Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-06-22
Under. Ground Views.
Cumberland Presbyterian.

Cumberland Presbyterian.
A mole burrowing its way in the
darkness no doubt finds many hard
and disappointing things. There
are roots, gnarled and knotted, bitter
and barren yielding the underground
toiler no food or comfort, bringing no
relief to longer, no answer to prayer.
If the mole reasons he must some
times wonder at the inconsistencies of
Providence in planting so many use
less things-things that obstruct and
injure instead of furnishing him food
or helping him forward in his sub
soil progress. Not one root in a
thousand that is not worthless or in
the way or absolute poison! Talk to
a mole about a benefcent Providence,
about all things being the roots of
good! He is a practical, common
sense animal and knows better. Has
he not tested the thing, toiling among
the roots all his life?
Yet, though we can never get the
msle to see it, we know that many of
these bitter roots grow up into the
light and bloom in beauty yielding
fruit more delicious than any known
underground. There is an upper
realm which the mole must learn to
take into the account before he can
, understand the puzzling and contra
dictory things below the surface.
But is not earth itself an under
ground realm? Are not men and
women burrowing blindly, cropping
their way among the hidden roots Of
things that they cannot explain Oh
trace into the light? Even saints
o "see through glass darkly." Who
. in this earth life can, with perfect
q eyes, "look not on the things which
are seen, but the things which art
- not seen" and know how these ligh
}, Affections work out for us a far NOR,
7 exceeding and eternal weight o
n glory? Who can in this under
ground life interpret the ways of Cox
h or tell what results may grow up il
7 the realm of light out of things tina
. seem hardest and bittsrest now?
;. A secular paper submits as "a prob
4 lem of Christianity" the case of
4 mother in the heart-rending Johns
/ town disaster who placed her chill,
:. upon some drift from her attic win
z dow as she felt the house moving be
20 fore the food. With prayer to Co
a to preserve and save her child, sh
a pushed the drift away, while the Iii
= lie voice cried back: II will be SAFE
mamma. You know you always sal
God would take care of me." Tn
~ mother, through some strange chance
was saved; the child went to deaf
d. too horrible to think of. The eye
~ that had looked so trustfully t
y mamma in the dreadful moment
nc danger closed with mud, the slim
III ooze filling the childish mouth TIL
y had uttered such words of perfe
'is faith. Then this editorial critic ask
~ "Could prayer be more sincere; couI
~ faith be greater? What of answer
" prayer and justification of faith
We And the implied thought is that GC
If there be a Gods deaf to Of
pp cries, that this mothers prayer al
al her child's faith were alike del
sion and an empty dream.
And yet who can say-speaking
lse view of the merely earthly aspects
er- the case, in view of earthly possibi
nd ties-that this child was not saved
In Is not death in childhood a delivC
art ance from some possible earth
I'D things worse than death? Are the
nd not fathers and mothers gray III
Try broken-healted on account of diss
lutte sons or ruined daughters, WI
as now see that it would have been