Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/712

 She little has of beauty's wealth, Truth will allow; Only her priceless youth and health, Her broad, white brow; Yet grows she on the heart by stealth, I scarce know how.

She does a thousand kindly things That no one knows. A loving woman's heart she brings To human woes, And to her face the sunlight clings Where'er she goes.

And so she walks her quiet ways With that content That only comes to sinless days And innocent. A life devoid of fame or praise, Yet nobly spent. (Text.)

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SPIRITUAL PERTURBATION

After Bunyan's marriage the record of the next few years is like a nightmare, so terrible is his spiritual struggle. One day he feels himself an outcast; the next the companion of angels; the third he tries experiments with the Almighty in order to put his salvation to the proof. As he goes along the road to Bedford he thinks he will work a miracle, like Gideon with his fleece. He will say to the little puddles of water in the horses' tracks, "Be ye dry"; and to all the dry tracks he will say, "Be ye puddles." As he is about to perform the miracle a thought occurs to him. "But go first under yonder hedge and pray that the Lord will make you able to perform a miracle." He goes promptly and prays. Then he is afraid of the test, and goes on his way more troubled than before.

After years of such struggle, chased about between heaven and hell, Bunyan at last emerges into a saner atmosphere, even as Pilgrim came out of the horrible Valley of the Shadow. Soon, led by his intense feelings, he becomes an open-air preacher, and crowds of laborers gather about him on the village green. They listen in silence to his words; they end in groans and tears; scores of them amend their sinful lives.—, "English Literature."

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Spiritual Power the True Estimate—See .

SPIRITUAL VALUES

Jesus asked, "How much is a man better than a sheep?" Here are some estimates:

The deepest needs of the world are spiritual needs. One man invested $100,000 in India. It resulted in the conversion of 50,000 in that district—one soul saved for every two dollars invested. Christ's standard of greatness was service. On the Kongo a man's value is estimated in cattle; on the Hudson, in social standing; but by the river of life, by what he is, and the standard is helpfulness.

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SPIRITUALITY, RATIONAL

On some clear evening when the stars shrink back before the pathway of the ascending moon, and night is almost transformed to day, we are moved to admiration and pleasure; yet all this attractive light, focused to the smallest compass, could not dissolve the most delicate petal of frost or melt the tiniest snowflake.

Such is science without sentiment, the intellect without the heart, religion without spirituality. But on the other hand, the true church is one which combines both; which is purely rational, yet deeply religious; which is perfectly tolerant and catholic; which yet extends its fraternal hand to the needy, opprest, and downtrodden of every class; which is bound to no creed whatsoever, but is genuinely, rationally, vitally spiritual.—

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SPRING AS TYPE OF LIFE

When I am gone, somehow I hope that spring Will typify my life, my optimism, My hope of victory through the years, My nerve of step, my clear and visioned eye. The early flowers, the robins singing in The rain (may they not sing since they have wings?), The increasing light, the slowly opening buds, The almond blooms, the trees in vernal dress Are like the silver crown upon my head: A prophecy of heaven's summer time. Yes, when I die, it shall be springtime then Of my great immortality.

When I am gone, let men say, He was always young; Not even Sorrow, with his ruthless plow; Nor base ingratitude, nor brothers false, Nor slander's venomed tooth, nor poverty,