Blessed is the man who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. Know thy work, and do it; and work at it like Hercules. One monster there is in the work — the idle man. — CARLYLE.
Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the field, seal Thy truth, and come home to die. — WHITEFIELD.
God's very service is wages; His ways are strewed with roses, and paved with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and with peace that passeth understanding. — THOMAS BROOKS.
We are not to wait to be in preparing to be. We are not to wait to do in preparing to do, but to find in being and doing preparation for higher being and doing. — HENRY GILES.
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Pithy and Pertinent Paragraphs
1900
Written for The Ram's Horn by W. L. Y. Davis
An aimless life is a nameless life.
The well-rounded Christian keeps square with the world.
Birth sometimes gives a man his berth.
Rome was taken for Christ by a tentmaker.
The life of love is better than the love of life.
He who lives only for himself has little to live for.
Many a man never opens his mouth but he gets his foot in it.
Every aching void in the human heart is part of the "great gulf fixed."
A froward youth is sometimes brought up better by being brought down.
The best beam for the eye is the sunbeam.
Bury your troubles and erect no tombstones.
He who is believing God ought to be leaving the devil.
The most arbitrary king in the world is drinking.
He who gives a piece of his mind has little peace of mind left.
Temperance ought not to lose its temper any more than it ought to drink whiskey.
The phials filled with the prayers of the saints fill the viols of the angels with praise.
The man who is most generous in forgiving others is most generous in giving for others.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 7.
Written for The Ram's Horn by W. L. Y. Davis
An aimless life is a nameless life.
The well-rounded Christian keeps square with the world.
Birth sometimes gives a man his berth.
Rome was taken for Christ by a tentmaker.
The life of love is better than the love of life.
He who lives only for himself has little to live for.
Many a man never opens his mouth but he gets his foot in it.
Every aching void in the human heart is part of the "great gulf fixed."
A froward youth is sometimes brought up better by being brought down.
The best beam for the eye is the sunbeam.
Bury your troubles and erect no tombstones.
He who is believing God ought to be leaving the devil.
The most arbitrary king in the world is drinking.
He who gives a piece of his mind has little peace of mind left.
Temperance ought not to lose its temper any more than it ought to drink whiskey.
The phials filled with the prayers of the saints fill the viols of the angels with praise.
The man who is most generous in forgiving others is most generous in giving for others.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 7.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ram's Horn — Sentence Sermons
1900
Rattles win no battles.
Man is dust but still divine.
No man ever found fame by looking for it.
Only the needy are known at the Bank of Faith.
The soul is the mainspring of the human time-piece.
Holiness on earth is better than innocence in Eden.
The fear of the reaping is not repentance for the sowing.
Persecution may be the pathway, but glory is the goal.
Nothing is so disappointing as the effort to be good without God.
Religion can be no more a Sunday coat than can honesty or truth.
The unchanging Christ is the secret of the Christian who is ever being changed into His likeness.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 3.
Rattles win no battles.
Man is dust but still divine.
No man ever found fame by looking for it.
Only the needy are known at the Bank of Faith.
The soul is the mainspring of the human time-piece.
Holiness on earth is better than innocence in Eden.
The fear of the reaping is not repentance for the sowing.
Persecution may be the pathway, but glory is the goal.
Nothing is so disappointing as the effort to be good without God.
Religion can be no more a Sunday coat than can honesty or truth.
The unchanging Christ is the secret of the Christian who is ever being changed into His likeness.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 3.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Spear Points
1902
Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
Circumstances may change, but God never does.
The breadth of Christianity depends on its depth.
God puts consolation only where He has first put pain.
Early athletics will not suffice for the heavenly race.
In this life there is but one sure happiness— to live for others.
Expect God to help you when you have prayed for His assistance.
True greatness is ability to serve coupled with a meek and quiet spirit.
When the Lord is in our hearts His hand will be seen in our works.
Never take your eye off the cross, as all the lines of salvation center there.
Poverty of possessions need not be discreditable; poverty of life always is.
A thousand times better are the men who do than the weaklings who only know.
The loving judgments of friends are harder to bear than the harsh ones of foes.
All God's providences are but His touches of the strings of the great instrument of the world.
When you step up on one promise you will always find a higher and a better one before you.
The self-centered life comes to naught; the Christ-centered life ever continues in enlargement.
There are some lessons which can only be learned in the garden, and beneath the shadow of the cross. — The Ram's Horn.
Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
Circumstances may change, but God never does.
The breadth of Christianity depends on its depth.
God puts consolation only where He has first put pain.
Early athletics will not suffice for the heavenly race.
In this life there is but one sure happiness— to live for others.
Expect God to help you when you have prayed for His assistance.
True greatness is ability to serve coupled with a meek and quiet spirit.
When the Lord is in our hearts His hand will be seen in our works.
Never take your eye off the cross, as all the lines of salvation center there.
Poverty of possessions need not be discreditable; poverty of life always is.
A thousand times better are the men who do than the weaklings who only know.
The loving judgments of friends are harder to bear than the harsh ones of foes.
All God's providences are but His touches of the strings of the great instrument of the world.
When you step up on one promise you will always find a higher and a better one before you.
The self-centered life comes to naught; the Christ-centered life ever continues in enlargement.
There are some lessons which can only be learned in the garden, and beneath the shadow of the cross. — The Ram's Horn.
More Words of Wisdom
1902
Sincerity is the secret of success.
It takes more than money to make a living.
Self-surrender is the secret of soul-satisfaction.
The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
To break our mirrors will not make us beautiful.
The heart is only clean when it is wholly clean.
You cannot make an enemy without losing a friend.
Sympathy for others is a salve for our own sorrows.
It is a vain hope that the chains of habit will rust off.
The supreme art of living may be summed up in giving.
When a father is too tender his sons usually balance things.
Life is a man's opportunity for the realization of his ideals.
To be at our best to-morrow we must be at our best to-day.
When ambition is the child of envy it will be the mother of sorrows.
The lights of the world are not illumined by the fires of controversy.
He who has friends only to use them will have them only to lose them. — Ram's Horn.
Sincerity is the secret of success.
It takes more than money to make a living.
Self-surrender is the secret of soul-satisfaction.
The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
To break our mirrors will not make us beautiful.
The heart is only clean when it is wholly clean.
You cannot make an enemy without losing a friend.
Sympathy for others is a salve for our own sorrows.
It is a vain hope that the chains of habit will rust off.
The supreme art of living may be summed up in giving.
When a father is too tender his sons usually balance things.
Life is a man's opportunity for the realization of his ideals.
To be at our best to-morrow we must be at our best to-day.
When ambition is the child of envy it will be the mother of sorrows.
The lights of the world are not illumined by the fires of controversy.
He who has friends only to use them will have them only to lose them. — Ram's Horn.
Words of Wisdom
Words of Wisdom
1902
In the noonday of life only short shadows are cast.
In order to find out how strong a stick is you must break it.
A good fisherman always provides himself with plenty of bait.
The man who borrows and seldom pays is one who seldom lends.
When you confess a fault to a friend, confess one that you know he also has.
The man who is above imitating the methods of others need never be afraid of being imitated.
Sometimes the loftiest monument towers above the grave of the poet who starved to death.
Women were formed to temper mankind and soothe them into tenderness and compassion. — Addison.
Those who go slowly through life have an opportunity of reading the guideboards along the way. The riches of the world and the
gratifications they afford are too apt when their evil tendency is not opposed by a principle of religion to beget that friendship for the world which is enmity to God.
Prayer is so mighty an instrument that no one ever thoroughly mastered all its keys. They sweep along the infinite scale of man's wants and God's goodness. — Hugh Miller.
Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brains of the wildest dreamer. — Sir Walter Scott.
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable. — La Fontaine.
Prudence yields to circumstance, folly quarrels with it, pride defies it, wisdom uses it and genius controls it. — J. S. Blackie.
1902
In the noonday of life only short shadows are cast.
In order to find out how strong a stick is you must break it.
A good fisherman always provides himself with plenty of bait.
The man who borrows and seldom pays is one who seldom lends.
When you confess a fault to a friend, confess one that you know he also has.
The man who is above imitating the methods of others need never be afraid of being imitated.
Sometimes the loftiest monument towers above the grave of the poet who starved to death.
Women were formed to temper mankind and soothe them into tenderness and compassion. — Addison.
Those who go slowly through life have an opportunity of reading the guideboards along the way. The riches of the world and the
gratifications they afford are too apt when their evil tendency is not opposed by a principle of religion to beget that friendship for the world which is enmity to God.
Prayer is so mighty an instrument that no one ever thoroughly mastered all its keys. They sweep along the infinite scale of man's wants and God's goodness. — Hugh Miller.
Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brains of the wildest dreamer. — Sir Walter Scott.
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable. — La Fontaine.
Prudence yields to circumstance, folly quarrels with it, pride defies it, wisdom uses it and genius controls it. — J. S. Blackie.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Words of Wisdom
1902
Pride spells peril.
Deeds are indelible.
Every effort educates.
The call of duty never contradicts itself.
Paint cannot make a picture by its own power.
Charity seldom crawls out of a crowded purse.
It takes much misery to make some men seek mercy.
Obscurity furnishes a good pedestal for lasting fame.
Poverty makes a goodly frame for the picture of purity.
The waiting work furnishes us sufficient warrant to do it.
It doesn't take much gold-leaf to cover the pupil of the eye.
He cannot consecrate his gift who fears to have it consumed.
It is possible to smother the fire of zeal by too much fuel of effort.
Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things.
No amount of culture could make a cabbage grow out of an oak.
If you use a mirror to find your own faults you will forget to use a microscope for those of others. — Ram's Horn.
Comment: I think this one is pretty profound: "Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things." That's today's moment of Zen.
Pride spells peril.
Deeds are indelible.
Every effort educates.
The call of duty never contradicts itself.
Paint cannot make a picture by its own power.
Charity seldom crawls out of a crowded purse.
It takes much misery to make some men seek mercy.
Obscurity furnishes a good pedestal for lasting fame.
Poverty makes a goodly frame for the picture of purity.
The waiting work furnishes us sufficient warrant to do it.
It doesn't take much gold-leaf to cover the pupil of the eye.
He cannot consecrate his gift who fears to have it consumed.
It is possible to smother the fire of zeal by too much fuel of effort.
Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things.
No amount of culture could make a cabbage grow out of an oak.
If you use a mirror to find your own faults you will forget to use a microscope for those of others. — Ram's Horn.
Comment: I think this one is pretty profound: "Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things." That's today's moment of Zen.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sermonograms
1935
Adversity tries faith; prosperity tries fidelity.
The man who has a right to boast does not have to.
A beauty not explicable is dearer than the beauty which we can see the end of. — Emerson.
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. — Emerson.
It is much wiser to steer well than to honk your horn.
It takes brains to make money; it takes character to use it right.
Church membership is not an elevator into heaven.
If you hold your religion lightly, you are sure to let it slip.
God never reveals what man can discover.
A pessimist is a person who is seasick during the entire voyage of life.
When it comes to coddling imaginary wrongs, the average person is a faithful nurse.
Even if you are too deaf to hear the preacher, the Church is still a good place for listening to God. — Holmes.
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
The less of it they have, the more people seem obsessed with the inclination to speak their mind.
Action unaccompanied by thought is folly, but thought unaccompanied by action is vain.
Unless we can learn the supremacy of spiritual forces, the pall bearers that have carried out dead civilizations wait at our door. — Fosdick.
Don't throw mud; you might miss your mark, and you are sure to get your hands dirty.
Hard work is the yeast that raises the dough.
The duty of the many should not be the task of the few. Many a man saves everything but his soul.
Adversity tries faith; prosperity tries fidelity.
The man who has a right to boast does not have to.
A beauty not explicable is dearer than the beauty which we can see the end of. — Emerson.
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. — Emerson.
It is much wiser to steer well than to honk your horn.
It takes brains to make money; it takes character to use it right.
Church membership is not an elevator into heaven.
If you hold your religion lightly, you are sure to let it slip.
God never reveals what man can discover.
A pessimist is a person who is seasick during the entire voyage of life.
When it comes to coddling imaginary wrongs, the average person is a faithful nurse.
Even if you are too deaf to hear the preacher, the Church is still a good place for listening to God. — Holmes.
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
The less of it they have, the more people seem obsessed with the inclination to speak their mind.
Action unaccompanied by thought is folly, but thought unaccompanied by action is vain.
Unless we can learn the supremacy of spiritual forces, the pall bearers that have carried out dead civilizations wait at our door. — Fosdick.
Don't throw mud; you might miss your mark, and you are sure to get your hands dirty.
Hard work is the yeast that raises the dough.
The duty of the many should not be the task of the few. Many a man saves everything but his soul.
Seven Sentence Sermons
1935
Adversity is the first path to truth. — Byron.
* * *
It is the wit and policy of sin to hate those we have abused. — Davenant.
* * *
Riches that the world bestows,
She can take and I can lose:
But the treasures that are mine
Lie afar beyond her line.
—Isaac Watts.
* * *
When you put on your clothes, remember the labor of the weaver; when you eat your daily bread, think of the hardships of the husbandman. — Chinese Proverbs.
* * *
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. — Prov. 15:17.
* * *
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard;
Some do it with a bitter-look,
Some with a flattering word;
The coward does it with a kiss.
The brave man with a sword.
—Oscar Wilde.
* * *
The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow. — Johnson.
Adversity is the first path to truth. — Byron.
* * *
It is the wit and policy of sin to hate those we have abused. — Davenant.
* * *
Riches that the world bestows,
She can take and I can lose:
But the treasures that are mine
Lie afar beyond her line.
—Isaac Watts.
* * *
When you put on your clothes, remember the labor of the weaver; when you eat your daily bread, think of the hardships of the husbandman. — Chinese Proverbs.
* * *
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. — Prov. 15:17.
* * *
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard;
Some do it with a bitter-look,
Some with a flattering word;
The coward does it with a kiss.
The brave man with a sword.
—Oscar Wilde.
* * *
The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow. — Johnson.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Pastor Stands by Saloonkeepers
1905
Rev. George M. Bock, pastor of a Lutheran church in Mahony City, Pa., has resigned from the Ministerial Association of that city because of some features connected with its war on saloons. The association opposed the granting of a license to a man whose saloon is opposite Mr. Bock's church. The clergyman declares that the man is "a good neighbor" and that his place is "clean, decent, quiet and respectable." Therefore the preacher can not endorse the fight that is being made. He adds: "I have been pastor of the church for the past twelve years and have always endeavored to mind my own business."
True Sayings Indeed
If a man is a coward he always claims to be conservative.
The truth is always the strongest argument. — Sophocles.
Instead of doing things today the wise man did them yesterday.
The boy who ate twenty-nine bananas to win a $1 prize probably needed the money.
Rev. George M. Bock, pastor of a Lutheran church in Mahony City, Pa., has resigned from the Ministerial Association of that city because of some features connected with its war on saloons. The association opposed the granting of a license to a man whose saloon is opposite Mr. Bock's church. The clergyman declares that the man is "a good neighbor" and that his place is "clean, decent, quiet and respectable." Therefore the preacher can not endorse the fight that is being made. He adds: "I have been pastor of the church for the past twelve years and have always endeavored to mind my own business."
True Sayings Indeed
If a man is a coward he always claims to be conservative.
The truth is always the strongest argument. — Sophocles.
Instead of doing things today the wise man did them yesterday.
The boy who ate twenty-nine bananas to win a $1 prize probably needed the money.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Acknowledges Debt to the Bible
1905
Justice David J. Brewer of the United States Supreme Court for over half a century has been connected with Sunday schools as scholar or teacher. Ever since going to Washington twelve years ago he has had a class of adults. The justice says he frequently has been indebted to the Bible for sentences which have given emphasis to the thought and vigor to the argument of his legal opinions.
Besetting Sin of "Gentlemen"
All people above the condition of laborers are ruined by excess of stimulus and nourishment, clergy included. I never yet saw any gentleman who ate and drank as little as was reasonable. Looking back on my past life I find that all my miseries of body and mind have proceeded from indigestion. — Sydney Smith's Confession.
Welsh Tangles Pastor
In one of the southern Kansas towns the preacher at a funeral made a sad mess of it when he attempted to read an obituary of the dead woman. She was born in Ystradgyulas, Glamorganshire. Wales. — Kansas City Journal.
Justice David J. Brewer of the United States Supreme Court for over half a century has been connected with Sunday schools as scholar or teacher. Ever since going to Washington twelve years ago he has had a class of adults. The justice says he frequently has been indebted to the Bible for sentences which have given emphasis to the thought and vigor to the argument of his legal opinions.
Besetting Sin of "Gentlemen"
All people above the condition of laborers are ruined by excess of stimulus and nourishment, clergy included. I never yet saw any gentleman who ate and drank as little as was reasonable. Looking back on my past life I find that all my miseries of body and mind have proceeded from indigestion. — Sydney Smith's Confession.
Welsh Tangles Pastor
In one of the southern Kansas towns the preacher at a funeral made a sad mess of it when he attempted to read an obituary of the dead woman. She was born in Ystradgyulas, Glamorganshire. Wales. — Kansas City Journal.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Trumpet Calls — Sentence Sermons
1896Ram's Horn Sounds Warning Note to Unredeemed
Wine opens the damper to let all the fires of evil in a man burn.
God sends danger only where he has first sent courage.
To love an enemy is a sure way to please Christ.
A brewer's horse fares better than a drunkard's child.
Bridget starts her fire with coal oil. The devil uses alcohol.
The man who does not look ahead will soon have to fall back.
There is no sign that a man inflamed with drink may not commit.
Every moderate drinker is leading an army of boys toward the pit.
If we not hear God to-day, he may refuse to hear us to-morrow.
Appetite for drink is the devil's iron chain on the drunkard's neck.
The easiest time to let drink alone is before the first drink is taken.
It is when we are most helpless that Christ is most willing to help us.
The sparkle in the wine is made by one of the devil's sharpest teeth.
It is a long step toward heaven to be born in a home where Christ is loved.
One of the hardest things for some men to forgive is a difference in creed.
The man who serves the devil has to begin his day's work before breakfast.
Many a man puts his family in the dark to help the saloon pay its gas bill.
Many a man has started out to reform the world, and stopped at the first house.
The devil has gained his point when he convinces us that little sins work no ill.
The man who begins by drinking some time may end by having to drink all the time.
No man can grind down another without first placing his own soul under the millstone.
The Christian should never complain of his hard fortune while he knows that Christ is his friend.
If you would teach children to hate drink, give them the first lesson before they leave the cradle.
The man who has not decided that he will never drink, has more than half decided that he will drink.
When a man gets up early in the morning to drink, he is apt to spend the day in doing nothing else.
Our money is not doing us the good God would have it do us, if it is not doing anybody else any good.
If you are in the habit of going to sleep in church, you do not help the preacher any by occupying a front seat. — Ram's Horn.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Proverbs From The Danish
1901
A bad horse eats as much as a good one.
God help the sheep when the wolf is judge.
If God gives not bushelfuls, He gives spoonfuls.
Abstinence and fasting cure many a complaint.
He who despises small things seldom grows rich.
The poor man wants much, the miser everything.
Every man carries an enemy in his own bosom.
He has command of the sack who is seated on it.
A willing helper does not wait until he is asked.
He is not a bad driver who knows how to turn.
He that holds is no better than he that scourges.
There is no use in blowing a fire that burns well.
That which is stamped a penny will never be a pound.
Damage suffered makes you knowing, but seldom rich.
A wound never heals so well that the scar cannot be seen.
Another man's horse and your own whip can do a great deal.
What is sweet in the mouth is not always good in the stomach.
It is good to lend to God and to the soil — they pay good interest.
An Open Book
A little New Zealand girl recently wrote to ask Mark Twain if his real name was Clemens. She knew better, she said, because Clemens was the man who sold patent medicine. She hoped not, for she liked the name of Mark. Why, Mark Antony was in the Bible! Her letter delighted its recipient. "As Mark Antony has got into the Bible," Mr. Clemens characteristically remarked in telling about it, "I am not without hopes myself."
A bad horse eats as much as a good one.
God help the sheep when the wolf is judge.
If God gives not bushelfuls, He gives spoonfuls.
Abstinence and fasting cure many a complaint.
He who despises small things seldom grows rich.
The poor man wants much, the miser everything.
Every man carries an enemy in his own bosom.
He has command of the sack who is seated on it.
A willing helper does not wait until he is asked.
He is not a bad driver who knows how to turn.
He that holds is no better than he that scourges.
There is no use in blowing a fire that burns well.
That which is stamped a penny will never be a pound.
Damage suffered makes you knowing, but seldom rich.
A wound never heals so well that the scar cannot be seen.
Another man's horse and your own whip can do a great deal.
What is sweet in the mouth is not always good in the stomach.
It is good to lend to God and to the soil — they pay good interest.
An Open Book
A little New Zealand girl recently wrote to ask Mark Twain if his real name was Clemens. She knew better, she said, because Clemens was the man who sold patent medicine. She hoped not, for she liked the name of Mark. Why, Mark Antony was in the Bible! Her letter delighted its recipient. "As Mark Antony has got into the Bible," Mr. Clemens characteristically remarked in telling about it, "I am not without hopes myself."
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Sentence Sermons - "The Way of Life"
1900
Ram's Horn Wrinkles
Real religion remedies irreligion.
Doing is the proper end of doctrine.
The way of life is the way from death.
Deeds furnish the best answer to doubt.
Loose living and fast living are the same.
The truly spiritual man is always practical.
A feeble faith is better than a mighty feeling.
You may oppress truth, but you cannot suppress it.
The gospel is the heart of God seeking the heart of man.
God has not cast the world adrift; it has wandered away.
Men need a Bible conscience more than a Bible commentary.
Love, rather than legislation, rules in the kingdom of God.
It is always easier to forget bad habits than to forgo them.
No song, or sermon, or sacrament is acceptable without service.
The impartation of righteousness is better than its imputation.
It is the Christian and not the critic who comes to know Christ.
A lie feels easy only when it forgets that it has a truth on its track.
Crooked men cannot expect to agree with the straight truths of the Bible.
The damp fogs of doubt are found only where the sun of love does not shine. — Ram's Horn.
Ram's Horn Wrinkles
Real religion remedies irreligion.
Doing is the proper end of doctrine.
The way of life is the way from death.
Deeds furnish the best answer to doubt.
Loose living and fast living are the same.
The truly spiritual man is always practical.
A feeble faith is better than a mighty feeling.
You may oppress truth, but you cannot suppress it.
The gospel is the heart of God seeking the heart of man.
God has not cast the world adrift; it has wandered away.
Men need a Bible conscience more than a Bible commentary.
Love, rather than legislation, rules in the kingdom of God.
It is always easier to forget bad habits than to forgo them.
No song, or sermon, or sacrament is acceptable without service.
The impartation of righteousness is better than its imputation.
It is the Christian and not the critic who comes to know Christ.
A lie feels easy only when it forgets that it has a truth on its track.
Crooked men cannot expect to agree with the straight truths of the Bible.
The damp fogs of doubt are found only where the sun of love does not shine. — Ram's Horn.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Book of Proverbs
1909
Stored-Up Wisdom for the Wise
Proverbs are the small coins of truth's currency. They are in a form to be possessed and used by the common people. They are useful for the dally needs of life, and much comfort and strength and safety may be purchased by them. The authorship of a wise saying matters little; even as it is of no importance to know the names of the workmen who minted a coin. Because human nature is essentially the same throughout all the ages and in all lands the proverbs which embody a philosophy of conduct are everywhere and always valuable.
The stored-up wisdom of the wise is only useful to him who has the wisdom to make right use of it. It is easier to make a proverb than to cultivate a virtue. The Book of Proverbs is not a mystical, nor yet a distinctively spiritual production. It is rather a compendium of the crystallized experience of shrewd men who lived in a world of material realities. The proverbs treat of things as they are. They are worldly wisdom. Whitelaw Reid once called them the best guides to a successful career that any young man could study. A wise saying is a fingerboard on life's highroad — but of no use to the traveler who will not, or cannot, read it.
The hard-headedness of the Book of Proverbs is its most striking quality. It treats of the common themes. Life as alert men know it is mirrored in these pages. The people we all meet walk through the book. Here is the flatterer, the guileful, politic man of the world, with honeyed words meant only to facilitate his own ends; here are the sluggard and the fool; the usurer and the boaster; the scarlet woman and the drunkard; the courtier and the slanderer; the jealous person and the envious; the faithful friend who is closer than a brother, and the righteous man who is as bold as a lion. A veritable portrait gallery of human life is the Book of Proverbs, and whoso studies it well may find his own image and the labeled likeness of all classes of persons with whom he is likely to meet.
Life's greatest lessons have to be learned in the school of experience; but some books, of which Proverbs is one, afford useful preparatory studies and sharpen one's understanding.
Stored-Up Wisdom for the Wise
Proverbs are the small coins of truth's currency. They are in a form to be possessed and used by the common people. They are useful for the dally needs of life, and much comfort and strength and safety may be purchased by them. The authorship of a wise saying matters little; even as it is of no importance to know the names of the workmen who minted a coin. Because human nature is essentially the same throughout all the ages and in all lands the proverbs which embody a philosophy of conduct are everywhere and always valuable.
The stored-up wisdom of the wise is only useful to him who has the wisdom to make right use of it. It is easier to make a proverb than to cultivate a virtue. The Book of Proverbs is not a mystical, nor yet a distinctively spiritual production. It is rather a compendium of the crystallized experience of shrewd men who lived in a world of material realities. The proverbs treat of things as they are. They are worldly wisdom. Whitelaw Reid once called them the best guides to a successful career that any young man could study. A wise saying is a fingerboard on life's highroad — but of no use to the traveler who will not, or cannot, read it.
The hard-headedness of the Book of Proverbs is its most striking quality. It treats of the common themes. Life as alert men know it is mirrored in these pages. The people we all meet walk through the book. Here is the flatterer, the guileful, politic man of the world, with honeyed words meant only to facilitate his own ends; here are the sluggard and the fool; the usurer and the boaster; the scarlet woman and the drunkard; the courtier and the slanderer; the jealous person and the envious; the faithful friend who is closer than a brother, and the righteous man who is as bold as a lion. A veritable portrait gallery of human life is the Book of Proverbs, and whoso studies it well may find his own image and the labeled likeness of all classes of persons with whom he is likely to meet.
Life's greatest lessons have to be learned in the school of experience; but some books, of which Proverbs is one, afford useful preparatory studies and sharpen one's understanding.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Pastor Talks on Family Life
California, 1922
Need of God in the family life was emphasized in a sermon by Rev. Arthur E. Paterson, pastor of Pilgrim Congregational church, yesterday morning. The more family life is cherished and built around the abiding presence of God, the more it will minister to the development of the individual and the betterment of the community, according to Rev. Paterson.
"The tactful guidance of a wise father and a discerning mother goes far in forming the habit of making right choices in life," Rev. Paterson said. "Where possible home instruction of the child is excellent for both parent and child. Throughout the many years of school and college the interest and co-operation of parents in studies and hobbies mean a great deal.
"The family life should be a help to the social enjoyments of life rather than a hindrance. Fortunate is the young person when newly-made friends can be brought into the home circle and welcomed there.
"The modern family does not live unto itself. It can make its influence felt throughout the community. Only as the family life of our country becomes less self-centered and more God-filled can our loved America play her destined part in the world life of the great family of God's children."
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, Aug. 21, 1922, p. 8.
Need of God in the family life was emphasized in a sermon by Rev. Arthur E. Paterson, pastor of Pilgrim Congregational church, yesterday morning. The more family life is cherished and built around the abiding presence of God, the more it will minister to the development of the individual and the betterment of the community, according to Rev. Paterson.
"The tactful guidance of a wise father and a discerning mother goes far in forming the habit of making right choices in life," Rev. Paterson said. "Where possible home instruction of the child is excellent for both parent and child. Throughout the many years of school and college the interest and co-operation of parents in studies and hobbies mean a great deal.
"The family life should be a help to the social enjoyments of life rather than a hindrance. Fortunate is the young person when newly-made friends can be brought into the home circle and welcomed there.
"The modern family does not live unto itself. It can make its influence felt throughout the community. Only as the family life of our country becomes less self-centered and more God-filled can our loved America play her destined part in the world life of the great family of God's children."
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, Aug. 21, 1922, p. 8.
Wise Words — "The Wise Man Can Learn"
1896
A little religion is hard to keep.
When love works, it always does its best.
Sin always feels the safest in the dark.
Humility dies the moment it looks in the glass.
The man who hates light, will run from a shadow.
A city's righteous men are a better safeguard than its police.
Don't be a saint in church and a heathen on the street car.
The wise man can learn something from the mistakes of a fool.
In nine cases out of ten the man who has riches paid too much for them.
Give a lie one day the start, and truth will have to chase it around the world.
If there is any dog in a man, it is sure to growl when his food is not to his taste.
Many a man whose prayers are too long, sells goods by a measure that is too short.
If the sun never went down, there are some crimes that would not be committed.
Many a man will fight for his creed, who never has a word of encouragement for his wife. — Ram's Horn.
A little religion is hard to keep.
When love works, it always does its best.
Sin always feels the safest in the dark.
Humility dies the moment it looks in the glass.
The man who hates light, will run from a shadow.
A city's righteous men are a better safeguard than its police.
Don't be a saint in church and a heathen on the street car.
The wise man can learn something from the mistakes of a fool.
In nine cases out of ten the man who has riches paid too much for them.
Give a lie one day the start, and truth will have to chase it around the world.
If there is any dog in a man, it is sure to growl when his food is not to his taste.
Many a man whose prayers are too long, sells goods by a measure that is too short.
If the sun never went down, there are some crimes that would not be committed.
Many a man will fight for his creed, who never has a word of encouragement for his wife. — Ram's Horn.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Divine Help Promised for Temptation
1903
Temptation to evil is a matter in which our personal moral fiber is involved, just as in a trial through suffering our powers of endurance are tested. What is your attitude toward evil? Is it one of apology and condonement? How perilous! Is it one easy familiarity? God pity your weakness! We have a duty to ourselves. Luther used to say: "We cannot keep the birds from flying around our heads, but we can prevent them from building their nests in our hair." We may not be able to keep temptation away, but we need not let it in the house. We should not expect God to lock the door and keep His hand upon it. We are the doorkeeper of our own souls.
Naturalists tell us that the scorpion will never use his sting, of which he is exceedingly careful, unless he can find a spot on the body of his desired victim sufficiently soft to admit its insertion without fear of injury. Temptation never assails the soul except at vulnerable points. Our own lusts determine the spots which the enemy strikes.
But fortunately the whole burden of resisting temptation to evil does not rest with us. Divine help is promised. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God." Wisdom is called by a sound writer "the art of Christian conduct." That art can be acquired of Christ Himself. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He can and will impart the power of successful resistance. Moreover, there is specific promise in the premises. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to men, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will also with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." For him that endures there is the blessed crown of life. – Rev. George P. Eckman, pastor of St. Paul's M.E. Church, New York City.
Temptation to evil is a matter in which our personal moral fiber is involved, just as in a trial through suffering our powers of endurance are tested. What is your attitude toward evil? Is it one of apology and condonement? How perilous! Is it one easy familiarity? God pity your weakness! We have a duty to ourselves. Luther used to say: "We cannot keep the birds from flying around our heads, but we can prevent them from building their nests in our hair." We may not be able to keep temptation away, but we need not let it in the house. We should not expect God to lock the door and keep His hand upon it. We are the doorkeeper of our own souls.
Naturalists tell us that the scorpion will never use his sting, of which he is exceedingly careful, unless he can find a spot on the body of his desired victim sufficiently soft to admit its insertion without fear of injury. Temptation never assails the soul except at vulnerable points. Our own lusts determine the spots which the enemy strikes.
But fortunately the whole burden of resisting temptation to evil does not rest with us. Divine help is promised. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God." Wisdom is called by a sound writer "the art of Christian conduct." That art can be acquired of Christ Himself. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He can and will impart the power of successful resistance. Moreover, there is specific promise in the premises. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to men, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will also with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." For him that endures there is the blessed crown of life. – Rev. George P. Eckman, pastor of St. Paul's M.E. Church, New York City.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Words of Wisdom — "A Beggar at God's Door"
1906
Art thou a beggar at God's door, be sure thou gettest a great bowl, for as thy bowl is so will be thy mess. According to thy faith, saith He, be it unto thee. — John Bunyan.
Kind looks, kind words, kind acts and warm handshakes — these are secondary means of grace when men are in trouble and are fighting their unseen battles. — John Hall.
I have looked up every Scripture where anything like meditation is mentioned, and I find that we are never once told to meditate upon sin. — W. H. Griffith Thomas.
Who is meant by our neighbors we cannot doubt; it is every one with whom we are thrown into contact, he or she, whosoever it be, whom we have the means of helping. — Dean Stanley.
You can help your fellow men; you must help them, but the only way you can help them is by being the noblest and the best man that it is possible for you to be. — Phillips Brooks.
Who could believe that from that unpromising bulb would spring the gorgeous flower enveloped in its sheltering leaves? Yet such shall be our body then compared with our body now. — E. H. Bickersteth.
The cure for heartache is to be found in occupations which take us away from our petty self regardings or self pityings, our morbid broodings, and which connect our life with other lives and with other affairs; or merge our individual interest in the larger whole. — Charles G. Ames.
If there be a pleasure on earth which angels cannot enjoy, and which they might almost envy man the possession of, it is the power of relieving distress. If there be a pain which devils might pity man for enduring, it is the death bed reflection that we have possessed the power of doing good, but that we have abused and perverted it to purposes of evil — Lacon.
By giving to the repetition of an act of duty a fixed regularity, I can multiply my moral power in that direction as much as a man multiplies his material power when he gets hold of a lever. By faithful habit I can make that which was at first laborious come to be after a while less difficult, then easy, and perhaps at last spontaneous and delightful. — G. S. Merriam.
Art thou a beggar at God's door, be sure thou gettest a great bowl, for as thy bowl is so will be thy mess. According to thy faith, saith He, be it unto thee. — John Bunyan.
Kind looks, kind words, kind acts and warm handshakes — these are secondary means of grace when men are in trouble and are fighting their unseen battles. — John Hall.
I have looked up every Scripture where anything like meditation is mentioned, and I find that we are never once told to meditate upon sin. — W. H. Griffith Thomas.
Who is meant by our neighbors we cannot doubt; it is every one with whom we are thrown into contact, he or she, whosoever it be, whom we have the means of helping. — Dean Stanley.
You can help your fellow men; you must help them, but the only way you can help them is by being the noblest and the best man that it is possible for you to be. — Phillips Brooks.
Who could believe that from that unpromising bulb would spring the gorgeous flower enveloped in its sheltering leaves? Yet such shall be our body then compared with our body now. — E. H. Bickersteth.
The cure for heartache is to be found in occupations which take us away from our petty self regardings or self pityings, our morbid broodings, and which connect our life with other lives and with other affairs; or merge our individual interest in the larger whole. — Charles G. Ames.
If there be a pleasure on earth which angels cannot enjoy, and which they might almost envy man the possession of, it is the power of relieving distress. If there be a pain which devils might pity man for enduring, it is the death bed reflection that we have possessed the power of doing good, but that we have abused and perverted it to purposes of evil — Lacon.
By giving to the repetition of an act of duty a fixed regularity, I can multiply my moral power in that direction as much as a man multiplies his material power when he gets hold of a lever. By faithful habit I can make that which was at first laborious come to be after a while less difficult, then easy, and perhaps at last spontaneous and delightful. — G. S. Merriam.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Hindoo Proverbs — Truth, Contentment, Patience, Mercy
1907
Happiness consists in the absence of anxiety.
Truth, contentment, patience and mercy belong to great minds.
Little things should not be despised. Many straws united will bind an elephant.
It can never be safe to unite with an enemy. Water, though heated, will soon extinguish fire.
He who removes another from danger and he who removes terror from the mind are the greatest of friends.
Courage is tried in war, integrity in the payment of debt and interest, the faithfulness of a wife in poverty and friendship in distress.
Every one looking downward becomes impressed with the idea of his own greatness, but looking upward feels his own littleness.
He who in your presence speaks kindly, but in your absence seeks to injure, must be rejected like a bowl of poison covered with milk.
Happiness consists in the absence of anxiety.
Truth, contentment, patience and mercy belong to great minds.
Little things should not be despised. Many straws united will bind an elephant.
It can never be safe to unite with an enemy. Water, though heated, will soon extinguish fire.
He who removes another from danger and he who removes terror from the mind are the greatest of friends.
Courage is tried in war, integrity in the payment of debt and interest, the faithfulness of a wife in poverty and friendship in distress.
Every one looking downward becomes impressed with the idea of his own greatness, but looking upward feels his own littleness.
He who in your presence speaks kindly, but in your absence seeks to injure, must be rejected like a bowl of poison covered with milk.
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