Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-12-08

| expectations, the freezing, the chilling, the
frosting Of many Of our hopes. l. is far
from being south wind.
It comes out Of the frigid north, and
when they 90 away from us we stand be
uumbed in body and benumbed in mind
and benumbed In soul We stand among
our dead neighbors, our dead families, and
we say, "Will we ever get over iti" Yes,
we will get over it amid the shoutings OF
heavenly reunion, and we will look back to
all these distresses of bereavement only as
the temporary distresses Of husking time.
weeping may endure for q night, but JOY
cometh in the morning" Light, and but
for a moment" said the apostle as he
clapped his hands; Eight, and but for a
moment" The chill of the frosts followed
by the gladness that cometh in "hke a
shock of corn cometh in in his season."
OF course the husking time made rough
work with the ear of corn. The husking
peg had to be thrust in, and the hard
thumb Of the husker had to come down
on the swathing of the ear, and then there
was pull and there was a ruthless tear
ing, and then a complete swapping off be-
fore the corn was free, and If the husk
could have spoken 1t would have said:
|
wrench meW All, my friends, that is the
way God has arranged that the ear and
husk shall part, and that is the way be
has arranged that the body and the soul
shall separate. You can afford to have
your physical distresses when you know
that they are only forwarding the souls
liberation. Every rheumatic pain is only
plunge Of the husking peg. Every neu-
ralgic twinge is only twist by the husker.
There is gold In you that must come out.
Some way the shackle must be broken.
Some way the ship must be launched for
heavenly voyage. You must let the Heav-
enly Husbandman husk off the mortality
from the immortality. There ought to be
great consolation in this for all who have
chronic ailments, since the Lord is gradu-
ally and more mildly taking away from
you that which hinders your souls liberia
tion, doing gradually for you what for
many of us in robust health perhaps he
will do in one fell blow at the last. At the
close of every illness, at the close of every
paroxysm, you ought to say, THANK God,
that is all past now; thank God, l will
never have to suffer that again; thank
God, am SO much nearer the hour of lib
eration."
You will never suffer the same pain
twice. You may have a new pain in an old
place, but never the same pain twice. The
pain does its work and then it dies. Just
so many plunges of the crCwbar to free the
quarry stone for the building. Just SO
many strokes of the chisel to complete the
statue. Just so many pangs to separate
the soul from the body. You who have
chronic ailments and disorders are only
paying in installments that which some of
us will have to pay in one payment when
we pay the debt of nature. Thank God,
therefore, ye who have chronic disorders,
that you have so much less suffering at
the last. Thank God that you will have
so much less to feel in the way of pain at
the hands of the Heavenly Husbandman
when "the shock Of corn cometh in in his
season."
THE SORROWS OF THIS LIFE.
Perhaps now this may be an answer to
question which asked one Sabbath morn
ing, but did not answer, Why is it that
SO many really good people have 80 dread
fully to suffer- You often find a good
man with enough pains and aches and dis
tresses, you would think, to discipline a
whole colony, while you will find man
who is perfectly useless going about with
easy digestion and steady nerves and shin
ing health, and his exit from the world is
comparatively painless. How do you ex-
plain thatP Well, noticed in the husking
time that the husking peg was thrust into
the corn, and then there must be o stout
pull before the swathing was taken off the
ear and the full, round. healthy, luxuriant
corn was developed, while, on the other
hand, there was corn that hardly seemed
worth husking.
We threw that into place all by itself,
and we called it nubbins. Some of it
was mildewed, and some of 1t was mice
nibbled, and some Of it was great promise
and no fulfllment. All cobs and no corn.
Nubbins! After the good corn had been
driven up to the barn we came around
with the corn basket, and we picked up
these nubbins. They were worth saving,
but not worth much. So all around US
there are people who amount to compara-
lively nothing. They develop into no kind
ofusefulness. They are nibbled on one side
by the world, and nibbled on the other
side by the devil, and mildewed all over.
Great promise and no fulfllment. All cobs
and no corn. Nubbins! They are worth
saving. 1suppose many Of them will get
to heaven, but they are not worthy to be
mentioned in the same day with those who
went through great tribulation into the
kingdom of our God.
Who would not rather have the pains of
this life, the misfortunes of this life-who
would not rather be torn and wounded and
lacerated and wrenched and husked and
at last so in amid the very best grain of
the granery-than to be pronounced not
worth husking at allP Nubbins? In other
words, l want to say to you people who
have distress of body and distress in busi-
ness and distress of all sorts, the Lord has
not any grudge against you. 1t is not de-
rogatory; it is complimentary. "Whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth," and it is
proof positive that there is something
valuable in you, or the Lord would not
have husked you.
REJOICE TOGETHER.
You remember also that in the time of
husking it was a neighborhood reunion.
By the great fireplace in the winter, the
fires roaring around the glorified backlogs
on an old fashioned hearth, of which the
modern stoves and registers are only the
degenerate descendants, the farmers used
to gather and spend the evening, and there
would be much sociality; but it was not
anything like the joy of the husking time,
for then all the farmers came, and they
came in the very best humor. and they
came from beyond the meadow, and they
came from beyond the brook, and they
came from regions two and three miles
around.
Good spirits reigned supreme, and there
were great handshakings. and there was
carnival, and there was the recital of the
brightest experience in all their lives, and
there was neighborhood reunion the
memory Of which makes all the nerves of
my body tremble with emotion as the
strings Of harp when the fingers Of the
player have swept the chords. The husk
ing time was the time of neighborhood re.