The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-11

would have us all flourish like the palm
tree. Planted in the Bible ttat tree Away
means usefulness. But how little any o
US or all of US accomplish in that direction
We take twenty or thirty years to get FULL
ready for Christian work and in the after
part of life we take ten or twenty years tol
the gradual closing Of active work, auc
that leaves only SO little time between
opening and stopping work that all we &C
complish is so little, an angel of God needs
60 exert himself to see it at all Nearly
everything l see around, beneath and
above in the natural world suggests useful
service. If there is nothing in the
Bible that inspires YOU to usefulness, go out
and study the world around you this spring
time, and learn the great lesson Of useful~
ness. "What art thou doing up there, little
star! Why not shut thine eye and sleep, for
who cares for thy shining" mo" saith
the star, II will not sleep. / guide the
sailor on the sea. l cheer the traveller
among the mountains. l help tip the dew
with light Through the window OF the
poor mans caoin | cast beam of hope,
and the child on her mothers lap asks in
glee, whittier l come and what do and
whence l 60. To CLEAN and glitter God set
me here. Away! ! have no time to sleep. y
The snOwtiakes comes Struggling down.
'FrsIl, tickle wHnderer, why CONTEST thou
herep ri am no idle wanderer," responds
the snowflake High up in the air was
born, the child Of the rain aud the cold and
at the divine behest l come, and | am no
straggler, for God tells me where to put my
crystal heel To help cover the roots of 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 you toss me from your muller and
crush me under your foot, l 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 l shall 90 back, drawn by
the fiery courses of the sun" "What
doest though insignificant grass blade un-
der my feetH Il am doing a work, ~
says the grass blade, "as best | can. |
help to make up the soft beauty of field
and lawn. l am satisfied il, with millions
of Others no bigger taan l, we can give
pleasure TO hocks and herds. am wonder
fully made. He who feeds the ravens gives
me suStenance from the soil and breath
from the air, and he who clothes the lilies
OF the field rewards me with this coat of
green" For what, lonely cloud, goest
though across the heavensP' Through the
bright air a voice drops from efar, saying:
up and down this sapphire floor pace to
teach men that, like me, they are passing
away. l gather up the waters from lake
and sea, and then, when the thuuders roll
refresh the earth, making the dry ground
60 laugh with harvests Of wheat and fields
of corn. catch the frown of the storm
and the hues of the rainbow. At even
ing tide on the western slopes I 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 clouds?" o. my friends, If every
thing in the inanimate world be useful, let
us immortal men 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; |
must not be tempted by what the Old Tes-
lament saws Of it, to lessen my emphasis of
what John the Evangelist says of It in my
text
Notice that it was beautiful aud law
full robbery of the palm tree that helped
make up Christ's triumph on the road to
Jerusalem 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 he
despolled. The sap oozed out at the places
where the branches broke. The glory of the
palm tree was appropriately sacrificed for
che Savior's triumphal procession. So it
always was, soft 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 continent, must
have two architects Frustrated, the one
slain by his tolls and the other for a life
time invaded. The greatest pictures of
the world had, in their richest colorinR, the
blood OF the artists who made them. The
mightiest oratorios that ever rolled through
the churches had, in their pathos, the
signs and groans Of the composers who
wore their lives out in writing the
harmony. American independence was
triumphant, but it moved on over the
LfeleSs forms of tens of thousands of
men who fell at Bunker Hill aud York
town and the battles between, which
were the hemorrhRges of the nation. The
kingdom of God advances in all the earth,
but it must be over the lives Of missiopar-
les who die OF malaria In the jungles or
Christian workers who preach and pray
and toll and die in the service. The Savior
trlumphs 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 bet
ter use could those palm trees on the
southern shoulder of Mount Olivet and
clear down into the valley of Geth-
semane put their branches than to
surrender them for the making OF
Christ's journey toward Jerusalem the
more picturesque, the more memorable
and the more triumphant And to what
better use could we put our lives than into
the sacrifice for Christ and his cause and
the happiness of our fellow creatures2 Shall
we not be willing to be torn down that
Righteousness shall have triumphant wayl
Christ was torn down for us. Can we not
afford 10 be torn down for him? II Christ
could suffer so much for u.s. can we not
suffer little for Christi II he can afford
on Palm Sunday to travel to Jerusalem to
carry a cross, can we not afford a few leaves
from our branches to make emerald his
wayl
The process is going on every moment In
all directions. What makes that father
have such hard work to find the hymn TO-
daye he puts on his spectacles and holds
The book close up, and then holds it far off.
aud is not quite sure whether the numbers
OF the hymn is $50 or 1870, and the fingers
with which he TURNS the leaves are very
clumsy. he stoops q good deal, although
once he was straight as an arrow and his
eyes we're keen as a hawks and the hand he
offered to his bride on the marriage day was
OF goodly shape and as God made it, will
tell you what is the matter. Forty years
ago be resolved his family should have no
need, and his children should be well edu-
Gated and suffer none of the disadvantages
OF lack OF schooling from which he had suf.
fered for lifetime. and that the wolf of
munger should never nut its paw on his door
Sill, and for forty or fifty years he has been
tearing of from the palm tree of his phys
lcal strength and manly form branches to
throw Of