Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-04-21

trees, yielding only the bitter, or crab ap-
pie trees, producing only the sour, while
God would have us all flourish like the
palm tree. Planted in the Bible that tree
always means usefulness.
But how little any Of us or all Of us ac-
complish in that direction. We take twen-
ty or thirty years 10 get fully ready for
Christian work. and in the afterpart of
life We take ten or twenty years for the
gradual closing Of active work, and that
leaves only so little time between opening
and stopping work that all we accomplish
IL so little an angel Of God needs to exert
himself 10 see IL all
THR GOSPEL OF USEFULNESS
Nearly everything see around, beneath
and above in the natural world suggests
useful service. II there is nothing In the
Bible that inspires you to usefulness, go
out and study the world around you this
springtime, and learn the great lesson Of
usefulness. What art thou doing up
there, little start Why not shut thine
eyes and sleep, for who cares for thy shin
ing" NO" saith the star. ~ will not
sleep. guide the sailor on the sea.
cheer the traveller among the mountains.
| help tip the dew with light. Through
the window Of the poor mans cabin cast
beam Of hope, and the child on her moth
er's lap asks in glee whittier come and
what do and whence go. To CLEAN and
glitter, God set me here. Away have no
time to sleep"
| The snowflake comes struggling down.
''Frail, fckle wanderer why comest thou
here" II am no idle wanderer," responds
the snowflake. High up in the air was
born, the child of the rain and the cold,
and at the divine behest come, and / am
no straggler, for God tells me where to put
my crystal heel. To help cover the roots
the grain and grass, to cleanse the air, to
make sportsmen more happy and the ingle
fire more bright, come. Though so light
am that yop toss me from your muffler
and crush me under your foot, am doing
my best to fulfill what | was made for.
Clothed in white come on a heavenly
mission, and, when my work is done and
God shall call, in morning vapor shall go
back, drawn by the fiery courses of the
sum-"
What doest thou, insignificant grass
blade under my feet?" II am doing
work, says the grass blade, "as best lean.
help to make up the soft beauty of field
and lawn. am satisfied, if, with millions
of others no bigger than /, we can give
pasture to docks and herds. am wonder
| fully made He who feeds the ravens gives
me substance from the soil and breath
from the mir, and he who clothes the lilies
of the field rewards me with this coat of
green"
LESSONS OF THE CLOUDS.
"For what, lonely cloud, goest thou
across the heavens?" Through the bright
air a voice drops from afar, saying: "Up
and down this sapphire floor | pace to
teach men that like me they are passing
away. gather up the waters from lake
and sea, and then, when the thunders toll,
refresh the earth, making the dry ground
to laugh with harvests of wheat and fields
of corn. | catch the frown of the storm
and the hues of the rainbow. At evening
tide on the western slopes | will pitch my
tent, and over me shall dash the saffron,
and the purple, and the fire of the sunset.
| A pillar of cloud like me led the chosen
across the desert, and surrounded by such
as the Judge of Heaven and Earth will
at last descend. for Behold he cometh
| with cloudsv"
Oh, my friends, if everything in the IMAM
|
and women be useful, and in that respect
be like the palm tree. But must not be
tempted by what David says of that green
shaft of Palestine, that living and glorious
pillar in the eastern gardens as seen in
olden times--the palm tree; l must not be
tempted by what the Old Testament says
of it, to lessen my emphasis of what John,
the evangelist, says Of it in my text.
Notice thar it was beautiful and lawful
! robbery of the palm tree that helped make
up Christ's triumph on the road to Jeru-
salem that Palm Sunday The long, broad,
green leaves that were strewn under the
feet of the colt and in the way of Christ
were torn off from the trees. What pity,
some one might say, that those stately and
graceful trees should be despoiled. The
sap oozed out at the places where the
branches broke. The glory of the palm
tree was appropriately sacrificed for the
Saviour's triumphal procession. So it al
ways was, SO it always will be in this
world-no worthy triumph of any sort
without the tearing down Of something
else.
Brooklyn bridge, the glory of our conti-
nent, must have two architects prostrated,
the one slain by his tolls and the other for
a lifetime invalided. The greatest pictures
| of the world had, in their richest coloring
the blood of the artists who made them.
The mightiest oratorios that ever rolled
through the churches had, in their pathos,
the sighs and groans of the composers
| who wore their lives out in writing the
harmony American Independence was
| triumphant, but it moved on over the life
/ .f nf% 1e,@ @f
| fell at Bunker Hill and Yorktown and the
battles between which were the hemor-
rhages of the nation.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD ADVANCES
The kingdom of God advances in all the
earth, but it must be over the lives of mis-
sionaries who die of malaria in the jungles
or Christian workers who preach and pray
and toll and die in the service. The Saviour
triumphs in all directions-but beauty and
strength must be torn down from the palm
trees of Christian heroism and conservation
and thrown in his pathway.
To what better use could those palm
trees on the southern shoulder of Mount
| Olivet and clear down into the Valley of
Gethsemane put their branches than to
surrender them for the making Of Christ's
| Journey toward Jerusalem the more pic
turesque, the more memorable and. the
more triumphant And towhat better use
could we put our lives than into the sacri-
| flee for Christ and his cause and the hap
piness of our fellow creatures? Shall we
not be willing to be torn down that right
eousness shall have triumphant way2
Christ was torn down for US. Can we not
afford to be torn down for himP If Christ
could suffer SO much for us, can we not
suffer a little for Christ? If he can afford
on Palm Sunday to travel to Jerusalem to
carry cross, can we not afford a few
leaves from our branches to make emerald
his way?
The process is going on every moment in
| all directions. What makes that father
| have such hard work to find the hymn to-