The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1890-10-25
Looking Skyward.
For the Sentinel,1

An interesting writer travelling re-
Gently through Europe, says hat he
long ago 'smade acquaintance with the
heavens and friendship with the stars"
SO that though "a stranger in a strange
land" he could not feel alone while
companionship with the skies was left
to him. Many of the greatest charac-
tiers are developed amid the grandeur
of wild and lofty surroundings. Ac-
customed to look upward at the won
ders of the natural world, their mental
and spiritual natures are also elevated
and drawn towards higher things.
We need not to go to Italy's sunny
bays to SWitzer,ands picturesque lakes
to the almost inaccessible mountains
across the seas TO find skies of trans
cendant beauty. To every free eye is
presented the brilliant pictures of
sunrise and sunset, the unclouded gI0-
~ of IA perfect day at noon, the splen-
dor of a full moon or the mystery of a
starlight night. Did you ever think
how in this daily mirage OF the setting
sun the Divine Artist each day portIays
a different picture, formed from living
c0lors and tints which for rare delicaey
can never be excelled Did any one
ever see two sunsets exactly alike?
In the economy Of the natural world
nothing is ever lost: the same atoms
under changed forms are used again
and again, and philosophy teaches us
that some particles which existed i'll
the bodies of 4 dam and Eve, Plato or
A ,Ivtnt+lo nowI a nc,rnnrota1 IN
the mechanism OF III mortal frames.
If this be so Of the material world, may
it not be true of the mental and moral
part of humanity alsoP May not some
of us possess the identical attributes
of St. Paul or Caesar, or Homer, or
some hero who persisted ages ago 7
We look up at the stars an9 call them
cllangeless eternal. Yet all the while
they may be under going stupendous
changes or preparing for final destruc-
ton. Much knowledge should increase
humility, as the more we learn of Ma
ture, Science, or God the keener is our
realization Of our own ignorance, and
the more earnest is our desire to search
deeper into the mysteries of our own
being, the world around us, and of
eternity itself.
Some mems thoughts seem not to
rise above the level oftheir daily lives.
They have no wish, no time to medi-
tate upon things they cannot compre-
bend. The primrose by the rivers
brim' must ever remain the simple
primrose to them: Orion and the lost
Pleads vex not their prosaic souls.
Daily work, daily living, the occasion
al holiday or wild revel this is all of
their existence till the closing scene
hurries them from the stage of life
Like the man with the muck-rake, toe
intent upon gathering the straws and
trash of earthly comfort or pleasure,
they see not within their grasp the
crown of immortal happiness.
The dull monotony of q common
place life becomes, to impatientspirits,
sometimes almost uncomfortable. II
such hours a star-lit sky with its pa
tient calm seems to speak the '.Peace
be STILL" to the restless soul. Again
when temptations a@ssail, and all thu
emissaries of Apoliyon band togethel
to pierce the armor of integrity anC
morality, the quiet hour alone with th'
heavens will do much to strengthen
and help us.
But there are days and nights wher
looking skyward we see only leader
draperies and drifting torn clouds
No shine of sun or CLEAN of stars. Al
is dark, dismal, ~discouraging. Ant
yet we know that the sun and tn
stars shine on Obscured, but not obi
terated, hidden, but not gone. SO il
our spiritual lives it appears we ar
sometimes leftto ourselves in the dark
ness; the way is hedged up and III
voice answers our cry for aid, no han,
is held out to guide our stumblin
steps. Yet faith tells us our prayer i
not unheard, and the hand we canno
see is so close to us that by reachin,
out we can grasp it. We have only t
wait, and the sky will become lumin
Gus, and we shall have again til
"clear shining after rain"
EssIE.