Character and Conduct – 22 May – Sin has its Pedigree

ONE false note will spoil the finest piece of music, and one little sin, as we deem it, may ruin the most promising character, involving it in a network of unforeseen consequences out of which there may be no escape.

Life Here and Hereafter, Canon MacCoLL

THERE is a physical demonstration of sin as well as a religious;  and no sin can come in among the delicate faculties of the mind, or among the coarser fibres of the body, without leaving a stain, either as a positive injury to the life, or, what is equally fatal, as a predisposition to commit the same sin again.   This predisposition is always one of the most real and appalling accompaniments of the stain of sin.   There is scarcely such a thing as an isolated sin in a man’s life.   Most sins can be accounted for by what has gone before.  Every sin, so to speak, has its own pedigree, and is the result of the accumulated force, which means the accumulated stain of many a preparatory sin.

The Ideal Life, HENRY DRUMMOND

oooOOOooo

These quotes are from ‘Character and Conduct’ A selection of helpful thoughts from various authors arranged for daily reading.

Collected by Constance M Whishaw and first published in 1905 as a follow up to her volume of Daily Readings for members of the Being and Doing Guild who asked for an additional volume

In her preface Whishaw writes:

‘This collection of noble thoughts expressed by men and women of past and present ages who have endeavoured to leave the world a little better than they found it.’

It is my hope in publishing the her readers may be inspired to imitate the example of the authors.