the great
preachers ever spoke with machine-like periodicity--certainly
Savonarola did not. He preached only when occasion demanded it.

But that is neither here nor there. Preaching every Sunday is our
custom and therefore preach every Sunday you must. I repeat that it is
hard on you, and we sympathize with you; but, as a practical matter,
it is all the more reason why you should ceaselessly fertilize your
intellect. Your audience will pity you, but they are not going to
listen to any twice-told tales, pity or no pity.

The practise of having short sermons helps you out. I beseech you, as
you wish to hold your hearers, observe this practise. Please remember
that this is America and everybody is in a hurry. They ought not to
be, but they are. Make thirty minutes the limit of your time. Twenty
minutes is long enough.

It was a very good sermon Paul preached on Mars Hill before the most
critical and cultured audience in the world. And still, allowing for
all deliberation of delivery and for portions of his speech which are
not reported, it could not have taken him longer than fifteen minutes.

Even the Master, when expounding the whole of the Christian religion
in the Sermon on the Mount, could not have occupied more than half or
three-quarters of an hour; yet he was covering a multitude of
subjects, whereas Paul covered but one. Indeed, the Saviour also made
it a practise to speak upon only one subject at a time.

The same is true of all great orators except, of course, political
stump speakers, who necessarily must cover all the "issues." The
political speaker is sorry enough that this is true--but there is no
help for it; "the questions of the day" must all be answered. But you,
Mr. Preacher, need not be so encyclopedic; and you ought to be
illuminating and uplifting on _one_ subject in half an hour--and no
longer. That light is brightest which is condensed.

The Christian religion is a livable creed, is it not? It is a
day-by-day religion; a here-and-now religion. True, it comprehends
eternity, and its perfect flower is immortal life and peace. But that
is for the hereafter. This side of the grave, Christianity is a code
of conduct. So, peculiarly human subjects for your sermons are
endless--subjects of present interest.

Think of the intimate and personal subjects of Christ's teachings. He
spoke of prayer and the fulfilment of the law, of master and servant
and of practical charity, of marriage, divorce, and