at led them on. In that reality lies every man's
religion.

XVII

The Fruits of Faith

_Root and Fruit_
_The Orthodox Accent_
_The Business of Religion_

_Killing hope is moral suicide._

_Sow happiness and reap heaven._

_Every man is made up of many men._

_You cannot travel towards heaven with your back turned to honour._

_Earthly prudence is a large part of heavenly providence._

_Homes are often closest knit about some grave of separation._

_Your credit in heaven depends on earth's debts to you._

_To attempt a great work is to become a great worker._

_The practice of happiness does much for the power of holiness._

_No man ever found this world a weary place who had a worthy work to
do._

_It's no use talking about the religion in your heart if it is not
visible in your home._

XVII

ROOT AND FRUIT

There is honest inquiry rather than querulous criticism in the
question, often asked, Why does not religion produce a higher and
stronger type of moral character? Enthusiasm for the teachings of
Christ often is cooled by contact with some flabby-willed,
narrow-minded professed follower of those teachings.

It is a common saying with business men that it is hard to find a man
of absolute integrity, one who even measures up to the standards of
commercial honour among those who are religious, either by vocation or
avocation. At any rate, it is true that a certificate of religious
affiliations by no means is equivalent to a guarantee of high moral
worth.

Yet it is easy to arrive at wrong conclusions when judging the effect
of religion on personal character as tested by daily business and
living. One is in danger of judging from exceptions. We may remember
as a religious person the man who makes the loudest protestations of
his piety and fail to recognize the religious sources of strength in
the quieter one of whose sterling qualities we need no persuasion.

When religion has little root it often springs up with a rapid
self-assertive growth; but it withers even more quickly under the
scorching sun of the market and business affairs. It also would be the
height of folly to conclude that religion contributed nothing to a
man's moral worth, because the morally worthless seek to hide their
nakedness by wearing it as a cloak.

If we stop to think of the strong men and women we know, of those whose
integrity is undoubted, whose character wealth constitutes the real
reserve