Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-04-09
REV. DR.. MAGE
THE IIttkI.lN LlNlNIS StN
DAY SERMDN.


A country farmer wrote this ta1t-Amos
Of Tekoa. lie plowed tins earth aud thrashed
the grain by a new thrashing machine just
Invented, as formerly the cattle troi OUT 'a8
. grain He gathered the fruit OF the syca-
more tres. and sc4rifed il with an iron comb
Just before It was getting ripe. as 1t was
necessary aud customary N that way u tax
from II the bitterness. IL was the son of q
poor shepherd ana suffered, but before tue
staDmering hustle the Palestine, and Svr
ians ana PECeulcianS and Noabltes ani Am
mo1itss and Eto1nlte- an lsraelites traH
b..
N.sea wa, a laa glver. Daniel was a
pr4nce, Isaiah a courtier and Davi1 a king.
but Amos, the author o. my text, was IL
peasant, and. as might be supposed. near.y
al his Iaraliel!sns are pastoral, his proph-
ecV iull Of the Odor OF new mo*n hay, au1
the rattle Of !Ocu-ts. and the rumble OF carts
with sheaves. AMI the roar ~ Wild beas.s
devourIn9 TIE 4 ,ck while the ,leDner came
out in their iefeLs- He watched the herds
by day, and by night iuha5it-i a booth
ina1e out 81 bu,bes, 50 that thrOu 5htheSehe
could It Z the star, al nlgat long, and was
more familiar with them than We who hayc
tigh roofs TO our hoa,e, AMI hardly ever So
the stars, except among tle tall brlcs
chimneys Of toe great towns. Bat at sea
sons OF the years when the her,is were III
special danger. III would stay out III the open
field all through tue darkness. his only
shelter the curtain OF the night heaven, with
the stellar embroidered and silver tasse!. o.
lunar light.
hat II !lte Of solitude, al alone with bis
herds PoorAnost And at II O'Clock at night
har4 to tue VOLTS bark, an the lions roar.
ana the bears growl, AM tn owls te-whit-
It. who, ana the serpents us, as he unT.t
tlng!s steps too near wnlle moving througa
the th!ckets. 50 Amos, like orner herdsnen.
got the habit Or studying the map Of the
heavens. because It was So much OF tle tine
spread out before him. he nOtic.1 som-
STAR ADVANCING and others rec-ilng. He
associated theic lawn an SITTING with Ger
tain seasons Of the wear. ii Rad a % tic
nature, and he read night by nignt, al
month by month, AMI year By year. toe
poem of the considerations, diviuely
rhythmic. But two ~rosettes OF stars espe-
cialiy attracted his attention while seated on
tie ground or lying on his back under the
open scroll Of the mi tnignt hedven>--tue
Pleiades, or Seven Star. and Orion. The
former group this rustic prophet associated
with the >pring, as il rises about the frs. OF
May. The latter h ASSOCIATED with the
winter, as i, comes t. the meridian in Janu-
airy: The ella les. or Seven Stars, con
necteds VITA all sweetness aud joy; Oriou,
the herald Of the tempest. Tue ancient.
We're the more apt TO study toe p~aysiognomy
ANA luxtaposition OF the heavenly bodies.
becau,e they thought they hal a soeciat in
tiuencs upon Xe earth, aud perhaps tae,
We're rl-ht. II the moou every few hours
tits and lets down the Jlie> OK the Atlantic
OCEAN. and the electric storms of tie SUI, by
all scientific admission affect tue earth, WHY
not the stars have propurtlonate effect?
And there are >OlIle things Wulcn maze lnH
thtnh thai II may NOT have been all super
stitiol winch connected the movements and
appearance OF the heavenly bOtieS with
great moral events Oh earth. Did not a m
ttOr run on eVan2eilStlc erranu on the first
Christmas night and designate tee rough
rTati4 nt nf- l.Drt. hid not tna StarS in
Their curses light against Slsecas Was ii
merely cOlncidental that before the deStruc-
ton .: Jerusalem the moon was ec.ipsed TO!
twelve consecutive nights: Did it merely
happen So that n new star appeared III con.
stellatlUn Ca>sioueia. and then disapT cared
just before King Charles TX of France, who
was responsible for the st. bartholomew
massacre, died Was ii without significance
that IN the days Of the Roman emperor JUS
tinian war and famine were preceded by the
dlnlnesa OF the sun. which for nearly a year
gave 10 more iigAt than the moon, alt hOug h
there were no clou Is to obscure it,
A>tro.ogy, after all. may have been some.
thing more 1uau a brilliant heatllenism. No
wonder that Amos OF the text. having heard
these anthems OF the stars, put down
the stout rough staff of the herdsman and
took INTO MS brown hand ana cut aud
klotted finger, thu pen OF a prophet aud
advised the rscreant peope OF his tiue t.
return t. Col, saying. '.Sses Him that
maketn the the Seven Stars and Orion
This command, which Amos gave 1S5 years
+. 1, i iu>t as appropriate for US, $50
a. T.
In the first place, Amos saw, as We must
Sc. that the God who made tbs Pielades
ana Orion must DE the Goa of order. IT
was not So much Il star here and a star
there That impressed the inspired nerd>man,
but even III one group and seven III tbs
othel group. He saw that night after night
and >eayou after season and decade after ue-
caue they mad Kept step Of ilgnt, eacn one IN
ITS " place, aud slStrrhood never c~lashing
aud never conteotlng prec sdeuce. From the
time uesiod called the Pieiades the sever
daughters of Atlas and Virgil wrote in hi,
-tn@lI OF STORMY Orion' until now. they
have observed the order established for theiI
coming aud going, order written not IN man
uscript that may he pigeonholed, but witt
the hand OF the Almighty on the come OF til
sky, 80 that ali nations may read II. Order
Persistent order. Sublime order. OinnipJ
tent order.
W uat j seiative to you ana me. 10 WHOM
communities ana nations sometimes seen
gong Yelil,eli. AMI world Tulei by SOM,
tirll al lavhazarl and in all direction
malaumInl>tratloh The Gol who keep
seven worlds III right circuit for SIX thous
and Years can certainly keep all the affair
OF ni.N.dual> an nations ami continents II
adjustment. We had not better fret much
for the peasant argument o. the text wa
right. Ii Tod can take care or the seVel
worlds Of the P!eia hes AMI the four chic
worlds OF Orion, he can probably take car
OF the one world we lnhatlt.
50 1eel very muCn rs my father felt on
day when we Were gong 10 the country mil
TO get a griSt ground. and J. a boy of sever
Years, sat in the back part Of the wagon, an,
! our woke of oxeu ran away with us and alon
a labvrlntnlne road through the woods. S
that | Thought every moment We should {
J dashed - pieces, AM | maie a terrible ou'
cry Of fright, AM my father turned To IN
J with a face perfectly calm, AMI said ID
WIKI, what are Won crying about2 / gue>
we can ride As fast as the oxen eau run,
And, my hearers. why should We be ~atfrignte
and lose our equilibrium III the swift NOV,
lnent of worldly events, especially wneu "
are assured that II l. NOT a yoke OF uubrose
steers that are drawing Us ul, but that .
der aud wise government are lnftne Yoke
In your OCCupaflUE. your mission. yot
sphere, do the test YOU can and then tru
10 Gou: and Il all things are al mixed q,
disQusetng, am vOlr train IS ho. and yol
heart slck. get some one 10 so ous with "
into the starlight AMI point out 10 You Z
flelades, or, better tnsn tat, ge, into Sc.
observatory. ana through the telescope 5
further than Amo~ with tn. .-asei eve con
-uamA!v. two hundrei stars IN the P.eiaie:
anu that IN what \ cAitc.; 81. ~. - o.