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Show BACCALAUREATE SERMON BY REV. J. W. HYSLOP BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF '24 SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 1, 1924 H Baccalaureate sermon by the Rev. John W. Hyslop to the Ogden high school graduates at Orpheum theatre Sunday, May 25, 1924: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just; whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."- Philipians 4:8. H The instinct to build is inherent Hun human nature. Men long to perpetuate thjr name and their fame by erecting I Hlsome enduring monument that will last when they are gone. Turn to whatever country we; will, and we find the evidences of j this, mute monuments of men'! pointing us to generations of men i Mlong since passed away. The pyra- H mids of Egypt, the parthenon of B Greece, the coliseum of Rome, the H Alhambra of Spain, and even in our own land, the Bunker Hill and Washington monuments; each and H all telling of a race of men who lived and died in the ages past, B' and who hoped to live in the ages yet to come, by the monuments ffi which they erected, or were erect- H ed to their memory. B After all, however those who en- R deavor to hand down their fame or their name to future generations B by means of bronze or marble shaft, fail in their purpose, for all B material objects are unstable and B transient. If therefor we would build an B eternal; monument, more enduring gil than'brick or stone, we must seize upon some* spiritual principle, for B spirit alone is immortal. . There is B but one monument that will stand B forever, and that is the monument B of spotless character. B It alone is imperishable, neither B the mutations of time, nor the Bchanges of nature can mar, defile, B nor destroy it. In this life, as B Young says in his "Night B Thoughts", "Each man makes his own statue, builds himself. Virtue H alone outbuilds the pyramids. Her H monuments shall last when Egypt's M fall." CONSIDER GLADSTONE. Consider the life and character si of him whom England laid to rest Ha few years ago, among the good S and great in Westminster abbey. B The life work of a great and good « man, such as William Ewart Gladstone must ever remain a living S testimony to the power of the life If and love of God in the soul of H man. Likewise oUr own late President Woodrow Wilson. It needs II not the pomp of any earthly page- B ant to do them honor. They li will have enduring .memorials in H the hearts of those who -have felt the inspiration of their example, 1 and whose lives have been bright- I ened and enriched hv th* works which they have done. The whole I world has been made better and 8 richer because they have lived in I it. And the secret of it all, was the I beauty and nobility of their char- 1 aoter. I It behooves us therefore to in- I quire very closely ana carefully in- I to the nature, growth and develop- ment of that which we call char- I Character is what a person is. I Not just what we seem to be, but Ik what we really are is character. B It is the disrobed self as it ap- B?ears in the sight of God its Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. "A Brian's collective dispositions con-Jtitute his character." It is theBum total at any given time of 111 the activities of the human Into its constitution enters ev-"ything that a person thinks,wery act that he performs, everyfcpiration that he entertains. Example: "My character today, is forAe most part, simply the result-t of all the thoughts I ever had,Aall the feelings I ever cherish- and all the deeds I ever per-gned. It is the entirety of all my previous years packed and crystallized into the present moment. Character is the quintessence of biography. So that anyone who really knows my character (and there is no keeping character absolutely under cover) knows what for fifty years or more I have been thinking and doing. FOUNDATION IN SPIRIT. Character has its foundation in spirit, not in matter. It is not palpable to the senses, although character does sometimes hang out the signals of virtue or vice, upon face and figure, yet in no sense can it be properly and adequately judged by the outward and visible manifestations of the human body. The exterior of a house gives no ; sign of what is transpiring with- i in, from any outside indication, it ! may as well be a morgue or a counterfeiter's den, as a happy home, alive with mirth and gladness. And so it is with the visible movements of the human, they give scarcely any true intimation of the subterranean motives of the soul. A genteel quiet man walking down the streets of the city, may be bent upon a benevolent or a malevolent mission; he may be carrying money to relieve the necessity of the poor, or he may have in his pocket a bribe for a ward politician. He may be making his way to the bedside of a dying friend to pray with him, or he may be bent upon the murder of a foe. Character grows and develops from within in utter silence. All growth is silent, never is heard the sound of "hammer or axe" in its building, like Solomon's Temple of old. In this particular it is like the most powerful forces in nature, the energies of cold and heat, attraction and gravitation, noiselessly perform their mig-hty tasks. So with the qualities of hate and love, self-indulgence and self-sacrifice. Hate enters a life that has hitherto blossomed with joy and gladness, and wherever it treads the' grass withers, and the streams run dry, and whatever is touched by its poisonous breath shrivels up and dies. CHARACTER BUILT SLOWLY. While love steals with unsandaled foot into a cold and sullen heart, and warms it into a summer land of song, sunshine and flowers. Professor Henry Drummond says: "Character is a thing built up by Slow degrees, that is hourly changing for better or for worse,! according to the images which flit Across it." Hence the necessity if we would grow and develop into beautiful and strong characters, of having constantly before us for meditation and reflection, the noblest thoughts and aspirations of the human mind. "As a man thinketh in his heart so • is he." Therefore, "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just; purs, lovely and -wf good: report, whatsoever is virtuous and praiseworthy, think on these things." Think on them, meditate on them by day and by night, for as the prophet says: "Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upen line, here a little and there a little." (Isaiah 23:10-13). This is the law of all true growth in wisdom and knowledge, as well as in virtue and grace. In the next place character proceeds in its development without haste. "Nothing that is to be of permanent value matures in a night. Booths may be built, gourds may grow, mushrooms may flourish to their fulness in a single night; but homes, oak trees, the blossoms of the aloe, these are slow in coming to their completion." The rarest plants are always the 1 slowest to bud and blossom, the sturdiest and most majestic tree is the one that has striven longest with wind and sleet and rain. And it is so with character. Time and leisure are essential elements of its growth and proper development. "It is a familiar fact in mechanics that increased speed increases friction, and wears out the machinery; and it is as true in moral and spiritual ways." "Festina lente" is a wise rule to follow, make haste slowly. So in the great work of forming character, take time, make time, remember you work not for time, but for eternity, "He that believeth will not make haste." For haste makes waste. The character that is the product of haste, and worry and anxiety, lacks poise and weight and grace. We are inclined to be too hasty and restless in this busy, bustling age of ours; our culture is too fre- qentiy taken on from without, instead of being developed from i within; and the result is that we lack repose, refinement and dignity. We need occasionally to wait and listen. Perhaps if we could find some silent spot, where the voices, and the noises of the outer world were excluded for a time, we might be able to hear a voice divine bidding us come up higher in the scale of life. NEED TIME TO REFLECT. We need time for reflection, we need opportunity for meditation, we need to suffer and endure, and to learn therefrom the lessons of trust, compassion and sympathy. Life is a quarry from which are to be hewn marble blocks of experience, that are to be fitted and fashioned under the skillful direction of God's Holy Spirit into a flawless and imperishable temple of the soul. As Shakespeare says: "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will." There is but one enterprise that can, as an ultimate end in life, worthily engage the superb powers that have been beqeauthed to us by a beneficent and all wise creator, and that is the cultivation and perfection of our spiritual and immortal nature. The life that we now live is /simply one vast opportunity to fuse from ten thousand influences around and about us, an enduring and monumental shaft of spotless character. "To learn and to know is not a schooling for life, but life it's self." (Curtins). Do not lay aside as useless and done with, what has been gained in school, of stored knowledge, and derived wisdom. The books may be relegate' to giv« place to others less elementary and educational; but reading and study may" not"' be™ laid aside, if you would complete the good work already begun in the upbuilding of your character. Do not make the too common mis-* take of speaking andthinking of your graduation as the end of your education. There are dwarfed and stunted characters about us whose education was practically finished when they left tne high school, for they have never grown any since# I and rightly do they speak of hav- j ing finished their education. Do not mistake furnishing for finishing. In the making of our homes, each year adds something to our household goods, a picture, a chair, or a piece of bric-a-brac, and somehow they never seem to be too full- Far more ought, this to be our mental and moral habit, always furnishing, never finishing. A day with nothing gained nor learned in some school of experience, or thought or study, is a day lost, "A day without a line." COMMENCEMENT WEEK, Rightly therefore do we speak of -.this as your commencement week, for you have only just be- '; gun to learn, and to know, and are therefore at the very beginning of that broader and deeper sea of life which lies beyond. May you take the words of the Master to his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to be words of deep significance and import to you now-"Launch out into the I deep; and let down your nets for a draught." Use the knowledge gained in the high school, for the acquirements of greater knowledge in the higher school of life. Remember that the alphabet is learned from A to Z, not merely for a parrot like repetition but that once learned, it may be used in reading. The scales in music lead up to the magical fingering by which the marches, sonatas and oratorios of the great composers flow along the keys. And the tables and rules of arithmetic are for the honesty, economy and accuracy of accounts. And surely, in an ever increasing geometrical progression this truth goes on. Learning here how to learn, knowing here how to know, and] what is worth knowing. You have! in every habit gained, in every sub-1 ject mastered, in every branch of knowledge acquired, simply the possibility, and therefore the duty! and the privilege in that station of life, to which it may please God to call you, to use them for the at-i tainment of more and more, to cui-j tivate and cherish every knowl-; edg-e, and every power to get knowledge, Uil you grow into wis-' dom, by the accumulation and as- simulation of things that may be known. I take it that in religious and moral truths, life calls you to a like advancement, increase and growth. ! • That you may "grow in grace! and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ"-II Peter 3:18. Till we all come in thej unity of the faith, and of the' knowledge of the Son of God, un-j to a perfect men, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. This growth, progression and de- j velopment is educed from within, j like all true education. Therefore the importance of having con- stantly before us, high ideals of moral and religious truths. Make yourselves nests of pleas- j ant thoughts. Nc.no of., us - yets know, for none of us have beeni taught in early youth what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful J thoughts, proof against all adversity-bright fancies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful sayings-treasure houses of restful and pleasant thoughts, which care cannot disturb, nor pain make gloomy, nor poverty take away! from us-houses built without j hands for our souls to live in. j (Ruskin). Whatsoever things are true, hon-l est, just, pure, lovely and of good! report, whatsoever is virtuous and! praiseworthy, think on these things. Truth, honesty, justice, I purity, loveliness. As the Apostle St. Peter puts it j in enumerating the foundation I stones of the masonry of a con- ] sistent Christian life, "Giving all ] diligence, add to your faith vir-j tue; and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to pall tience godliness; and to godliness j brotherly kindness; and to brother- H ly kindness charity. For he that H lac-keth these things is blind; but I if ye do these things, ye shall never fail"-II Peter 1. H And now, what words are more j fitting than those of Whittier's "At School Close": ij "The end has come, as come it I must, to all things; in these sweet I Spring days, 1 The teacher and the scholar trust i Their parting feet to separate I ways." I "They part; but in the years to be Shall pleasant memories cling to fj each, H As shells bear Inland from the sea The murmur of the rhythmic 1 beach?" if And I am not ashamed in this J connection to fall back upon the li well worn. figure of the ship's 1 launching to tell in liveliest illus- 1 tration the lesson of toda3r, when jH these "our beautiful and gallant » crafts" sail forth into the sea of 9 life- Sail forth into the sea, oh ship, j Through wind and wave right onward steer. S The moistened eve, the trembling lip Are not the signs of doubt or B fear; And safe from all adversity upon the bosom of that sea Thy comings and thy goings be. I I For gentleness and love and trust Prevail o'er angry wave and gust. And in the wreck of noble lives Something immortal still survives." So sang our sweetest singer, Longfellow, and singing, breathed the prayer, and told the thought j with which we would send you forth. May youu trim your sails H to catch the breath of God's Holy Spirit to waft you on your way, 1 and may the sunshine of His rich- Sls est blessing rest upon you always. S God grant that when you have, sail- it ed life's stormy sea you may saf'e- ffi ly arrive at last into the haven 111 where you would be, the happy 111 harbor of God's Saints in His para- Hgj dise beyond, Amen. |