The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-11-08
Sunday, Nov. 18th.

Wnnu u IoVelN uHy! HoW WHY "'',"p'
ful appear the distant mountain ana IN
~tervcning woods. robed In their autumn
parb of n thousand dyes! Scarce II cloud
to be seen In the deep blue OF Heaven. and
the morning mir SO tresI, and pure! How
pleasant sound the bells. calling for united
Worship of Him who created all this
~beauty-Him who could makca world,
yet in the lost depths Of the wilderness
Leave nota flower unfinished"
But surely lie did not finish human be-
ings-al, no. The heart OF man Is too
desperately wickcd' for MS To suppose
that there Is not Il future when it will be-
come better. All!
How strikingly the course of Nature
tells,
BY its light heed ofhuman suffering.
That it was FASHIONED for happier world"
If we thought Sod would never improve
upon His work i%nrcgnrd to humanity we
would doabt His omnipotence and good.
ness. 1t must be that "tiierc Is n sphere
| where all will be made right which so
puzzles us here"-n better place for all
who have lived, loved, lost, stru? gled. SUI
icred and died. Blessed to Us Is Our idea
ofGod and His bountilul goodness! And
here at home. this lovely dav, delighted
with the beauty of Heaven and Earth, ana
cheered by the joyous revcIry Of happy
children. II prayer If thankfuiness gorsup
from orr heart in silence to God alone.
But the prayers of the wicked availetl
nothing, we are told. And, again. that
the prayers of the righteous availctli
much. Yet why has so little been accom-
plishpd these last several thousand J ears !
We fear that prayer has become n sort or
mechanical duty to too many-a sort OF
habit-and too many bow themselves to
90 through the work on SUNDAY, ANA llit
themselves up to sin the balance OF the
week And rs w watch from our Will
dow. and see men and women going to
church. we wouder If they 90 with pure
hearts. Do they 80 there cherlshinS any
ll-tecling AGAINST any oAe? Have tIey
kept their truth unsull,ed during the past
week? Have they assaulted amy one with
envenomcd tongue? Have they SANDER
ed any OnG-rcpcated any idle story ma
king it appear worse Tia 1t was! On
these tale-bearcrS, Eews-monGerS, ana
gossipcrs! No wonder the Bible says
they can never get to HEAVIER! And yet
they pretend to sy,npatnizc with fallen
humanity! And they hunt up our errors
VIII FdSi SOOt Si"'S'
80 We who are so guild yourself
Sac piouS and sac holy,
Yc'vc nought to do but mark and tell
Your nccbours' talts and folly!
Yc see your state wi theirs compar'd,
And shuuder ut the nitler,
But east Il moments fair regard,
What makes the mighty differ?
Discount what scant occaSi n gave
That purity We pride in.
And (what 5 att mair than a the lave
Your better art o. hiding.
Then gently scan your brother man,
Still greater sister woman
Though they may gam II kennin Wrang,
TO step aside is luman.'
But we hope none will 30 to church to-
day with any tattle upon their tongues
with no intention ofdlsplaying new dress
or criticising the dress OF others. with
no ill-will against the cook because she
burnt the biscuit. or the light-bread cid
not rise; or against the wa5ii-Wonian be
cause your clothes were not property
washed and ir0ncd. We hope you had no
angry words ut the table-the last place in
the world for ill-tempnr to show itself.
''Verily, verify, travellers have seen many
idols in many countries, Out no
human eyes have ever seen more daring.
grossand shocking images OF rne Divine
Nature than we creatures OF the dust
make IN our own likencSSeS OF orr W
bad passions.' BE righteous sure enough,
and then we will expect to see your pray
crs avail something. Then we will hardly
expect to hear again. as we did III in
chester Il few weeks since, II poor. hall
dementcd. unfortunate white woman beg
for money enough to pay for the inter
mcnt Of her dead infant. Alter three
days she got it buried, and there were
present at its burial herself and two
grave-diggcrs. These three were there to
perform the last sad ~cercmony-tlic cere
mony of throwing II few SpAdeS-lnil OF
dirt to-dirt. And yet. we suppose tue
poor little infant. kept too loh9 from Its
"Motlcr Eartli.'' is entitled TO just as high
a place in Heaven a. the infant OF
the richest lord or qucenlicst lady in Ill
the land. We mention this to show That
money sent to the lleathcn had better he
kept at home to help Us all from being
llenthens OF ten-lold guilt in the sight OF
God in the unfltliomable Future.
But it is such Il lovely Sunday! Ana we
are always glad when Sunday comeS. The
bitter thoughts ofthc past week are all re-
pressed. and our full heart g0eS ont in
kindness to all. The church-bells ring
away our petty trials, and the voices OF
our children lead us nearer to God, ana
we bless God for Sunday.