The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-05-15

stir the "Reminiscences. But I must point
you to another passage of your lies his
tory. One day you found you were on
the wrong road. You could not sleep
nights. There was lust one word that
sobbed through the banking house,
through the fields, through the bedroom,
through the factory and that one word
was, eternity. You said: ooh, God, | am
not ready for it; through the rich grace OF
Jesus Christ Thy Son, prepare me Tor the
future" And God heard your prayer and
peace came to your soul, and you entered
the house of the Lord and you remember
just how your hand trembled as you took
hold of the cup of holy communion. You
remember the aged minister who conse-
Grated it. You remember the church Off
Gals who carried it through the aisle. You
remember how the older members of the
church at the close of the service took
your hand in their hands in congratulate
ing sympathy as much as to say, Wei
come home. you long lost prodigal." Those
hands have all withered away, but that
scene comes up in resurrection to-day. 1t
is resurrected with all its songs and ser
mons and tears and TRANSPORTATION. Have
you forgotten the vow? Are you back
slider? Kneel to-day at the foot of mercy
Start again for heaven as you started then.
The door is open. Why not now-now?
But l must not dwell longer on the advan-
tages OF your early lifetime. Your life has
not been smooth sailing all the way
through has it? Some of you are under
the shadow now. Some OF you had troub-
les years ago. There are people in this
hOuse-hundreds of them-who are mere
wrecks of what they once were. | am GO
ing to take all your sorrows, all the annoy
ances of your lifetime, all the disasters
and all the perplexities, and / am just
going to put them in one sheaf. "Oh,
says some one, you cannot do that"
Why can't I q? "Oh," you say. Il have
had so many sorrows, so many misfor-
tunes, so many disasters so many bereave
ments and so many troubles you cannot
do that" Well, then, if l cannot take
them all, / will just take two-your first
sorrow and your last sorrow. AS you are
going along the street you hear music in
the distance and find yourself keeping
step to the music. So every step of your
early life was like a musical time beat.
Oh, how bright the world was to you.
With what bright, clean two oars you
made the boat skip. 1t got brighter and
brighter as you went on in the jouTny. I'M
til one day a voice commanded, "Haltp
You halted and you stood in front of your
first sorrow. You thought it was not an
unhealthy flush on the child's cheek. You
said 1t was nothing serious; but Death,
With slippered feet, walked around the
cradle and after awhile you were deeply
anxious and YOU walked the floor. Oh, if
with your stout arm you could have Just
wrenched that child from the destroyer's
grasp. You went to your room and said;
"God spare my child; God spare my
child" You came out and walked the
floor again and you said: 81 can't stand
it, can't stand it." You could not bear
TO think OF putting the long lashes over
the bright eyes, never again to see them
sparkle. If you could let your business
90, if you could let your last dollar on
earth go. you would have been glad to let
it 60 If you could have kept that one treas
ure. But chill blast swept through the
room and all the lights were dead, and it
was darkness impenetrable. and as you
were about to put the bitter cup TO your
lips God said: "Let that cup pass" and
another cup as though by the hands of
angels was put to your lips, and it was the
cup of Gods consolation, and as you
would have taken a wounded soldier on
one arm and with the other hand poured
wine into his lips, so the Lord put His left
arm under your head and with His right
hand He poured into your lips the wine of
divine comfort and consolation, and you
looked at your broken heart, and you
looked at the divine chastisement and you
looked at the empty cradle and you said:
Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good
in Thy sight" You have been better
man ever since. You have been better
woman ever since. Now, l must speak
minute about your last sorrow. Perhaps
it was sickness of your own body But
you are well now. You are we'll now.
Have you thanked God for it? But the
second trouble, this last trouble, may not
have been that. 1t may have been finan-
cial embarrassment. / congratulate many
of you on lucrative profession, on com
modious residence, on ornate apparel.
Everything you touch seems to turn into
gold, and 1 am glad of it. But there are
others of you who have had great business
misfortunes, great trials. Do not you
realize that your business trouble has led
you TO an investment which will continue
after the last bank is exploded and the
silver and the gold are molten in tn e fire
of burning world?