Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 258, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1911 — RIGHT? [ARTICLE]

RIGHT?

By Rev. Stephen Paulson

• TEXT—Finally, brethren, 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 praiSfe, think on these things.— Philippian*, IV. A ' There are today more people than ever before asking the question, ,< What is right?” They have been led to ask this question by an arousal of conscience from lethargy that at one time seemed to be as binding as prison chains. In this reawakening the church has played a most important part, but its appeals have been seconded by moralists and even by statesmen. Today the question, “What to right?” is asked not only in personal Inorals, but In the larger affairs of life, and to the extent that there is greater effort for higher standards of morality 'and of religious practices. The question is an old one. It has been asked by man since first he knew there was right which might be distinguished from wrong. It has been discussed in all its phases, and St. Paul in his letter to the Fhilippians exhorts them in the words of our text. He tells them that right Is “what is true, what is honest, what is just, what is pure and lovely and of good report.” His exhortation is as pertinent today as then, and bis definition as complete. Let us first consider men, not things. A great many men are true so far as their standards permit them to be. There are others who seek constant elevation of standards so that they may be nearer the ideal true man. To be a true man means to be truthful in thought, in speech, in act, to be devoid of dissimilation, to be right and to be Just what you seem to be; to be loyal to all that is good and devoted to the furtherance of good. Such a man invariably answers the question “What Is right?” correctly, and his answer has the respect of his fellow men. A great many men are honest so far as the demands of relationship with other men may go, and few go beyond this point and are honest with themselves as well as with their fellows. In their transactions they have no doubts, no regrets, no sufferings of conscience. They make every transaction a closed transaction In every sense of thg word. They are right. Such men are the examples of honesty that should be emulated. Men are just in the measure that they mete to their fellow men; and some of them are just to the extent that they heap the measure to overflowing. They neither weigh to-the ounce, nor exact their pound of flesh as old Shylock did. If anything, they are just to the point of generosity and have the satisfaction of knowing that they have given full value or full credit to all with whom they come In contact.

Most men .are pure to the extent that they have no faults or vices that stamp them as immoral There are others whose thoughts even are pure and to whom impurity is absolutely obnoxious. Tbey think good, and as the thought Is the father of the act, tbey act well. These are the men at whom the finger of suspicion never points, but are always held as models after which we should pattern. Men who are truly honest, just ao4 pure, men whose thoughts are always upward, are men of good report. They have unassailable reputations supported by unimpeachable characters. They ask the question, “What is right?" from the Innermost recesses of their souls, and answer It with all the enlightenment of conscience and spiritual guidance that God can give them. They are always men of good report and alwayß will be so long as they possess the virtues that the apostle has enumerated. I know that the apostle tells the brethren to “think of things that are true, honest, pure, lovely and of good report" It Is by thinking of these things that men become honest, true and just The apostle asks them not only to think but to reason, for he says that “If there is any virtue In these things, if there be any praise” thinking of them will bring them into their lives and Cause them to be grateful for the good they receive. Men who think honestly, men who try to be conscientious gain for themselves all the good that can be derived from right thought and pure thinking. And that good is ability to think straight, and answer correctly the question, “Wha* is right r Of course there is no absolute right Men do not think alike. They have not the same standards, nor the name conceptions, and yet they have one standard of right and their conception of that standard will always grow better and better the more they study It That standard' was set by Christ Pant studied It, and his wonderful growth In spirituality enabled him to tell the PhiHpplans what they should think about, for he knew that the man who was true, honest just and pure, the man who regarded things that were elevating and of good report, would be come the man wbo would be Able sooner or later to answer more exactly the question. “What Is rtgbtr* Too can follow Paul’s prescription, especially *lf you ask for that gul* ance which has been promised you by that greatest exemplar Of right - .