Care must be had, however, that this cultivating of the feelings be
conducted along rational lines, lest it run not to faith but to
fanaticism. There is a wide difference between emotion designed for
display or for momentary effect, and that which arises from strong inner
conviction and sympathetic interest in others. Spurious, unnatural
feeling will invariably fail to convince serious-minded men.
"Emotion wrought up with no ulterior object," says Dr. Kennard, "is both
an abuse and an injury to the moral nature. When the attention is
thoroughly awakened and steadily held, the hearer is like a well-tuned
harp, each cord a distinct emotion, and the skilful speaker may evoke a
response from one or more at his will. This lays him under a great and
serious responsibility. Let him keep steadily at such a time to his
divine purpose, to produce a healthful action, a life in harmony with
God and a symphony of service."
The emotional and spiritual powers of the speaker will be developed by
reading aloud each day a vigorous and passionate extract from the
Bible, or Shakespeare, or from some great sermon by such men as
Bushnell, Newman, Beecher, Maclaren, Brooks, or Spurgeon. The entire
gamut of human feeling can be highly cultivated by thus reading aloud
from the great masterpieces of literature. The speaker will know that he
can make his own words glow and vibrate, after he has first tested and
trained himself in some such manner as this. Furthermore, by thus
fitting words to his mouth, and assimilating the feelings of others, he
will immeasurably gain in facility and vocal responsiveness when he
attempts to utter his own thoughts.
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