The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-07-12

IrOlH lrrltaDlllty ana Snarp reCOrI. LII"
fculties of respiration, of digestion, OF
locomotion, make up the great obstacle
in your life, and you tug and sweat along
the pathway and wonder when the ex-
haustion will end. My friends, the
brightest crowns in heaven will not be
given to those who, in stirrups, dashed
to the cavalry charge, while the general
applauded and the sound of clashing
sabers rang through the land; but the
brightest crowns in heaven, l believe,
will be given to those who trudged on
amid chronic ailme nts which unnerved
their strength, yet all the time main
tanning their faith in God. 1t is COM
paratively easy to fl ght in regiment of
thousand men, charging up the para
pets to the sound of martial music; but
it is not SO easy to endure when no one
but the nurse and the doctor are the wit
nesses of the Christian fortitude. Be-
sides that you never had any pains worse
than Christ's. The sharpnesses that
stung through his brain, through his
hands, through his feet, through his
heart, were as great as yours certainly.
He was as sick and as weary. Not a
nerve, or muscle, or igament escaped.
All the pangs of all the nations of all the
ages compressed into one sour cup. He
took the vinegar!
There is also the sourness of poverty.
Your income does not meet your out
goings and that always gives an honest
man anxiety. There is no sign of desti-
tuition about you-pleasant appearance
and cheerful home for you; but God
1xy1 hot loxr L.,I 10
manage your private finances. just as
the bills run up the wages seem to run
down. But you are not the only one
who has not been paid for hard work
The great Wilkie sold his celebrated
piece, ''The Blind Fiddler" for fifty
guineas, although afterward it brought
its thousands. The world hangs in ad-
n1iration over the sketch of Gains
borough, yet that very sketch hung
for years in the shop window because
there was not any purchaser. Oliver
Goldsmith sold his ''Vicar of Wake
field" for a few pounds, in order to
keep the hailiff out of the door; and the
vast majority OF men in all occupations
and professions are not fully paid for
their work. You may say nothing, but
lIIO W yOi 10 d pliSil oIfu WISA YOU
sit down with your wife and talk over
the expenses, you both rise up discour-
aged You abridge here, and you abridge
there, and you get things snug for smooth
sailings, and 10! suddenly there is a large
doctors bill to pay, or you have lost your
pOcketbook, or some creditor has failed,
and you are thrown abeam end. Well,
brother, you are in glorious company.
Christ owned not the house in which he
stopped, or the colt ON which he rode, or
the boat in which he sailed. He lived
in borrowed house; he was buried
|. in borrowed grave. Exposed to all
kinds of weather, vet ne had only
one suit of clothes. He breakfasted in
the morning, and no one could possibly
tell where he could get anything to eat
before night. He would have been pro-
nounced financial failure. He had to
perform miracle to get money to pay a
tax bill. Not dollar did he own. Pri-
vation of domesticity; privation of nutri-
tious food; privation of a comfortable
couch on which to sleep; privation of all
worldly resources. The kings of the
earth had chased chalices out of which to
drink; but Christ had nothing but plain
cup set before him, and it was very sharp,
and it was very sour. He took the
vinegar.
There also is the sourness of bereave-
ment. There were years that passed
along before your family circle was in
vaded by death; but the moment the
charmed circle was broken everything
seemed to dissolve. Hardly have Jou
rtT the waT0rOha
before you have again to take it out.
Great and rapid changes in your family
record. You got the house and rejoiced
in it, but the charm was gone as soon as
the Grape hung on the door bell The
one upon whom you most depended was
taken away from you. A cold marble
slab lies ON your heart today. Once, as
the children romped through the house,
you put your hand over your aching
head and said: ''Oh, if could only have
| it STILL" Oh, it is too still now. You
| lost your patience when the tops and the
strings and the shells were left amid
floor; but oh, you would be willing tc
have the trinkets scattered all over
the floor again, if they were scat
tered by the same hands. With
what a ruthless plowshare bereave
ment rips up the heart. But Jesu;
knows all about that. You cannot tel
him anything new in regard to bereave
ment. He had only few friends. ant
when he lost one it brought tears to hi
eyes. Lazarus had often entertained
him at his house. Now Lazarus is deaC
and buried, and Christ breaks down will
emotion-the convulsion of grief shud
4 Ill h. 3
ment. Christ knows what it is to e
through the house missing familiar in
mate. Christ knows what it is to see al
unoccupied place at the table. Wer
there not four of them-Mary, ant
Martha, and Christ, and Lazarus? Fou
of them. But where is Lazarus? Lionel,
and afflicted Christ, his great loving eye
filled with tears, which drop from eye Il
cheek, and from cheek to beard, ant
from beard to robe, and from robe t.
floor. Oh, yes, yes, he knows all abou
the loneliness and the heartbreak. H
took the vinegarl
Then there is the sollrness of the dealt
hour. Whatever else we may escape
that acid sponge will be pressed to ou
lips. l sometimes have a curiosity t
know how / will behave when come t
die. Whether will be calm or excite,
whether will be filed with reminis
cence or with anticipation. l canno
say. But come to the point, must an
you must. In the six thousand year
that have passed only two persons hav
got into the eternal world without death
and do not suppose that God is goin
to send a carriage for us with horses O
flame, to draw us up the sleeps @
heaven; but I suppose we will have t
go like the preceding generations. An OF
ficer from the future world will knock a
the door of our heart and serve on u
the writ of ejectment, and we will hav
to surrender. And we will wake u
after these autumnal, and wintry
and vernal, and summery glories hav
vanished from our vision-we will wax
up into realm which has only on
season, and that the season of eyerlaSt