Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-02-28

barns. yet your Heavenly Father feedeth
them;' and Dominic hen OF the BARNARD
could not cluck for her brood, vet we would
hear Christ saying as of old: "How often
would have gathered thy children together.
even as a hen gathered her chickens
under her wings" and through the redolent
hedges we would hear Christ saving: al nm
the rose of Sharon" we could not din the
seasoning from the salt cellar without think
ing of the Divine suggestion: aye are the
salt Of the earth. but if the salt have lost it,
SAVIOR, it is fit for nothing but to be
cast out and trodden under foot
OF men" Let us wake up
from our stupidity and take the whole world
as parable. Then il with gun and pack Of
hounds we start OF before dawn and see the
morning coming down OF the hills to meet
US. we would cry out with the evangelist;
THE day spring from on high hath
visited u.s." or caught in a snowstorm
while struggling home. eyebrows and
beard and apparel all covered with the whirl-
ing flakes. we would cry out with David:
wash me and shall be whittier than snow"
In picture gallery of Europe there is on the
ceiling an exquisite fresco. but people
having to look straight up il weared and
dizzied them. and bent their necks almost be.
yond endurance, SO a great looking glass
was put near the floor and now visitors only
need to look easily down into this mir
feet. And SO much of all the heaven
of Gods truth is reflected in this world as in
mirror and the things that are above
are copied by things all around us. What
right have we to throw away one of Gods
Bibles ave. the first Bible He ever gave the
racel We talk about the Old Testament and
the New Testiment, but the Oldest Tesla
ment contains the lessons OF the natural
world Some people like the New Testament
so well they discard the Old Testament.
Shall we like the New Testament and the
Old Testament so well as to deprecate the
oldest; namely that which was written
before Moses was put afioat on the boat OF
leaves which was calked with asphaltum. or
reject the Genesis and the Revelation that
were written centuries before Adam lost n
rib and gained wifel No, no: when Deity
stoops down and writes on the ground,
let us read it. | would have no
less appreciation of the Bible on paper
that comes out of the paper MILL but
would urge appreciation of the Bible in
the grass. the Bible in the sand hill,
the Bible in the geranium. the Bible in
the asphode the Bible in the dust
Some one asked an ancient king
whether he had seen the eclipse of the sun.
mo- said he. al have so much to do on
earth. have no time to look at heaven
Aud if our faculties were all awake in the
study of God, we would not have time TO go
much further than the first grass blade.
have no fear that natural religion will ever
what we call revealed religion |
have no sympathy with the followers of
Aristotle, who after the telescope was in
vented, would not look through it. lest it
some of the theories OF their great
master / shall be glad to put against one
lid of the Bible the microscope, and against
the other lid of the Billie the telescope
But when Christ stopped down and wrote
on the ground what did He writel The
Pharisees dill not stop to examine The
whipped of their own consciences
fled pell nell. Nothing will flaw man like
an aroused conscience. DR. Stevens in
his History of Methodism" says that
when Rev Ben amin Abbott of olden
times was preaching, he exclaimed; "For
aught know there may be murderer in
this house, and man rose in the assemblage
and started for the door and bawled aloud.
confessing to a murder lie had committed
fifteen years before. And no wonder these
Pharsees. reminded of their SINS took
to their heels. But what did Christ write
on the grounds The Bible does not state.
Yet as Christ never wrote anything except
that on e. you cannot blame us for wanting
to know what He really did write. But am
certain He wrote nothing trivial, or nothing
And will you allow me
to say that | think | know what
He wrote on the groundf judge
from the circumstances. He might
have written other things, hut kneeling there
i'm the temple, surrounded by pack of
hypocrites who were "A self appointed CON
AMI having in His presence per-
secuted woman who evidently was very peni-
tent for her sins am sure He wrote
two words both of them graphic and tre-
and reverberating Aud the one
word was hypocrisy and the other word |
was forgiveness From the way THESE
Pharisees and scribes vacated the premises |
and got out into the fresh air, as Christ,
with lust one ironical sentence, |
unmasked them, | know they were first |
class hypocrites. 1t was then as it Is now. |
The more faults and inconsistencies peopIe |
have of their own. the more severe and CEN |
serious are they about the faults of others. |
Here they are-twenty stout men arrest
ng and arraigning one weak woman.
Magnificent business 10 be engaged in. They |
wanted the fun of seeing her faint away un- /
Ter a heavy judicial sentence from Christ,
and then aftor she had been taken outside
he city and ias ened at the foot oil the prec-
pice, the Scribes and Pharisees wanted the
satisfaction of each coming and dropping
big stone ON her head, for that was the style
If capital punishment hat they asked Tor.
Some people hav. taken the responsibility
IF saving that Christ never laughed. But l
hink as He saw those men drop every,
hing chagrined mortified, exposed
md go out quicker than they came in, lie
must have laughed At any rate II makes
ne laugh to read Of il. All of these liber-
ines. dramatizing indignation against inn
purity. Blind bats lecturng on optics.
lock of crows on their way up from car
ASS, denouncing carI.ion. Yes. think that
me word written on the ground that
lay by the finger Of Christ was TIE awtu
word of hypocrisy. But | am sure there was
mother word in that dust. from her entire
manner / am sure that arraigned woman
vas repentant, She made no apology, and
Christ in no wise helittled her SIM
But her supplicatory behavior and her tears
moved Him, and when He stopped down 10
write ON the ground, He wrote that mighty,
hat imperial word, forgiveness When
m Sinai God wrote the law, He wrote
t with finger of lightning on table,
# stone each word cut as by chlsel
nto the bard granite surface. But when he
writes the offense of this woman he writes u
n the dust so that it can be easily rubbed
,ut. and when she repents of it. Oh he was
merciful Christi | was reading OF
egend that is told in the far East about
lin He was walking through the streets Oh
city and He saw crowd around dead
log And one man said: WHAT loatn