious.
Men seeking for wealth, may become
so ambitious as to lose sight of all
honesty and moral principles. They
may become millionaires. but alas, in
many cases spiritual wrecks. Seek
for wealth, if that is your calling, but
do not pay too big price for it. New
er give your honor or self-respect for
anything that this world has to offer.
A pure heart with a poor body is of
more value than a large Bank-account
and a guilty conscience, and body
clothed with broadcloth or satins and
silks, for the day will come when we
will all discover that the things which
money cannot purchase will be what
we will both want and need most.
The mistake that thousands are
making in seeking for wealth is not in
the seeking so much as it is in the
fact that in seeking for happiness they
place all the stress in the thought and
belief that it is all in the surround
ings and environments, whereas 1t is
more in the attitude of man toward
events. In other words in my efforts
to add to ones happiness and enjoy
ment of life, I seek to change his atti-
tude by the necromancy of faith in the
love of God Our happiness is more
matter of temperament and disposi-
ton than of environment, though 1t be
exceedingly beautiful The eyes of
our bodies become so defective that
our sight becomes dim and we have to
resort to artificial means. Sin affects
the eyes of the soul in the same way
and men become spiritually blind and
take their views of life from wrong
standpoints, hence wrong views lead
to wrong results. To make men happy
instead OF laboring so much as thous-
anus art uOluS " Cudn6C tAC1t odA
roundings, we are to change the man
himself. Then it is that the events
coming into ones life. be they pleas
ing or painful, prosperity or adversely,
bright or dark, viii become as STEP
ping stones to the souls palace. Where
as the summer becomes full of ripe
ness and the autumn changes the
scenes into fire and gold and tints of
flowers and makes beautiful the trees
of the forests, uniting their branches
in cathedral arches where the breeZes
whisper and the birds sing their sweet
est songs, all the works of God over
cast with perfect beauty and bloom
Likewise our soul whose attitude has
been changed by the new birth be-
comes as pure as the thoughts of an
angel conscience becomes as true TO
God as the needle to the pole We
live in the suburbs of the heavenly
city, we catch the breezes waited from
The heavenly shore, and at times we
almost hear the songs Of angels. No
-picture has ever been painted, no poem
has ever been written, no temple has
ever been built that can be compared
to a full orbed soul, which has learned
and has ability to say on practical
lines: Il have learned in whatsoever
state I am Herewith to be content