The Dickinson press., 1892-02-06

ueuce OOeS not come ana WIN u
stroke prepare you for heaven. All,
no. God says that is not the way.
And so he keeps on by strokes of lit
tie annoyances, little sorrows, little
vexations, until at last you shall b q
glad spectacle for angels and for men.
You know that q large fortune may
be spent in small change, and a vast
amount of moral character may
go away in small depletion.
It is the little troubles of
life that are having more effect upon
you than great ones.
Now, be careful and let none ofthose
annoyances go through your soul un-
arraigned. Compel them to admins
ter to
YOUR SPIRITUAL WEALTH.
The scratch of a sixpenny nail some
times produces locked-jaw, and the
clip OF a most infinitesimal annoyance
may damage you forever. Do not let
annoyance or perplexity come across
your soul without it's makingyou bet
ter.
Our national government does not
think it belittling to put ajax onpins,
and a tax on buckles, and on shoes.
The Individual axesd do not amount to
much, but in the aggregate to millions
and millions of dollars. And 1 would
have you, Christian man, put a high
tariff on every annoyance and
ton that comes through your soul.
This might not amount to much, in
single cases, but in the aggregate it
would be a great revenue of spiritual
strength and satisfaction. A bee can
suck honey even out of a nettle; and
If you have the grace of God in your
heart, you can get sweetness out of
that which would otherwise irritate
and annoy.
Again, w must bring the rligion of
Christ into u commonest blessings.
When the autumn comes, and the
harvests are in, and the governors
make proclamation, we assemble in
churches and we are very thankful.
but every day ought to be a thanks
giving day. We do not recognize the
common mercies of life. We have to
see a blind man led by his dog before
we begin to think ourselves of what a
grand thing it lsto have eye-sight. We
have to see some one afflicted with
st. Vitus's dance before we are ready
to thank God for the control of our
physical energies. We have to see
some wounded man hobbling on his
crutch, or with empty coat sleeve
pinned up, before we learn to think
what a grand thing God did for us
when he gave us healthy Use of our
limbs. We are so stupid thatnothing
but the misfortunes of others can.
rouse us upto our blessings. AS the OK
grazes in the pasture up to it's eyes in
clover yet eve thinking who makes
the clover, and as the bird picks up
the worm from the furrow not know
ing that it is God who makes every
thing, from the animalcula in the sod
to the seraph on the throne, so we go
on eating, drinking, and enjoying. but
never thanking, or seldom thanking;
or, if thanking at all, with only half
a heart.
COMPARED OUR INDIFFERENCE
to the brute; but perhaps I wronged
the brute. l do not know but that,
among it's other instincts, it may
have an instinct by which, recognizes
the Divine hand that feeds it. do
not know but that Colds, through it,
holding communication with what we
call "irrational creation" The COW
that stands under the willow by tho
water course, chewing it's cud, looks
very thankful; and who can tell how
much a bird means by its song2 The
aroma of the flowers smells like in
cense, and the mist arising from the
river looks like the smoke of a morn.
ing sacrifice. Oh, that We we're as re-
sponsive! Yet who thanks God for
the water that gushes up in the well,
and that foams in the cascade, and
that laughs over the rocks, and that
patters in the showers, and that claps
its hands in the sea? Who thanks
God tor the air, the fountain of life,
the bridge OF sunbeams, the path
of sound, the great fan on q
hot summers day? Who thanks
God for this wonderful physical or.
ganism-this sweep of the vision-this
chime of harmony struck into the
this nervous tissue-this rolling of
the crimson tide through artery
and vein-this drumming of the heart
on our march to Immortality? We
take all these things as a matter of
course.
But suppose God should withdraw
these common blessings! Your body
would become an Inquisition of tort
ure, the cloud would refuse rain,
every green thing would crumble up,
and the earth would crack open un.
der your feet. The air would cease
Its healthful circulation, pestilence
would swoop, and every house would
become 8. place of skulls. Streams
would first swim with vermin. and
then dry up, and thirst and hunger,
and anguish and despair would lift
their sceptres. Oh, compare such Q
life as that with the life you live this
morning with your families about
you! Is it not time that, with every
word Of u lips and with every 40
ton OF our life, we began to acknowl.
edge these everyday merciesi
whether We eat OF drink or whatso.
ever you do, do all to the glory Of
God"
TAKE H PRACTICAL RELIGION
l have recommended into your every.
day life. Make every day Sabbath,
and every meal a sacrament, and
every room you enter a Holy OF
Holes. We all have work to do; let
us be willing to do it. We all have
sorrows to bear; let us cheerfully bear
them. We all have battles to fight;
let US courageously fight them. If you
want to die right you must live right.
Negligence and Incidence will win the
hiss of everlasting scorn, while faith.
fulness will gather its garlands, and
wave its sceptre, and sit upon ito
throne, long after this earth has put
on ashes, and eternal ages have begun
their march. You go home today
and attend to your little sphere
of duties. I will go homo and
attend to my little sphere Of duties.
Every mi in his own place. 30 our
every step IN life shall be a triumphal
march, and the humblest footstool ON
which we are called to sit will DO .
conqueror's throne.
BOYD Declared Gsvernsr of Nebraska.