Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-04-30

Tue 0Ilot On the sea. ! cneel tne uaVeier
among the mountains l help tip the dew
with light. Through the window OF the
poor mans cabin / cast q beam OF hope. and
the child on her mothers lap asks in giles
whittier / come and what / do and whence 1
go. To CLEAN and glitter, God set me here.
AWAY! have no time to sleep
The snowflake comes struggling down.
"Frail, tickle ~wanderer. why CONTEST thou
hereT' 81 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 l ONE. and ! am nc
s~traggler, for God tells me where to put my
crystal heel. To help cover the roots. tne
grain and grass, to cleanse the air. to maxi
HDortsmen mora hannv and the lnyle ira
more bright, l come. Though SO hight l an
that you toss me from your muller and
crush me under your foot, l IN doing my
best to fulfil what | was made for. Clothed
In white l 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 sun"
What doest thou, Insignificant grass
blade under nv faaty' " am doing q work"
says the grass blade, las best 1 can. l help
to make up the soft beauty Of field and
lawn. I am satisfied, II, with millions OF
to hocks and herds. l am wonderfully made.
He who feeds the ravens gives me substance
from the soil and breath from the air, and
He who clothes the lilies Of the field rewards
Inc with this coat OF green"
For what. lonely cloud, goest thou across
Che heavensY' Through the bright air a
7oice drops from arar, aging up ana
dow this sapphire floor l pace to teach men
that like me they are passing away. gather
up the waters from lake and sea, ami taen,
when the thunders toll, l refresh the earth.
making the dry ground to laugh with har-
vests OF wheat and fields Of corn. Icatch
the frown OF the storm and the hues Of the
rainbow. At evening tide on the western
slopes l will pitch my tent, and over me
shall dash the saffron, and the purple. and
me led the chosen across the desert, and sur
rounded by such as I the Judge Of Heaven
and Earth will at last descend, for 'Behoid
He cometh with clouds
Oh, my friends, if anything in tie IMAM
innate world be useful, let us immortal men
and women be useful, and in that respect be
like the. palm tree. But 1 must not be
tempted by what David says or that green
shaft Of Palestine, that living and glorious
pillar of the eastern gardens, as seen in olden
times-the palm tree; l must not be tempted
ny what the Old Testament says OF IT, to
lessen my emphasis Of what John, the evan~
gelist, says of it in my text.
Notice that 1t was a beautiful and lawful
robbery of the palm tree that helped make
cp Christ's triumph on the road to Jerusalem
that Palm Sunday. The long, broad. green
caves that were strewn under the feet of the
colt and In the way Of Christ were torn off
from the trees. What Il 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 pro-
:ession. So it always was, SO it always will
se in this world--no worthy triumph Of any
sort without the tearing down of something
else.
Brooklyn Bridge, the glory of our CONT
nent, must have two architects Frustrated,
the one slain by his tolls and the other for a
lifetime invaded. The greatest pictures of
the world had, in their richest coioTing, the
blood Of the artists who made them. The
%,nightiest oratories that ever rolled through
The churches had in their pathos. the signs
md groans Of the composers, who wore their
ives out in writing the harmony. American
Independence was triumphant, but it moved
on over tho ~lifeless forms of tens OF thou
sands Of men who fell at Bunker Hill and
Yorktown and the battles between which
We're the hemorrhages of the nation.
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
Ut Christian workers who preach and pray
ond toll and die in the service. The Saviour
triumphs II 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
end clear down into tho 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 tiumphante
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 Creatures? Shall We not be
willing to be torn : down that right
III
was torn down for US. Can we not afford
to be torn down for Him? If Christ could
suffer 50 much for us, can we not suffer a
little for Christi 1t 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 wayp
The process Is going on every moment in
all directions. What makes that father
nave such hard work to find the hymn to-
day? He puts on his spe2tacles and holds
the book close up, and then holds it far off.
and Is not quite sure whether the number of
the hymn Is $50 or $50. and the fingers with
which he turns the leaves are very clumsy.
He stoops a good deal, although once he was
straight as an arrow, and his eyes were keen
as hawks, and the hand he offered to his
bride on the marriage day was of gooily
shape and as God madeit.
/ will tell you what is the matter. Forty
years ngo he resolved his family should have
no need and his children should be we'll edu-
Gated and suffer none Of the disadvantages
Of lack @; schooling from which he hao
suffered for a lifetime, and that the wolf OF
hunger should never put its paw on his door
sill, and for forty OF fifty years he has beer
tearing of from the palm tree OF his physi
cal strength and manly form branches te
throw IN the pathway Of his household. II
has cost him muscle aud brain and health
and eyesight, and there have been twisted
off more years from his life than any man
in the crowd on the famous Palm Sunday
twisted off branches from the palm trees or
She road from Bethpage to Jerusalem.
What makes that mother look SO much
older than she really Is: You say she ought
not yet to have one gray line in her hair.
The truth Is the family was not always as
we'll OFF as now. The married pair had a
ha:d struggle at the start. Examine the
tips OF the %foreflnger and thumb Of her RICH,
hand, and they will tell you the story of the
needle that was piled day In and day out.
Yea, look at both her hands, and they will
tell the story Of the time when she did her
own work, her own mending and s~crubbing
and washing.