Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-05-30

Ne ugAg spDw cur ~uus1sd sxpreas
trains vhicA pus us down thousAnd
miles away in twenty-fo0r hours. bat
here Is soueshing BY Which in . mo
mens W usy confront people Ave thou
sand ndl7y away We brag shout car
telephones, bat here u something that
bssn shs tslsphons in utsssanoe and re-
ply. for God says. Before they call, !
VIII heax." We brag about the phono-
graph. In which man can speak, and
hts words and the tones Of his voice can
b kept for sSss. md by tbs turning OF
crank the words may come forth upon
the ears Of another century, bat prayer
allows rs 10 speak words into the ears Of
everlasting remembrance. and On the
other side Of ell eternities they viii DO
heard. On. ye who are wasting your
breath. snd wasting your brains, ana
wasting your nerves, and wasting your
lungs Wishing for this good and that
good for tbs church and the world. why
do you not 60 into the secret place Of
thunder.
"But. says some one. that IL beau
tiful theory. yet it does not work in my
case. for am In cloud of trouble. or =
cloud Of sickness. or . cloud Of persecu-
ton, or . cloud Of poverty, or cloud Of
bereavement. or cloud Of perplexity."
How glad ! am that You told me that.
That u exactiy tho place 70 which my
text refers. Il was from . cloud that
God answered Israel-the cloud over the
cham cat through the Red sea-tne
cloud that was light to the Israelites
and darkness to the Egyptians. Il was
from . cloud, o tremendous cloud. that
God made reply. 1t was . cloud that
was the secret place OF thunder. So
you cannot get away from the consola-
ton Of my text by talking that way.
Let all the people under cloud hear it.
81 answered thee In the secret place Of
thunder"
INFLUENCE or THE OLD HOME
This subject helps me to explain some
things you have not understood about
men and women, and there ere multi
tudes OF them, and tho multitude is null
tiplying BY the minute. Many Of them
have not . supersbundance of educa-
ton. If you bad their brain in post
norton examination, and you could
weigh it. it would not weigh any hesv-
ier than the average. They have not
anything especially impressive IN Per
soual appearance. They sro not very
fluent Of tongue. They pretend to moth
ing unus1ai in mental faculty or social
iuAneocs, bat you feel their power; you
- 1879 l. <h.2~ v,~oanv,ro. 49,, 49, =
better man o. better woman, having
confronted them. You know that IN In
tellectual endowment you are their su-
porior, while in the matter Of moral and
religious influence they are vastly your
superior. Why h thiss
To find the revelation Of this secret
you must 60 back thirty or forty or
perhaps sixty years to tho homestead
where this man was brought up. It is .
winter morning, and the tallow candle
is lighted, and the fires are kindled,
sometimes the shavings hardly enough
to start the wood. The mother il pre-
pairing the breakfast, the blue edged
dishes arc on the table, and the lid Of
the kettle on the hearth begins to rattle
with tho steam, and tho shadow Of the
industrious woman by tho Pickering
fame ON the hearth Is moved up and
down the wall. The father Is at the
barn feeding the stock-the oats thrown
into tho horses bin and the cattle
craunching the corn. The children, ear
lier than they would like and after be-
ing called twice, are gathered 1t the
table.
| The blessing Of God IL asked on the
food, and, tho meal over, the family
Bible is put upon the white tablecloth
j and . chapter is read and prayer made,
which includes all the interests for this
world and the next. The children pay
not much attention to the prayer, for it
Ii about the same thing day after day,
but it puts upon them an impression
that ten thousand years will only make
moro vivid and tremendous. As long ~
the old folks live their prayer is for their
children and their children's children.
Day in and day out, month in and month
out, year In and year ont, decade in and
decade out the sons and daughters of
that family are remembered In earnest
prayer. and they know 1t, and they feel
it, and they cannot get away from it.
Two funerals after awhile-not more
than two years apart. for it il seldom
that there is more than that lapse of
time between fathers going and moth
er's going-two funerals put ont ofsight
the old folks. But where arc the chill
arenf The daughters are in homes
whore they are incarnations Of good
sense, industry and piety. The sons,
perhaps one farmer, another q mer-
chant, another . mechanic, another q
physician, another . minister of the
Gospel, useful, consistent. admired, hon.
ored. What . power for good those
ssvsn sons and daughters! Where did
they get the power? From, the schools,
and the seminaries, and the collegesi
Oh, no, though these may have helped.
From their superior mental endowment;
No, do not think they had unusual
! mental caliber. From accidental cir
cumstancesa No. they had nothing Of
what IL called astounding good luck.
rHR PoCNTAN OF fTous NYLUKscR
think We will take train and ride
10 the depot nearest to the homestead
from which those men and women start
ed. The train halts. Let Us stop few
minutes at the village graveyard and set
the tombstopee of the parents. Yes. thu
one was seventy-four years of age and
the other was seventy-two, and the cpl
taph says that after . useful life they
died . Christian death" How appro
priasely the Scripture passage cut on tn,
mothers tombstone. She hath don,
I L. .