Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-01-11

people the light end, and to ascribe
poo9 motives instead of bad, and to find
our happiness in making others happy.
f. Out Of that Bethlehem crib let the
bear and the lion eat straw like an OK.
Good will to men," That principle
will vet settle all controversies, and un-
der It the world will keep on improving
until there will be only two antagonists
in all the earth, and they will side by
side take the jubilant sleigh ride inti-
mated by the prophet when he said:
Holiness shall be on the bells of the
horses"
III. Again, remark that born that
Christmas night in the village barn was
sympathetic union with other worlds.
The only skepticism 1 have ever had
about Christianity was an astronomical
skepticism which said: "Why would
God out of the Heavens and amid the
Jupiters and Saturns of the Universe
have chosen our little bit of world for
the achievement of His only begotten
Son when He might have had vaster
scale and vaster worlds?" But my skep-
ticism is all gone as come to the man
ger and watch its surroundings. Now l
see all the worlds are sisters, and then
when one weeps they all weep, and when
one sings they all sing.
From that supernatural grouping in
the cloud banks over Bethlehem, and
from the especial trains that ran down
to the scene, I find that our world is
beautifully and gloriously and magni6-
Gently surrounded. The meteors are
with us, for one of them ran to point
down to the birthplace. The heavens
are with us, because at the thought of
our redemption they roll hosannas out
of the midnight sky.
oh! yes; do not know but our world
may be better surrounded than we have
sometimes imagined and when child
is born angels fetch it, and when it dies
angels take it, and when an old man
bends under the weight of years angels
uphold him, and when heart breaks
angels soothe it. Angels inthe hospital
to take care of the sick. Angels in the
cemetery to watch our dead. Angels in
church ready to fly heavenward with the
news of repentant souls. Angels above
the world. Angels under the world.
Angels all around the world.
Rub the dust of human imperfection
out of our eyes and look into the
heavens and see angels of pity, angels
help, angels crowned, angels charioted.
The world defended by angels, girdled
by angels, cohorted by angels-clouds of
angels. Hear David cry out: THE
chariots of God are twenty thousand.
Even thousands of angels" But the
mightiest angel stood not that night in
the clouds over Bethlehem; the mightiest
angel that night lay among the cattle
the angel of the new covenant.
AS the clean white linen sent in from
some motherly villager was being
wrapped around the little form of that
Child Emperor, not cherub, not ser
aph, not an angel, not a world but wept
and thrilled and shouted. Oh! yes, our
world has plenty of sympathizers. Onr
world is only silver rung of great
ladder, at the top of which is our
Fathers house. No more stellar soli-
fairness for our world. not a friendless
planet spun out into space to freeze, but
world in the bosom Of divine maternity.
star harnessed to manager.
~. Again, remark that that night
born in the village barn was the Offend
er's hope. Some sermonizers may say
I ought to have projected this thought
/ wanted you to rise toward it. I wanted
you to examine the comedians, and the
jaspers, and the emeralds, and the
chrysalis before 1 showed you the
Kohinoor-the crown jewel of the ages.
Oh! that jewel had a very poor setting.
The cub of bear is born amid the
grand old pillars of the forest, the
whelp of the liontakes its first step from
the jungle of luxuriant leaf and wild
flower, the kid of goat is born in cavern
chandeliered with stalactite and pillared
with stalagmite. Yet the nativity was
the offenders hope. Over the door of
Heaven are written these words: None
but the sinless may enter here.
."Oh, horror, you say, that shuts us
all out No. Christ came to the world
in one door, and He departed through
another door. He came through the
door of the manger, and He departed
through the door of the sepulcher, and
his one business was SO to wash away
our sin that one second after we are
dead there will be no more sin about US
than about the eternal God.
I know that is putting it strongly,
but that is what Understand by full re-
mission. All erased, all washed away,
all secured out, all gone. That under
girding and overarching and irradiating
and imparadising possibility for you,
and for me, and for the whole race was
given on that Christmas night.
Do you wonder We bring flowers to-
day to celebrate such an event? Do you
wonder that we take organ and cornet
and youthful voice and queenly soloist
to celebrate it? Do you wonder that
Raphael, and Rubens and Titan and
Giotto and Ghirlandajo, and all the
old Italian and German painters gave
their mightiest stroke of the pencil to
sketch the Madonna, Mary and her boy?
Oh! now see what the manger was.
Not SO high as the gilded and jeweled
and embroidered cradle of the Henrya
of England, or the Louises of France,
or the Fredericks of Prussia. Now
find out of that Bethlehem crib fed not
SO much the oxen of the stall as the
white horses of Apocalyptic vision. Now
find the swaddling clothes enlarging
and emblazoning into an imperial robe
for a conqueror. Now I find that the
star of that Christmas night was only
the diamond sandal of him who hath
the moon under his feet. Now I come
TO understand that the music of that
night was not complete song, but only
the stringing of the instruments. for q
great chorus of two worlds, the base to
be carried by earthly nations saved,
and the soprano by kingdoms of glory
won.
Oh, Heaven, Heaven, Heaven! I shall