Newspapers / The Asheville Democrat (Asheville, … / Dec. 18, 1890, edition 1 / Page 2
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Man's Part in Evolution. SHAPING LIFE TO FINER ISSUES Bermon preached by Rev. Mary A. Suifor(J at Unity Church, Sioux City, Iowa. I CORLNTHIAXS iii:9. Por we are laborers together with God 1 Paul was not a man of smooth words or half way measures. Impulsive, ardent and intense, he had the defects as well as the virtues of all such natures. But the world can afford to overlook many defects, if need there be, in those who bring to it a lofty purpose, the courage to dare, the will to do. And there was that which may well kindle ad miration in the life of this apos tle, who was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but set himself with resolution to do the work that lay before him, the grand work of convert ing Jew and Gentile to a purer faith in God and man and duty. This work that was given to Paul nearly 2,000 years ago is the same work that is given to us to do to day. Conditions and circumstances have greatly changed, but now as then men need to be lifted out of igno rance and sin, into that higher life of the soul where beauty walks hand in hand with duty. And nothing can be more in spiring as we go forth to labor for the right than to feel, as Paul; felt, that we are, co-workers with God ; that we may join hands with that ," infinite eter nal energy from which all things proceed," in the noble work of shaping life to finer is sues. There is strength and cheer in the thought, that while the evolution of our race is reg ulated by a system of far-reaching laws of development, we have the power to aid the action of these laws by our individual efforts ; that the humblest man or woman, boy or girl, who strives to know :he truth and do the right, really helps God in the grand creative work which will find its consummation in a purified and perfected human ity. It means -a great deal if we can really feel and say with Emerson, ,On bravely, through the sunshine and the showers, ' Time hath its work to do and we" have ours, for without the strong convic tion that God needs us and that -nnr la.hnr will snrplv pnnnt frr good, we soon lose, heart" and hope. I know of nothing more disastrous in its effects upon so ciety, nothing that does more to - ; 1 ., 1 V j 1 ' paraiyze numan enori ana pro mote life-destroying indiffer ence, laziness j wickedness, than the feeling, so many men and women cherish, that the world moves on just the same, no mat ter what the do. Scieilce has given to the world the grand conception of the uni versality of law ; but good gifts are often turned to an unworthy use. Many there are who shirk responsibility', who refuse to do their part in life, upon the ground that they are wholly the jica,tiuii jl tiieii environment, that all resnHs.are determined by unvarying, laws, hence it .matters not whether" they work or pi ayv because in no way can they help or hinder the action of these laws. They affirm that what is to he will be, hence it is utterly useless to attempt to -change present conditions. With the Persian poet, Omar Khay yam,, they view men- as the slaves of circumstance, the helpless creatures of an all pow Impotent pieces of the s-ame he plaj-s Upon this cheekor-board of nights and days: Hither and thither moves, and cheeks, and slays. And one by one back in the closet lays. This fatalistic doctrine does not conduce to earnest work to ward making this world a bet ter place in which to live, hence there is need that men should see it is not true. Over against the fact that God works by un varying law, we need to place the other fact that he has given us the power to be laborers to gether with -him. God regulates the growth of a plant by a won drous network of laws, yet has given us the power so to adjust the action of these laws that we can either kill the plant or help it to a strong and beautiful flowering and. fruitage. You know that while you cannot, in any way, create a single seed, that while you cannot set aside the action of one law of growth, you can so prepare the soil in which you plant your seed, you caa so avail yourself of known laws, that your corn and oats will grow, when without work there would be nothing but wee Is. Our common daily work con sists in thus applying known laws to produce desired effects. We have learned that friction causes heat, and' we strike a match and light the morning fire by the help of this known law. We have learned that it is a law of gases to diffuse themselves through space, and to prevent the smoke of our fires from filling our rooms we build chimnevs and invoke the aid of other laws to bear this smoke away. In short, while we can not create or destroy a single particle of matter, or set aside a single law, we can so combine these particles, we can so adjust one to another of these varied laws, that we freely cause harm ful or helpful results. The savage is the slave of the mighty forces all about him, but as he advances in the path of progress he masters these forces and converts them into helpers. Thev in their turn become his slaves, and as step by step 'he moves onward to higher and yet higher conditions of being, his progress is marked by an ever increasing mastery of nature's mighty forces. As man thus works with God in the material world, causing the corn to grow and the flow ers to bloom that the earth may be glad, making the winds his messengers and the lightning his nimble Mercury, so may he work with God in the finer world of spiritual realities where thought and love, or desire and hate, are the forces that bear sway. He may plant the seeds of truth and love in the souls of little children that in after years will bloom in fairer flowers than any which his garden yields. He may give the world a noble thought that, striking root, will live and grow and be a blessing to the race when centuries have come and gone. He may do some worthy deed whose influ ence, widening as the years go by, will- not be spent when the lapsing waves of time .are blended with the ocean of eter nity. He does have the power to help or hinder the growth of humanity in all things pure and beautiful. Gladly, thankfully do- we 'ac cept the teachings of evolution. We rejoice in the thought 0f never-ending progress, but we deplore that false interpretation of this noble theory, which makes of man a mer creature of circumstances, blown about bv the winds of time, utter! v powerless to, determine his course in the slightest degree. We would that all miorht realize that while we had nothing to do with bur evolving as conscious hunian beings, once evolved, once given the power to think and to act, we have very much to do with the future evolution of ourselves and others.. We are not responsible for those tendencies to evil which we have inherited from the past, but we are responsible if we do not exert ourselves to conquer them by wise and careful train ing. Circumstances do much to shape our lives, and knowing this to be true we may do much so to shape circumstances thai their influence upon us will be helpful rather than harmful. While our environment is mak ing u we may ver be making oiii environment. The one great truth that we should always bear in mind as we think of the mighty forces that are ever giving birth to life is this, Inter-stance as well as circum-stance has creative power. What we are does nor depend on outward forces only, but is the joint product of these external forces and the power that is within. Our characters j are not the product of circum stances over which we have no Control, for our thought, our feeling, bur will,' act with these circumstances and upon them, to make us noble or unworthy. Not only is it true, as Luther said, that "God needs , strong men to help him," it is also true that without such help God's work is leftundone, because he works through human hearts and brains and hands. He shares with us creative power that we may use in helping to ac complish his wondrous pur poses. No matter how hard our lives may be, no matter how small our power to help may seem, thre is something we can do; an I no one else can do your work or mine.' Wrell an swered the old violin maker, Antonio Stradivarius, when told that he was foolish to be so painstaking in the making of his instruments, and that anoth er man could make violins as good as his: ... May be; they are different. But were his best. He could not work for two. My work is mine. And heresy or not, if my hand slacked 1 should rob God since he is fullest good, Leaving a blank instead of violins. I say, not God himself can make man's best Without best men help him. . .... 'Tis God gives skill, But not without men's hands; he couldnt make Antonio Stradivari's violins without Antonio. Like Antonio, we are called also to do our best. As the pure white lily unfolds its petals to the sunlight and rests upon the bosom of the stream in beauty, because from out the slime and ooze below it draws- only life giving elements, so may, we de velop strong, pure souls most beautiful to the all-seeing eye of God, if from out the soil in which our lives are rooted we extract those things which build up noble character, if we so use the materials for growth as to really work with God. And are we not ungrateful for our rich inheritance of thought and feeling, our power to dare and to do, if we are not striving to make still richer the lives that will follow ours in the pathway of the years ? We are heirs of all the ages. Into the texture of our lives is wrought the power that it has taken the long and painful struggle of many centuries to create, We; build on the foun dations that others have laid, of times in pain and tears. And as all life that has preceded ours, from the highest to the very lowest forms of being, af fects our lives to-day, so will our thought and action tell for good or evil on the lives of men and women in the years that are to come. Hence common grati tude for that which we inherit through the toil of others would inspire us to join our hands with those mighty forces of truth and love that are ever working to uplift the race. Sublimely beautiful is the story tha-t science tell about the making of this world, and those other worlds on high that beam so kindly on us through the si lent watches of the night and radiate the splendor of the day. Out of formless matter were shaped the shining spheres that gives us light. From a vast fiery nebula was condensed the glowing sun that in its ceaseless whirl threw off other worlds into surrounding space though holding them within their : rbits by its mighty forces, in its turn became a great creative pow r that clothes our earth with life and beauty. Held and guided by unvarying laws it ever radi ates the light and heat which are life-giving, life-sustaining. As if grateful for its own exist ence it pours a constant flood of light and warmth upon us. aid ing its maker in that creative work which is finished yet re newed forever. ; What the sun does, though all unconscious of its power, we may do as conscious thinking human beings, who have the power rightly to choose and wisely to use the gifts of God. In the shaping of a sol ar system which was but a step in that grand creative work which has ever tended to the absolute per fection of the human soul, well may we feel that if we are worth the toil and straggle of the cen turies that lav behind us, it is because we have such wondrous power to enrich the future by our faithful, loving work with God for man. Let this thought inspire worthy deeds. Instead of savin that we are bound bv circumstances, let us prove that we have that within ourselves that can convert all that life brings to us into material for growth. Asa church, as individual men and women, let us" ask: What can we do to help? and be as sured that if we really desire to help, it will not be hard to find a way. It instead-of acting upon let-things-go-as-they -please the ory we could only realize. that we are in part responsible for every wrong we might have presented, that we much ac count for oar failure to" do the good we might do, we would interest ourselves more keenly in life's best work instead of drifting idly on its strong cur rent, aimless, purposeless men and women. And if you crave rest, if lives burdens press heavily upon you, if the world seems out of tune and your lot a dreary one, re member that Rest is not quitting- The busy career, Rest is the fitting v Of seif to one's sphere 'Tis loviDtr and serving The highest and best, "Tis onward unswerving; This is true rest. Not the real work of life but its constant jar is that which tires men, and when we join hands with God to labor for high and holy ends, striving to adjust our lives to his unfolding plan, the discord grows less and less, the harmony more and more. , As in the physical world man has matched his intellect against nature's mighty forces to mas ter them, so in the realm of spir itual realities the might of love and thought must be brought to bear upon the powers of evil to conquer them. Its triumph is certain, its reward is sweet. Yet we shall not be inspired to perform it, we shall not have the courage, zeal and patience it demands, unless we realize individual power to act; our in dividual responsibility. But if we feel that we can choose the good and follow it, thai; we are not the slaves of circumstances, but co-laborers with God; if we look upon this life as the begin ning of a larger life beyond the grave and realize that every no ble action tells for time and for eternity, then 'there will come to us such courage, hope and joy that nothing will cause us to despair. Despite all opposition and our many failures in life we shall go forward bravely, doing our part in life, though none may sing our praises, though but few may know that we have even lived. Not long ago I held in my hand a piece of coal con taining the perfect imprint of a fern that lived and died thous ands of years ago. No human eye beheld its beauty, no human voice told of its grace, for when this fern was living man had not yet appeared upon the earth. Yet unseen, unsung, the little fern unfolded its feathery green ness in the sunlight, and lived and was beautif ul, doing the work for which it was designed, though a'l unconscious that, dvin. it would leave a record tnax some time wouia be read. It simply did its part in life, and at last the record so long hidden was brought to light. Thus may we imprint upon the tablets of time the record of strong, beautiful lives that God's eye ever sees; that some day will-be manifest. ii'j " .11.1 Bucklan-s Ai-nica Salve. Tim best salve ia i.k' voritl for cius bruise, sores, ulcers, h!i rheum, fever sores, tetter, chapped hauu, . com, chil blains, and all skin eruptions, and posi tively cares piles; or no nay required. It is guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction or inoney refunded. Price 25 cents per box. !For sale by T. C. Smith & Co. DEMANDS That only honest and reliable medicines should be placed upon the market. It can not, therefore, be stated too emphatically, nor repeated too often, that all who are in need of a genuine Blood -purifier should be sure and ask for, Ayer's Sarsaparilla. Tour life, or that of some one near and dear to you, may depend on the use of this well-approved remedy in prefer ence to any other preparation of similar name. It is compounded of Honduras sar saparilla (the variety most rich in curative properties), stillingia, mandrake, yellow ! dock, and the iodides. The process of man- i . r.. : , : : 1 ni.:ir..i t i oiduiuic is un&niai, 11.111 ui, scrupulously clean, and such as to secure the very best medicinal qualities of each ingredient. Thi3 medicine is not boiled nor heated, and is, therefore, not a decoction; but it is a com pound extract, obtained by a method ex clusively our own. of the beet and most known to pharmacy. For the last forty years, Ayer's arsapanua m has been the standard blood-purifier of the world no other approaching it in popular confidence or universal demand. Its form ula is approved by the leading physicians and druggists. Being pure and highly con centrated, it is the most economical of any . possible blood medicine. Every purchaser of Sarsaparilla should insist upon having this preparaiion and see that each bottle bears the well-known name of J. C. Ayer & Co., Xowell, Siass. In every quarter of the globe Ayer's Sar saparilla is proved to be the best remedy for all diseases of the blood. Io-vrell druggists unite in testifying to the superior excellence of this medicine and to its great popularity in the city of its manufacture. Ayer's Sarsaparilla f PREPARED ET DR. J. C. AYER & CO., Lowell, Mass. Sold by Druggists, gl, six 5. Worth 5 a bottla. ftrs f it li mil MM:-:-: & :-: FEAlHERS'fONE, Public Square ASHEYiLLE, N. C, Invite the attention of the trade to their Large Stock of , a mi WSilS ASBp?; ; p. Which is offered WHOLESALE :-: OR ;-: RETAIL. Our Stock of Tobacco, Cigars and Cigarettes is complete. THE .-. B E S T Ales and Beers Always on Hand. Give us a call when you want something Strictly First-Class. Decuvaa ly. PUBLIC SAFETY THE ASHEYILLE ROBT. M, FURMAN ANDgDAVIDlM.VANc' THELPAPEE TOR THEIsPEOPLE be spared to make it entirely acceptable becausle of tts usefulness: 6 ' - i name and the life-time creed of its editors imply. will have constant consideration. The department for the Home Circle will be complete for advertisers. Rates win be reasonable. Send in your names- with the cash at once. Address, . 1111 m i fiTv A Large 8-page Weekly Paper, BY ASHEVILLE'N. -C. V' It will be; a large, 8-page, weekly paper, devoted to theBocial, Industri&l and Political interests of Western North Carolina.iIt will be the earner endeavor of the editors to make THE DEMOCRAT useful to the great &nd varied interests of this rapidly growing city and section. No efforts xl D EMO G RATI CHIN POLITICS It will be Democratic in politics emphatically and f reliably so as !i THE INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS OF THISSECTION. Agricultural, Mechanical and Mining, will receeiveTspecial attention. The resources of every county, the various enterprises of all the people As THE DEMOCRAT is already assured a large circulation in tht JtJ of Aeheville and all the Western Counties, it will be an excellent meUi'uE THE ASHEVULE DEMOCRAT, FURMAN & VANCE, Ed ITORS, Asheville, N. O. We will thank any one fox any n iAin i
The Asheville Democrat (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 18, 1890, edition 1
2
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