The Russellville Democrat., 1890-05-22


painted Madonna, and that
Mendelssohn never wrote an oratorio.
and that Phidias never chiseled o.
statue. Because we can not accomplish
1t ourselves NE are not TO conclude
that others may not. There are in
immensely great ranges OF mists which
have proved, under closer telescope
scrutiny, to be the storchouse OF worlds.
and do not know but from that passage
in James, which to some OF US Is yet
misty and dim, there may roll out
new heaven and a new earth: "The
prayer Of faith shall save the sick The
disease, DO only skirmishing before
general engagements in which all the
maladies Of earth shall be routed.
Surely allopathy and homeopathy
and hydropathy and eclecticisin need
reinforcement from somewhere. Why not
from the faith and prayer OF the conse-
Grated? The mightiest school of medi-
cine may yet be the school OF Christ ]
do not know but that diseases, now by
all schools pronounced incurable, may
give way under Gospel bombardment
come when faith and prayer shall raise
the dead. Strauss, and Woolston, and
Spinoza, and Hume, and Schleiermacher
rejected the miracles Of the far past.
do not propose to be like them, and re-
ject the miracles OF the far future This
l know, the Christ of Ascension Day is
mightier than any natural 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 fanaticism from your theolo-
gy, and give grace the throne.
Standing to-day on the Ascension
Peak of Mount olivet | am also glad
dened at the closing gesture, the last
gesture Christ ever made. HE lifted
up His hands and blessed them,r says
the inspired account OF our Lords de-
parture. ! am so glad He lifted up His
hands. Gestures are often more signifi-
cant than words, attitudes than argu-
ments. Christ had made gesture Of
contempt when with His finger He
wrote on the ground; gesture of repul-
sion when He said: ''Get thee behind
me, Satan, "Woe unto you, Pharisees
and hypocrites. But His last gesture,
His Olivetic gesture, is a gesture of ben
ediction. He lifted up His hands and
blessed them. His arms are extended,
and the palms of His hands turned down
ward, and so He dropped benediction
upon Olivet benediction upon Pales-
tine, Denediction upon all the earth.
The cruel world took Him in at the
start on a cradle of straw, and at last
thrust Him out with the point of the
spear; but benedictionl Ascending I'M
til beneath, He saw on one~side the
Bethlehem, whore 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 Olivet
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 benediction. 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 a COM
mingling of October and June. Bene-
diction upon the deserts till they wbiten
with lily, and blush with rose, and yell
low with cowslip, and emerald with
till they become more just and
humane. Benediction upon nations
till they kneel in prayer. Benedic-
tion upon the whole earth until every
mountain is an Olivet of conservation,
and every lake Galilee on whose
mosaic of crystal, and opal, and sap
phire, 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, and We
broken-hearted under bereavement and
privation and myriad woes. Take His
benediction all ye siclz-beds, whether
under acute spasms of pain or in long
protracted invalidism. For orpbanage
and childlessness and widowhood a
benediction. For cradles and trundle-
beds, and rocking-chairs of octo-
genarians, benediction. For life and
for death, for time and for eternity, for
earth and for Heaven, a benediction-
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 it the
clenched fist or the open palm? Is 1t
wrath or is it kindness? Is it diabolism
or Christism? God give us the grace of
the open palm, open upward to get the
benediction, open downward to pro-
nounce benediction. A lady was pass
ing along the street and suddenly ran
against ragged boy, and she said; II
beg your pardon my boy, did not mean
to run against you; i am very sorry"
And the boy took off the piece of a cap
he had upon his head and said: ''You
have my parding, lady, and you
may run agin me and knock
me clear down; | won't care"
And turning to comrade he
my feet. Nobody ever asked my par
ding before" Kindnessl kindnessl
Fill the world with it. There has al
ways been too much of disregard to
others. Illustrated in $780, in England,
when ninety-fiye thousand acres OF
marshes were drained for health and
for crop-raising, and the sportsmen de-
stroyed the drainage works because
they wanted to keep the marshes for
hunting-ground, where they could
shoot wild ducks. The same selfish
ness in all ages. Oh, for kindness that
would make our life a symphony sug-
gestive of one of the ancient banquets
where every thing was set To
music; the plates brought in
and removed to the sound OF
music, the motions OF the carvers keep
ing time with the music, the converse
ton lifting and dropping with the ris-
ing and falling of the music. But, in
stead of the music Of an earthly orches-
ira, it would be the music of a Heaven.
ly charm, our words the music Of kind
thoughts, our steps the music OF helpful
deeds, our smile the music OF encourag-
ing looks. our youth and old age the