St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-07-28


improvident people I ever heard Of They
deserved to starve. They might have
taken food enough to last them until they
got back. Nothing did they take. A lad,
who had more wit than all of them put
together, asked his mother that morning
for some loaves Of bread and some fishes.
They were put into his sachel. He went
cont into the desert. From this provision
the seven thousand were fed, and the more
thew ate the larger the Ioaves grow, until
the provision that the boy brought in one
sAchel was multiplied SO he could not have
carried the fragments home in six sachels.
"O.n YOU say, "times have changed, and
the day of miracles has gone" l reply
that what God did then by miracle, He
hoes now in some other way, and by
natural laws CT have been young" said
David, "but now 1 am old; yet have
never seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread" 1t is high time
that you people who are fretting about
worldly circumstances, and who are fear
ing you are coming to want, understood
that the oath of the eternal God is in
volved in the fact that you are to have
enough to eat and to wear.
Again l remark that the religion OF
Jesus Christ IS the grandest influence to
make man contented. Indemnity against
all financial and spiritual harmi 1t Gains
the spirit, dwindles the earth into insig-
nifcance, and swallows up the soul with
the thought of Heaven. 0 We who have
been going about from place to place ex
pecting to find in change OF circumstances
something to give solace to the spirit,
commend you, this morning. to the warm
hearted, earnest, practical, common sense
l,rr;o of no r Nd In ri tsTharn
| is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked"
and as long as you continue in your sin
you will be miserable. Come to Christ,
Make Him your portion, and start for
Heaven, and you will be happy man
you will be a happy woman.
Yet, nv friends, Notwithstanding ell
these inducements to spirit OF content
ment, have to tell you this morning the
human race is divided into TWO classes
those who scold and those who get scolded.
The carpenter wants to be any thing but
| carpenter and the mason any thing but
| mason, and the banker any thing but
banker, and the lawyer any thing but
| lawyer, and the minister any thing but
minister, and every body would be happy
II he were only somebody else. The
| anemone wants to be q sunaower, and
the apple orchards throw down their
blossoms because they are not tall cedars,
| and the scow wants tn be a schooner, and
the sloop would like to be o seventy-four
| FOUNDER, and parents have the worst chill
dren that ever were, and every body has
the greatest misfortune, and every thing
is upside down, or going to be- All! my
friends, you never make any advance
through such spirit as that You can
aot fret yourself up; you may fret your
III ., roF
| strike this string of the Gospel harp:
Goodness with contentment is great
gain. We brought nothing into the world
and it is very certain we can carry moth
| ing out: having food and raiment, let US
| therefore be content
Let US all remember, if we are Christians,
| that we are going after awhile, whatever
be our circumstances now, to have glor-
| ious vacation. As in summer we put off our
| garments and go down into the cool sea to
| battle, so we will put off these gar
ments of flesh, and step into the
cool Jordan. We will look around
for some place to lay down our WEAKNESS
| and the trees will say: Come and rest
| under our shadow" and the earth
will say: Come and sleep in my bosom"
| and the winds will say: "Eushl while
sing thee cradle hymn;' and while six
strong men carry us out to our last resting
| place, and ashes come to ashes and dust to
| dust, we will SEQ two SCARED feet standing
amid the broken soil, and laceraued brow
bending over the open grave, while voice,
| tender with all affection and mighty with
all omuipotence will declare: II am the
resurrection and the life; he that believeth
| in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he
j live" Comfort one another with these