Thomas County cat., 1890-10-30

tains and lakes and prairies and oceans
lands bespangled with tropical gorge
business and Arctic regions white with
everlasting SHOWS, Lebanon majesty
with cedars and American wilds solemn
with unbroken forests of pine, African
deserts of clustering sand and wilder
nesses of water unbrOken by ships keel,
continents covered with harvests of
wheat and rice and maze, the glory of
every zone, the wnOle world OF noun
tains and seas and forests and islands
taken in single glance of their great
Creator
As we take our stand upon some high
point, single objects dwindle into such
insignificance that we cease to see them
in the minCtia, and we behold only the
grand points of the scenery. But not
SO with God. Although standing far
up in the very tower of heaven, nothing
by reason of its smallness escapes His
vision. Every lily of the field, every violet
under the grass, the tiniest .heliOtrope,
aster and gentian are as plainly seen by
Him as the proudest magnolia. and not
one vein of color in their leaf deepens
or fades without His notice. From
this door in heaven God see all human
conduct and the worlds moral charges.
Not one tear of sorrow falls in hospital
or workshop or dungeon but He sees it
and in high heaven makes record of its
fall. The worlds iniquities in all their
ghastliness glover under His vision.
Wars and tumults and the desolatiOns
of famine and earthquake, whirlwind
and shipwreck spread out before Him.
If there were no being in all the uni
verse but God He could be happy with
such an outlook as the door of heaven.
But there he stands, no more disturbed
by the fall of kingdom than the drop
ping of leaf, no more excited by the
rising of throne than the bursting of
a bud, the falling of deluge than the
trickling of a raindrop. Earthly royal
ty clutches nervously its sceptre and
waits in suspense the will of inhamed
subjects and the crown is tossed from
one family to another. But above all
earthly vicissitudes and the assault of
human passions in unshaken security
stands the King of Kings, watching all
the affairs of His empire from the in
PRODUCTION of an era to the counting Of
the hairs of your head.
Again, l learn from the fact that a
door in heaven is opened, that there is
way of entrance for our prayers and Of
egress for divine blessings. 1t does not
seem that our weak voice has strength
enough to climb up to Gods ear. Shall
not our prayer be lost in the clouds :?
Have words wings? The truth is plain.
Heavens door is wide open to receive
every prayer. Must it not be loud?
Ought it not to ring up with the strength
of stout lungs? Must it not be loud
call, such as drowning men utter, or
like the shout of some chieftain in the
battle? No: whisper is as good as a
shout, and the mere wish of the soul in
profound silence is as good as a wisper
1t rises just as high and accomplishes
just as much.
But ought not prayer to he made up
of golden words if it Is to enter such a
splendid door and live beside seraphim
and archangel? Ought not every phrase
be rounded into perfection, ought not
the language be musical, and classic,
and poetic, and rhetorical? No, the
most lliterate Outcry, the unjOinted
petition, the clumsy phrase, the sentence
breaking into grammatical blunders, an
unworded groan, is just as effectual if it
be the ut.erance of the souls want. a
heart all covered up with garlands of
thought would be no attraction to God,
but heart broken and contrite, that is
the acceptable sacrifice. Il know that
my Redeemer liveth,' rising up in the
mighty harmony of a musical academy
may Overpower our ear and heart, but
it will not reach the ear of God like the
brohen-voiced hymn of some sufferer
amid rags and desolation looking up
trustfully to Sayior's compassion,
singing amid tears and pangs, Il know
that my Redeemer liveth."
Isuppose that there was more rhetoric
and classic elegance in the prayers of
the Pharisee than of the publican, but
you know when successful. You may
kneel with complete elegance on some
soft chuShiOn at an alter of alabster,
and utter prayer of Miltonic sublimty
but neither your graceful posture nor
the roll of your blank verse will attract
heavenly attention, while over some
dark cellar in which Christian pauper
is postrate in the straw, angels bend
from their thrones and cry out to an
other: Behold, he prays!' Through
this open door of heaven what a long
procession of prayers is continually pass
ing. What thanksgiving! What con-
fessiOns' What intcrcessions. What
beseechings. 'And behold a door was