The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, July 03, 1907, Page 6, Image 6
6
The Philosophy of Living.
A Striking Article by Dr. E.
F. Rice, of Kershaw, Pastor
of Sand Hill and Beaver
Dam Churches.
From the Biblical Recorder.
Life is your easel and today
your canvas; opportunity is your
paint and your character is tne
resultant painting. It you were
an infallible artist your character
each day would be a true copy of
the great Master's But the Almighty
has not seen fit to endow
us with infallibility, llouce the
mistakes, t lie rebukes, and tears
But He has given us the power
of recovery. Lift thou, therefore,
thyself above the accidents of today
and keep the mistakes of yes
terday out of the painting of tomorrow.
Thus day by day t ry
vision will grow clearer, thy hand
steadier, thy touch surer, and thy
work nearer "the pattern that
was showed thee in the mount'
Then some day the Master Painter's
words of praise, ''Well
done," shall be thine.
But these things are costly.?
Their price is submission, saciifice,
and service. In the divine
economy their reward is self con.
trol. This is the greatest attain
ment in the College of I) scipline
and the highest degree conferred
- *1 TT ?; :* fT II?,I<11>
in iue uuivoish) 01 u ic, uo k,j
forth failure and succes-, hard
ship and happiness must be viewed
in a new light as a means oi
self control. To the theologian
pains and pleasures are a scheme
of rewards and punishments, bul
to the true philosopher they art
a system of training in God'j
school-house?a method of spiritual
control. The onejfirst seesir
Guf jo^-s aiiu sorrows the hand u
God, the righteous Judge meting
out to each his hire; the othei
sees in them the hand of Got
also, bnt it is the hand ot the lov
ing Father training lJischildrei
to be like Himself, leading their
onward and upward to highei
ground, fitting them for largei
usefulness in the realm of loy<
and for greater glorv in the Eter
nal City.
From this higher ground tl <
few elect souls get a broader viev
of God's plan and purpose ii
dealing with the children of men
They see each individual form
ing a part of the great web of lif
and the ahultle of time filling ii
the divine pattern. Misfortune
affliction and all human ills hav
amission. Sickness is to give
man time to think on his ways
The loss of properly is to loosei
the tendrils of his affection fron
things earthly. Death is the por
tal of life?the transplanting o
tender plants and shoots ere the;
begin to bloom and young tree
ere they begin to bear. This re
moval of friends and relatives
our dearest treasure?is design?
to lift our hearts heavenward.For
where our treasure is ther
will our hearts he also. Win
and storm dispel many noxion
germs and gases. While thorai
is God's way of giving nature he
much-needed bath. "I don't se
these things as the elect do,
says one. Don't you wish yo
could ?
In his conflict with evil ma
has lost much of his original he
itage. Those who have lost moi
lean toward pessimism, and thoi
TJL
who have lost least lean toward t
optimism ; while those who have 8
regained most are philosophers. 8
' They are like a house having t
windows opening heavenward and t
earthward. These see the good t
above and the bad below, and t
know that things could be worse f
below and are better higher up. c
I I ItPnma nrt I
1IIUU Villi lid uo in, X/V1A1U M
higher. Get above the low-lands
, of evil desire, malice, hatred,
envy, and wrong thinking and
i acting. View God's world as
G< d'9 children should view it.?
, Climb to higher grounds.'*
To reach I lie heights of life
i we must "lay every weight,"
"j)ut away childish things," and
. the "smoked glass." For our interpretation
of lite depends upon
. our view point. It that t>e false
or narrow so will our iuterpreta.
tion be. John tells us that one
day in Jerusalem there "came a
voice from heaven." Som? "said
that it thundered ; others said,
; "An angel spake to him." One
? sound, but three interpretations.
To some, thunder; to others, an
| angel's voice; to Jesus Himselt,
the voice of His Father. Where
lay the difference? Find that
and you have discovered how
( different philosophies are based
upon the same tacts, and different
conclusions reached fiom the
same premises. Cicero says :
"The eye sees only that which
it, brings with it, the power ot
seeing." And Fichte says: "What
system of philosophy you hold
depends wholly ou what manner ^
( ot man you are." If this be true j
? philosophy means, in effect, |
I your poiut of view of life?the j
way you view things. But Kant
j speaks of the ''Ding an sich"? ^
the thing in itself. But what is }
4 the thing in itself? Here is a rare |
. flower An art.iat its wonder- .
i - - I
t ful form aud coloring; a florist (
' sees its commercial value; and a
r 7
I naturalist the skill of tho great
Workman. Here, again, is a brier ,
( patch. To one it is the promise ,
j of 1 uscious berries, fresli with
r the dew of the morning; to anr
other it is the fulfilment of the
a curse prououuced that day in
Eden. 4kDing an sich" is to each
one as it appears colored by his
powers ol perception and interpreted
by his personality. One
* hears thunder and another hears
an angel's voice. We all make
run* nurn u.T?t*l/l liriirlit KKicL- r?r
U 9
slate-colored. Wordsworth is
0
rigth when he speaks of?
1 The mighty world eye and ear,
" liolh what they half create, and half per?
ceive."
Why is it that we see only the
' dark side of the life cloud while
11 others see its silver lining? Why
1 do we cross bridges before we
j get to I hem and others never
cro<-s them till they find them?
y
Why are we over anxious about
fl
to-morrow, taking its burdens
on today's strength, while others
~ leave to-morrow's burdens forto'
morrow's strength? The explana
tion of difference is inside, not
I i nta./la
W ?MVO<Ug.
(1 "('an a leopard change his
iR spots?" No, But God can. "Inn
stead of the thorn shall corne up
sr the fir tree, and instead of the
>e brier shall come up the myrtle
" tree : and it shall be to the Lord
u for a name, for an everlasting
sign." A sign of what? That God
,n can change your heart, your nar
ture, and make you a new creast
tion in Christ Jesus. That those
se who are thus changed shall "eat
E LAN'J ASlEEt NEWS, JULY 8
he true bread Irom heaven,1'
ind drink i4liviog water." You
ire not responsible for the naure
you are born with, but for
he nature you die with. Christ v
.aught this truth again and again:
hat a man must be born anew?
rom above?and that the chil
Iren of God must be like their
father. He came that men may
ive the life He lived, see life as
rle saw it, serve God as He
ierved Him. and lay up their
reasure in heaven. And this is
he high calling of God.
Power to pass from the world
>f darkness to the world of light
a bestowed upon every oue that
ielieyeth. This is your talent,
rour pound. Use it and you
jain, neglect it and you suffer
ess. It thirst tor gold is greater
hau thirst for God, and the aninal
desires are stronger than
he spiritual, and clamor louder
or gratification, Jordan is a hard
oad to travel. Seek God first and
hings that give us place, power,
nid preferment among our felows
become incidental and
leaveu looms large and clear:
nek the world first and heaven
ind God bee me vague and re
note. Then you will miss the
ingel's voice and hear only the
bunder. But resolve to look to
iod and listen lor the angels,
md some day you will catch
:limpses of God and hear heaveny
music.
Make the resolve and lift up
jour eyes to the hills whence
jour strength cometh until you
3e endowed with power Irom on
nigh. Then you will know the
right, and have the will to do ^
die right because it is right
Hopkins in his psychology rep- f<
resents the will as the man on a V
bridge, who, by turning aside or b
taking out the drift, keeps the
it ream of his thoughts pure.
Bad thoughts will come, you are
not human if they don't. They
are the "traveler" and the "way- ?
faring man" that you are not jj
obliged to entertain; you are j
not guilt h as it you do. Turn 9
them aside as you value your *
own soul. If a "traveler" from ^
the unclean world come unto ^
you remember that your heart is ^
your castle, and no "way-faring ^
man" can lodge there without 2
your consent. I
In equipping you f?>r the strug- ^
gle with evil God has armed you L
with freedom of will?the power ^
of contrary choice. You can $
choose to look to the right, and "
to the left ; up, and not down ; s
on the bright, side, not 011 the t
dark side. You may see wine c
red in the cup, but you can look
another way. You may hear
the tempter's voice, but choose 1
to listen to the voice of God. c
Thoughts of unpleasant and de- *
pressing things may come, but !
you can resolve to think 011 pleas- y
ant and encouraging things. f
Right choosing is necessary to a *
right lite, and right thinking is 1
the very foundation of right act- '
ing. For a man never goes as- 1
trnv in >iis hpn.rfc till he has cone
astray in his head, tie never
returns to an abandoned appetite
till he has been thinking
about it. David committed adultry
in thought before be did in
act. Wrong thinking sooner or
later will lead a right man wrong
and right thinking will sooner
or later lead a wrong man right.
I''As a manthinketh in hia heart,
. 1#?7.
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tneta i ii111 m. ana
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riend of the minor key, thank
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still have ycur head. If yon