Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1892-12-22
HOLP ON CLOCKS.
Handsome, Homely, Private and
Public CIOcks---COnscience
an Alarm Clock.
Our Bodies Are Seyen-Day
ClOcks---The Church Is
a Clock.
The Clocks at KeniiwOrth Cas-
tie and Why They Were
Stopped.

AND thsS our life,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the run,
ming brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
asked myself, if there. are sermons
in stones, why not in clocks? The
following is the answer that came to
that question: There are more clocks
and more kinds of clocks, than you
ever dreamed of in your experience
and observation, l am sure. Why, ]
am only telling the sober truth when
/ say that this world of ours is moth.
ing but d huge clock-storeroom.
The Bible is a clock; a double
clock. The Bible is full of the enig.
mas of history and prophecy, symbol
and sacrement.
The delightful difference between
the two Testaments is set forth by
Bengel under this happy figure. The
Old Testament was like a clock NOV.
ing in silence and darkness. The
machinery was there-the hands were
moying on the dial, but few heard
clearly or saw clearly the wondrous
things of God. But the New Tesla
ment is Gods Aenologium clock of
the ages, with an Illuminated dial
plate, and a grand apparatus that
strikes the hours. The mysteries of
the Old Testament are seer as through
a glass darkly, those of the New Tesla
ment face to face.
The church is a clock. Did not
good Bishop Hall say: 'sThe scripture
Is the sun: the church is the clock.
The sun we know TO be sure and re-
ligiously constant in his motions; the
clock as it is, may fall out, may go too
fast or too slow. As then we should
condemn him of folly that should pro-
fess to trust the clock rather than the
sun, so we cannot but justly tax the
credulity OF those who would rather
trust to the church than to the
scripture" How many-Protestant
and Catholic-must be condemned of
folly, if this is the standard by which
men are TO be judged. Most chris
tians like the great Cannon Liddcn,
are loyal to the church more than to
the scripture. s 1904. .- e.
Nature is a clock. DR.. Pelonbet
thus answer the vexed question as to
miracles, prayer and the universal
constancy OF the laws of nature. He
says: Il have a clock, as very many
have, which was made to meet certain
eXigencies Of the future. 1t has a
calendar which points out the day of
the month, the hand moving one fig
ure each day. If the month has thir-
ty-one days it moves from that to the
first for the next month; but if the
month has but thirty days, the hand
jumps over the t~hirty-flrst and on
February IL moves from twenty-eight
over the tYenty-ninth, thirtieth and
t~hirty-first to the first Of March. But
once in four years it stops at Febru-
airy %, and then moves over two fig
ures TO the LIST. Now we do not have
to run to the maker when these
changes are needed, and ask him to
come and move the hands. He knew
the exigencies would arise, aud ar
ranged for doing the work at the
time he made the machinery. So
when God wanted to bring rain at
Elijah's prayer he did lot have to
interfere with the laws of nature and
create a cloud, or fling a new-made
storm upon the sea. But millions Of
years before, when he created nature,
he said to winds and sea, i will have
a storm here and a rain there, a
drOuth at this time, a tempest at
that, and nature carried the commits
sion TO answer that prayer from the
day it was made" In the light of
this analogy the miracles of the Bible,
wrought in answer to prayer, arc
easy of belief, because so easily
worked by Il God.
Mans physical nature is q clock.
Many men violate the best command
of the bible. They are rebeliiOus of
heart, or avaricious Of hand, or greedy
Of head and hence see no need Of rest
ing from their labOrs every seventh
day. Talmagc says: "Our bodies
are seyen-day clocks and they need to
be wound up, and if they are not
wound up they ruD down into the
grave No nan can continuously
break the Sabbath ard keep his phys
ical and mental health. Ask those
aged men. and they will tell you they
never knew men to continuously
break the Sabbath who did not fail
either in mind, body or moral prin-
ciplc." Now we feel, as never before,
the need of remembering the Sabbath
day to keep it holy.
Conscience is an alarm clock. In
our sleep of sin conscience calls out
and awakenS us. II we every time
heed its call, well and good for our
souls. But if we fail to heed when
we hear, we will soon cease to hear it,
and then all is lost. The first morn
ing of an alarm clock, we all hear it's
seeming tones of thunder. But alas.
the old sluggard never hears it at all.
Who does not remember distinctly
the first oath he uttered, the first
glass of strong drink that passed his
lips, the first penny he stole! Con-
science fairly shrieked at his soul.
But the soul hardened in sin never
hears conscience. Obey conscience
and conscience viii obey you, and
awaken you every time from spiritual
The dealing of a man in that way
with himself would be like the turn
ing of the pointer of a clock by hand
instead of winding it up. A nan
who should act in that way would
make a fool Of himself in ayear.
Is there any way in which this can
be avoided? Certainly there is. Only
let a soul be caught up into a
knowledge of the beauty Of God in
Christ Jesus, and feel the heart of
God, the blood of Christ, as il were,
pulsing in him, and that affection,
supreme, vegnant, because the main
spring of conduct, and all the wheels
move, the hands keep time, ten
thousand evils are dissipated, and
life becomes symmetrical and har-
monious. Morality keeps time by
constantly turning the hands.
Spirituality keeps time by closely
coming with God. Which method
of life is yours?
In the city Of Basic, Switzerland, it
was the custom 10 have all the cIncks