Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-05-23

war against disease, be only skirmishing bo-
fore a general engagement, in which al the
maladles OF earth shall be routed. Surely
allopathv and homeopathy and hydrOpath7
and eclectlclsm need reinforcement from
somewhere. Whv not from the faith and
PRAYER OF the consecrated, The mightiest
school of medicine may Vet be the school Of
Christ. L 90 not know Dur that diseases now
by all schools pronounced incurable
may give way under Gospel lombard
ment. [ do not know but that the day
may come when faith and PRAYER shall raise
the dead Strauss and Woolston and Spin
OLA and Hume and SchleiermaCher rejected
the miracles OF the far past. / do not pro-
pose TO be like them and reject the miracles
Of the'far future This know-the Christ
of Ascension Day is mightier than any nat
ural laws, for on the day of which | speak
He trampled down the strongest of them all.
Law is mighty, but He who made it is
mightier. Drive out fatalism from your
theology, and give grace the throne.
Standing to-day on the Ascension peak Of
Mount Olvet l am also gladdened at the
closing gesture, the last gesture Christ ever
made. He lifted up His hands and blessed
them" says the inspired account of our
Lords departure. | am so glad He lifted
up His hands. Gestures are often more sig
nificant than words, attitudes than argu-
ments. Christ had made gesture of con-
tempt when with His finger He wrote on the
ground; gesture Of repulsiOn when He said:
Get thee behind me, Satan" gesture Of con-
domination when He said: ''WOe unto YOU
Phar,sees and hypocrites. But His last
gesture, Eis Olivetic gesture, is gesture Of
benedictioH. He lifted UP His hands and
blessed chem. His arms are extended, and
the paIu.s of His hands turned downward,
and so He dropped benedction upon Oivet,
benediction upon Palestine, benediction upon
all the earth.
The cruel world took Him in at the start
ON cradle Of straw, and at last thrust
Him out with the point OF the spear; but
benedictiOn! Ascending until, beneath, He
saw on one side the Bethlehem where they
put Him among the cattle, and Calvary on
the other side, where they put Him among
the thieves AS far as the excited and in
tensified vision of the group on Ohvet could
see Him. and after He was so far up they
could no longer hear His words, they saw
the gesture of the outspread hands, the ben
ediction. And that is His attitude to-day,
His benedictiOn upon the worlds climates
and they are changing, and will keep on
changing until the atmosphere shall be
cOmmingling of October and June. Bene-
diction upon the deserts till they whiten with
lily and blush with rose, and yellow with
cowslip and emerald with grass. Benedlc-
ton upon governments till they become
more lust and humane. BenedictiOn upon
nations till they kneel in prayer. Benedic-
ton upon the whole earth until every mount
ain is an Olive Of conservation, and every
lake a Galilee on whose mosaic of crystal,
and opal, and sapphire divine splendors shall
walk.
Oh, take the benediction of His pardon sim
ners young and sinners old, sinners moderate
and sinners abandoned. Take the benediction
of His comfort, all We broken hearted under
bereavement and privatiOn and myriad woes.
Take His benedictiOn, all We sick beds,
whether under acute spasms Of pain or IN
long protracted invalidism. For orphanage,
and childlessneSs and widOwhOOd benedlc-
I2,~r1-
ing chairs of OctOgenarianS, a benedlctlon.
For life and for death, for time and for eter-
nifty, for earth and for heaven, a benedlc-
ton Sublimest gesture ever made, the last
gesture of our ascending Lord. And he
lifted up His hands and blessed them
Is our attitude the same? Is 1t the clenched
fist or the open palm? Is it wrath or is it
kindness? Is it diabolism or Chrstism? God
give us the grace of the open palm, open up
ward to get the benedictiOn, open downward
to pronounce benediction. A lady was pass
ing along street and suddenly ran against
a ragged boy, and she said 81 beg your par
don, my boy, | did not mean to run against
YOU: am very sorry" And the boy took off
the piece of a cap he had upon his head and
said: "YOu have my pardlng, lady, and you
may run agin me and knock me clear down;
I won't care" And turning to a comrade he
said: THAT nearly took me off my feet. No
body ever asked my parding before" Kind
ness! Kindness Fill the world with it,
There has always been too much Of disregard
of others. Illustrated in 1880, in England
when 95, 900 acres Of marshes were drained
for health and for crop raising, and the
sportsmen destroyed the drainage works be-
cause they wanted to keep the marshes for
hunting ground, where they could shoot
wild ducks.
The same selfshness in all ages. Oh for
kindness that would make our life SYM
phony suggestive of one of the ancient ban
quets where everything was set to music;
the plates brought in and removed to the
sound Of music, the motions of the carvers
keeping time with the music. the conversation
lifting and propping with the rising and
falling Of the music. But, instead of the
music of an earthly orchestra, it would
be the music of heavenly charm, our words
the music of kind thoughts our steps the
music of helpful deeds, our smile the music
of encouraging looks, our youth and old age
the first and last bars of music conducted by
the pierced hand that was opened in love and
spread downward in benediction on Olivetic
heights on Ascension Day.
By new way none ever trod
Christ mounted to the throne of God.