The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-12-25
f6ntln.ed from I'd Page.

wearing ont your patience; and they are
making you less and less Of a man
7 0o into scuIptor's studio and see him
ahspinp a statue. He has a chisel in one
hand and mallet in the other, and he
gives verv gentle stroke-Click, click,
elick / say, "Why don't you strike
harderT" "Oh," he replies, that would
shatter the statue. can't DO 1t that
way; | must do it this way" So he
works on, and after while the features
come out, and everybody that enters in
to the studio is charmed and fascinated,
Well, God has your soul under process
of development, and It's the little an
noyances and vexations of life that are
chiseling out our immortal nature. 1t is
click, click, click wonder why some
great Providence does not come and,
with one stroke, prepare you for heaven,
All, no, God says that is not the way,
and 80 he keeps on, by strokes of little
annoysndes, little sorrows, little vexa
tions, until, at last, you shall be glad
spectacle for angels and for men. You
know what a large fortune may be spent
in small change, and a vast amount OF
moral character may go away in small
depletion. 1t is the little troubles of life
that are having more effect upon you
than great ones. A swarm OF locusts
will kill grain field sooner than the in'
sertion of three or four cattle. You say,
"SinCe I lost my child, since | lost my
property, have been a different man."
But you do not recognize the architec-
tnre of little annoyanCes that are hewing,
digging, cutting, shaping, splitting and
inteIioinig your moral qualities. Rats
NAV sink a ship. One luCifer match may
send destruction through block of
store-houses. Catharine de Medlcls got
her death from smelling poisonous
rose. Columbus by stopping and asking
for piece of bread and drink OF water
at franciscan Convent was lead to the
discovery of q new world. And there ls
an intimate connection between trities
and immeusities, between nothings and
everythings. Now be careful to let none
of these ann6yances go through your
soul unarraigned. Compel them to ad-
minister to your spiritual wealth. The
scratch of six-penny nail sometimes
causes lockjaw, and clip of most ln-
finitesimal annoyance may damage you
forever. Do not let any annoyance or
perplexity come across your soul with
out its making you better.
Our National Government does not
think it belittling to put tax on pins,
and a tax on buckles, and tax on shoes.
The individual taxes do not amount to
much, but in the aggregate to millions
and millions of dollars. And l would
haye you, 0 Christian man, put a high
tariff on every annoyance and vexatlon
that comes through your soul. This
might not amount to much in single
cases, but in the aggregate it would be q
great revenue of spiritual strength and
satisfaction. A bee can suck honey even
out of nettle, and if you really have the
grace of God in your heart you can get
sweetness out of that which would 9th.
erwise irritate and annoy. A returned
missionary told me that company Of
adventurers rowing up the Ganges were
stung to death by flies that infest that
region at certain seasons. | have seen
the earth streWn with carCasses Of men
slain by insect annoyanCes. The only
way to get prepared for the great
troubles of life is to conquer these small
troubles. What would you say of SOL
dier who refused to load his gun, or to
90 into the conflict because it was only
q skirmish, saying, II am not going to
expend my ammunition on skirmlsh
wait until there comes general engage
ment, and then you will see how coura.
geous am and what battling / will doP"
The General would say to svch man,
"If you are not faithful in skirmish
you would be nothing in general en-
gagement." And l have to tell you, 0 !
Christian men, if you cannot apply the
principles of Christ's religion on small
scale. If you cannot successfully con-
tend against these small sorrows that
come down single. handled, what Will
you do when the greater disasters OF life
come down with laundering artillery
rolling over your soul 7
Again, we must bring the religion of
Christ into our ordinary blessings. When
the autumn comes and the harvests are
in, and Governors make proclamation,
we assemble in churches, and we are
very thankful. But every day ought to
be Thanksgiving Day. We do not rec
ognize the common mercies of life. We
have to see blind man led by his dog
before we begin to bethink ourselves of
what a grand thing it is to have eye
sight. We have to see some one inAiCt-
ed with st. Vituss dance before we are
ready to thank God for the control of
our physical energies. We have to see
some wounded man hobbling on his
Crutch or with his empty coat.sleeve
pinned up, before we learn to think
what a grand thing God did for us when
he gave us healthy use of our limbs. We
are 80 stupid that nothing but the mis-.
fortune of others can rouse us to our
blessing. AS the OK grazes in the pas"
ture up to its eyes in clover, yet never
thinking who makes the clover, and, as
the bird picks up the worm from the
furrow, not knowing that it is God that
makes everything from the animalcula
in the sod to the seraph on the throne,
30 we go on eating, drinking and enjoy
ing, but never thinking, and seldom
thanking, or if thanking at all, with on.
ly halfa heart.
l compared our Indifference to the
brute but perhaps / wronged the brute.
l do not know but that among the other
instincts it may have one instinct by
which it recognizes the Divine Hand
that feeds it. ! do not know but that
God is, through it, holding CommuniCa.
tion with what we call Irrational Grea-
tion." The COW that stands at this hour
under the willow by the water course,
chewing its cud, looks very thankful /;
and who can tell how much bird
means by its songP The aroma of the
flowers smells like incense, and the mist
arising from the river looks like the
smoke of a morning sacrifice. Oh, that
we were as responsivel Yet, who thanks
God for the water that gushes up in the
we'll and that foams in the cascade, and
that laughs over the rocks, and that pat
ters in the showers, and that claps it's