Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-08-19
MEMPHIS APPEAL
SUNDAY, So: AUGUST 10, 1888.
SUNDAY MUSINGS,

SDNDAE MDSEhGSf
Sunday morning, and the day Of relief il
with us. The factory, the shop, the store,
the office are silent and deserted. No re-
ceIpIs, payments, sending away and receiving
oil packages, no wrangles about charges, no
balancing of accounts, no taking down Of
goods or tedious answering of buyers' ques-
tions, no mounting ladders to buildings, no
hurry, hustle, no tear or worry need tease the
soul or weary the body to-day. Rest of mind
and muscle, quiet and sweet peace NAV be
ours to-day. To-day is what the green oasis,
where waters flow, and green leaves culver in
the breezs, Perfumed with scent Of flow
ers, is to The traveller who has wandered over
the weary desert, bare, monotonous, barren
and arid sand all around, and from
the hard sky the piiiless burniDg OF
The sun beats day by day upon
the head that finds no shadow 10 pro-
tect, no cooling stream to refresh. To-day is
like the calm after anxious days upon the
rough sea, the winds threatening, the waves
assailing, the ship rolling and tossing, al
lowing no peace, no interval OF rest. The
calm comes, the sun shines Out, the soft breeze
luils the soul to quiet, the day is serene and
a holy gen,leness prevails where gloom and
storm, black clouds and leapiDg lightnings
lately banishei rest and destroyed comfort
So comes Sunday TO the heart prepared to
receive Its gentle, pacifying, soul-invigorat-
ing influences. Can we fail to prize what
has given US this day of rest? The day that
to wesried man and tired beast imparIs the
inestimable blessing of sn interval won from
the tolls, and snxieties, and harrassing cares
of the week. But Sunday brings more
than this, it has a higher bliss
than mere relief from the heat and
hard endurance of the desert; more holy
i~1luences than the mere sbsence Of murky
cloud and believing wind and mountain
wave. 1t offers communion with God. Vino
on psrusing a volume written by the hand OF
genius, that looks upon a painting from the
brush OF an immortal master OF his art, that
wanders amid the charms Of architectural
skill and inspiration, would not gladly seize
opportunity, could it be had to associate with
the poet, the historian, the painter, or the
architect whose works had Commanded the
homage of the world, and won the fame OF
increasing centuries, whose power and skill
and soaring ,houghtha conferred upon the
world inestimable possessions? But what is
all that the writer, the painter or the archi-
tect has lone compared with the area
tons of Him Chat dwelleth above the
circle Of the earth, while its inhabitants
are az grasshoppers, that stretched out
the heavens as a curtain, and spread them
~ a tent to dwell in. Lift up your eyes on
high aud see-who created these? He thst
briugeth out their host by number; that
calleth them all by name; He who is great
in might and strong in power" He made
the flowers that deck the earth, The smiling
vale and the towering mountain, the gentle
brook and the raging sea, the immensely of
space, and the shining tenants of the sky;
and He, the great author and constructor of
all, is not distant in time or spscs, buried in
some tomb obscure or honored; He is near Us
and with us; in Him we live and move and
have our being, and with Hin, the mighty
author Of the universe, with lis impenetrable
secrets and its inscrutable problems, with
LlAm inc lOHllEE- Chllh VI
hold converse to-day. He takes note when
the sparrow falls, He has painted the
minutest creature with colors of beauty, and
endowed the tiniest plant with grace of
form and granted the little inject imple-
ments of motion, and provided for its wants;
and He who has done these things, however
obscure, however neglected and despised
any SON or daughter Of man may be, they are
not beneath his ken or deprived Of His care.
Amid the tempests and thunders and con-
tests and woes of life there is a calm; amid
the brown and cheerlefs desert, comfortless
and bare, there is a refuge where peace per-
yades, where a sacred silence thrills the soul
with solemn awe before the divine presence;
where in hushed accents prayer reaches His
ear and praise in joyful accents mounts 10
His throne and finds echo in the vaults of
heaven, and responses from immortal lips,
from he spirits Of the ust made perfect,
who, Re us, have trodden the earth
with avy, weary feet, and have borne
bite, ials snd the anguish Of sorrow and
the of sin. There is peace, there iscom-
fort, mere Isl oy and hope and triumph, even
on this .arth. All are accessible this tran
gull, restful Sunday. To the sanctuary He
who created the heavens and the earth meets
His aithful ones to-day, refreshe- their souls,
revives their courage and prepares thcu ior
the light and peace and Joy of Immortality