are you serious...

John Emery Abbot was a serious young man.  His piety (and his delicate health) insured that this would be so. In his sermon, "Seriousness," though, he begins with the distinction between gloom and a serious disposition...part one of:

"SERIOUSNESS"

"STAND IN AWE, AND SIN NOT.     PSALMS IV. 4.

Cheerfulness of spirit and manners, is not merely an amiable grace, but a religious duty. We are called, as Christians, to let our light shine before men, and by the influence of our example, to place religion in a conciliating and attractive point of view. The influence of Christianity has doubtless been sometimes prevented and impaired by the repulsive austerity displayed by many of its sincere professors...

Habitual cheerfulness is the natural result and expression of that love of God, that grateful reception of his blessings, and that pious trust in his providence, which we are ever bound to maintain and to manifest. If we have an unwavering confidence in his protecting care, why should we be anxious and desponding ? If we indeed can look up to him with a heartfelt affection, why should we be gloomy ? Cheerfulness is a duty, because it conduces to benevolence ; it nourishes feelings of kindness towards others and disposes us to rejoice in their happiness, and to make exertions to prevent their sufferings, and promote their good...

Though cheerfulness be thus important in itself and in its connexion with other duties, there is another disposition enjoined in the text which is yet more important, and with which the vigor, steadiness and continued improvement of the christian character is intimately connected. " Stand in awe and sin not." The text exhorts us to maintain habitual seriousness of spirit. This disposition is often confounded with the sternness and gloom which have already been reprobated; but they are entirely dissimilar, and have no connexion with each other. Seriousness of disposition is often supposed to be at variance with that cheerfulness which has been represented as a duty; but it is not so. It is not only perfectly consistent with uniform cheerfulness, but is in fact its surest foundation and best support...
 
Without dwelling longer on the perfect consistency between great seriousness and uniform cheerfulness, I wish to consider the importance of the temper enjoined in the text in reference to the religious character. " Stand in awe and sin not..."     (and that will be our subject for tomorrow)
 
Blessings
(special thanks to Catharina Slautterback at the Boston Athenaeum for tracking down this image of Rev. Abbot some time ago)