... Hate is the one destructive element in the universe; did
you know that, friends? It is impossible for a man or woman who hates
another to prosper.... And I'll tell you why this is--why it must be
true: God is love--the opposite of hate. Hence All Power is enlisted
on the side of _love_.... Think this over, and you'll know it is
true.... Now the Bolton mystery: A year ago we were holding a fair in
this village, which was sick and impoverished because it had never
forgiven the man who stole its money.... You all remember that
occasion. There were things to sell; but nobody had money to buy
them. It wasn't a pleasant occasion. Nobody was enjoying it, least of
all your minister. But a miracle took place-- There are miracles in
the world today, as there always have been, thank God! There came
into Brookville that day a person who was moved by love. Every
impulse of her heart; everything she did was inspired by that
mightiest force of the universe. She called herself Lydia Orr.... She
had been called Lydia Orr, as far back as she could remember; so she
did no wrong to anyone by retaining that name. But she had another
name, which she quickly found was a byword and a hissing in
Brookville. Was it strange that she shrank from telling it? She
believed in the forgiveness of sins; and she had come to right a
great wrong.... She did what she could, as it is written of another
woman, who poured out a fragrant offering of love unappreciated save
by One.... There quickly followed the last chapter in the
tragedy--for it was all a tragedy, friends, as I look at it: the
theft; the pitiful attempt to restore fourfold all that had been
taken; the return of that ruined man, Andrew Bolton, after his heavy
punishment; and his tragic death.
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