In
these days of competitive sensationalism in the newspaper field, it sometimes seems as if all consideration for the home life of the people has been lost sight of in the efforts made by the newspapers to outdo each other in reporting the scandalous and salacious details of some case which happens to be on trial or in the exploitation of some crime that has been committed.
Every
man knows, and most men would concede, not only that falsity is valueless, but that it is a deception and a snare which when clung to leads inevitably to moral degradation and disaster.
In
the prophecy of Isaiah we read: "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.
When
Jesus said, in his sermon on the mount, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," he placed a high standard before his followers, a standard seemingly impossible of attainment, from the human view-point, and yet one entirely in keeping with the Master's teaching and with his own demonstration of spiritual understanding and power.
TOWARD
the close of Jesus' earthly ministry he gave some of his most vital and far-reaching instructions to all who desired to listen, whether friends or foes, and it would seem that many of these discourses were given within the precincts of the temple, where also he healed the lame and the blind.
THERE
can be no safe and stable superstructure without an adequate substructure, as all will concede, and that this is no less true of a life than of a building, all will do well to remember; also this, that while the foundation of a house may be quite unlike the material of the house itself, in character building the fundamental concept on which we build is revealed in every part of the structure, from sill to comb.
Gratitude
for the things that conduce to comfort and wholesome living,—this is well, but every broadening man has begun to realize that the nobler, more significant thanksgiving compasses the lives which have made for humanity's freedom and progress, the lives which were consecrated to and became the channels of that liberty and love without which there can be no wealth or happiness.
It
is well worth while to ask ourselves occasionally whether our understanding of divine law is broadening and deepening, whether we are applying it more widely to the varying problems of human experience and thus realizing more fully its protecting power.
A short
time ago a critic of Christian Science in a public address before a body of ministerial brethren called this teaching an "offshoot of religion.
In
the fifty-first Psalm we read, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation," a prayer which finds a wonderful response in the Master's words, "I say unto you.