Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-02-09
A Little Sermon.

CONSIDER ruE LILIES, "-hArrHEw VI W.
Gods care over the beautiful things in
nature begins with the tiniest work of His
hand with the feeblest lichen which the
naked eye cannot see on the rock it clings
to, and TO that of fuller growth, which from
bed Of green lifts up its scarlet cup for
water and sunshine. The minutest spear Of
grass that pierces the earth, the flowers and
shrubs, the trees of our own forests, and the
great cedars of Lebanon, are all alike under
His holy keeping.
The bulb which contains the sweet fra
GRANGE and the regal colors of the lily lies all
winter, cold and brown, in the dark earth.
But God sends the breath of spring. The
sunshine warns the lily in its dark bed, and
the gentle shower loosens the hard clods Of
earth that confne it, A little speck of green
now breaks through the brown wrapping,
and shows that life is there. Soon the leaf,
the stalk and the bud come forth and then
We see wrought before our eyes the miracle
we call blooming " and the lily rises be-
fore us in such colors as Solomon in all his
glory could not
The lily cannot, perhaps, be put to any
actual use. Was it then created merely to
please the eye, and then die and be forgot
ten ? o. no although God does not over.
iObh VIC Dl'hNuit VI Ills NltdAult1s ne has
made this flower for a higher purpose than
merely TO crafty our senses and our tastes.
II is one of His little teachers, sent with a
lesson to His children, lesson of trust in
Him "whose love has no forgetting hour"
There are anxious grown-up folks in the
world who hoard wealth, who build costly
houses, lay out great cities, study wise books,
count the stars and call them by their names
who paint glorious pictures, and invent
wonderful machines, who yet are not happy,
because they cannot own everything, know
everything, and do everything
To them, as we'll as to little children, who
can neither toll nor spin, God sends the lily,
with its calm, quist lesson of peace and
trust; showing that growth and prosperity
do not come Of fretting and worrying, and
wearing out the life lie has given u.s. but
| by His blessing who can work, down deep
out of the sight of men, His miracles of life
and beauty.
Many persons think that children who
have homes, and enough to eat and wear
have no anxious thoughts-that they all live
as do the lily and the bird. But each little
heart has its own cares and burdens. Some
children look forward, wondering what is
waiting them in the future. They know
that if their fathers strong arm should fail
they would have TO go at once to work, and
ask, what could we do, and who would give
us work ?"
And even when the future is all bright and
clear before them, the young are often troub.
led with thoughts they never speak of Ia
parents or friends They want to know what
lies for them in the world beyond this. They
have not yet seen God in the light of low.
ing Father; they have not placed their
hand within that of Jesus and they are not
at rest, They fear death, and lie wakeful
in the dark hours, because they do not love
God, and are not ready to dwell with Him
in heaven.
Anxious children, as well as all others,
may hear the lily saying, Trust in Him
who so cares for the flowers that perish for
lie will much more care for you, His immor.
tai children"
We, like the lily, must droop and die.
But God will raise up all who love and trust
Him, in the great eternal spring, to dwell
with Him where the blight and frosts of
winter never come.