Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-01-30

LIZ. stanu tne Dlts OF image, now could you
endure the breath of a basilisk9
Do not think that any work Col gives
you to do in the world is on too small scale
for you to do. The whole universe is not
ashamed to take care of one little flower
/ say What are you doing down here in
the grass. you poor little flower? Are you
not afraid nightss You will be neglected,
Poor little fower.' mo- says a star. s.pil
watch over it tonight" NO." says
cloud, IN give it a drink" mo, says the
sun, s'pll warm it in my BOSOM Then I
see the pulleys going, and the clouds are
drawing water, ami / say, WHAT are you
doing there, o cloudsg' And they reply.
I'VE are giving drink to that flower
Then the wind rises and comes bending
down the wheat and sounding its psalm
through the forest, and / cry. "Whither
away on such swift wing o windT' And
IL replies, I'VE are going to cool the cheek
of that flower" And then bow down and
say, "Will God take care of the grass of
the fieldf' And flower at my foot re-
spends, YES; He clothes the lilies OF the
field, and never yet has forgotten me,
poor little flower" Oh, when see the great
heavens bending themselves to what seems
Insignificant ministrations when find out
that God does not forget any blossom OF the
spring or any snowflake of the winter,
come to the conclusion that we can afford to
attend to the minute things in life, and that
what we do we ought to do well, since there
is as much perfection in the construction of
spiders eye as in the conformation OF fam
ing galaxies.
Plato had fable which have now nearly
| forgotten, but it ran something like this:
He said spirits of the other world cams back
to this world to ffn1 body and find a
sphere of WORK. One spirit came AMI TOOK
the body OF king and did his work. An.
other spirit came AMI tooS the body of poet
and did his work. After awhile ULYSSES
came, and he said, why, all the fine
bodies are taken, and all the grand
work is taken. There is nothing left
for me-" Aud some one replied, "Ah the
best one has been left for you" Ulysses
said, whats thatY7 AMI thu reply was,
'fhe body of a common man. doing a COM
mon work and for common reward" A
good fable for the world and just as cool
fable for the church. Whether we eat OF
drink, or whatsoever we do, let us do it to
the glory OF Col.
Again, we need to bring the religion Of
Christ into our commonsst trials. For Sc
we're losses, for bereavement, for trouble
that shocks like an earthqu IKE and that
blasts like storm, we prescribe religious
consolation; but, business man, for the small
annoyances OF last week. how much of the
grace OF God did yon apply? 'Ol," you
say, these trials are too small for such an
piicationr' My brother, they are shaping
your character, they are souring your tenn
per, they are wear ng out your patience
and they are making you less and less of a
man. l go into a sculptor's studio and
see him shaping statue. He has a chisel IN
one hand and mallet in the other, and he
gives very gentle stroSe-click. click,
click | say, why don't YOU strike
hArder'' oh" he replies, THAT would
SKATER the statue. | can't do it that way;
must do it this wayF
So he works on, and after awhile the feat
ures come out, and everybody that enters
the stu lilo is charmed and fascinated Well
God has your soul under process of develop
ment, aud 1t is the little annoyauces AMI
vexations of life that are chiselng out your
immortal nature. 1t is click, click, click! I
wonder why soma great providence does not
come, and with one stroke prepare you for
heaven All, no. God says that is
not the way And so He keeps
on by strokes OF little anuoyauces.
little sorrows, little vexations, until at last
YOU shall be glad spectacle for angels and
Tor men. You know UnaJ large fortune
may be spent in small change and vast
amount of moral character may go away in
small depletion. IJ is the little troubles of
life that ara having more effect upon you
than great ones. A swarm OF locusts viii
kill a grain fell sooner than the iucursion of
three or four cattle.
You say, ''Since ( lost my child since |
lost my property have been a different
man." But you 90 not recognize the archi-
lecture of little annoyances that are hewing,
digging, cutting shaping splitting and in
terjoining your moral qualities. Rats may
sink a ship. One lucifer match may
send destruction through block OF store
houses. Catherine de Medicis got her death
from smelling poisonous rose, Columbus,
by stopping and asking for piece of bread
and drink of water at Franciscan con-
vent was led to the discovery of the New
World. And thsre is an intimate connection
between trihes and immensities, between
nothings and everythings,
Now, be careful TO let none of those an
noyances go through your soul unarraigne1,
Compel them to administer to your
spiritual wealth. The scratch of a six penny
nail sometimes produces lock-jaw, and the
! clip of a most infinitesimai annoyaucs may
damage you forever Do not let any annoy
/ ance or perplexity come across your soul
/ without its making you batter
Our national government does not think
! it belittling to put tax on pins an tax
on buckles and tax on shoes. The in1i-
vidual taxes do not amount to much. but iii
the aggregate to millions and millions OF
dollars And | would have you, 0 Christian
man, put high tariff on every annoyanc.
: ana VexatIon that comes throu gh your soul
ms might not amount to much in single
cases, but in tia aggregate it would bs a
great revenue of spiritual siren 9TH and salts
! faction.
( A bee can suck honey even out of nettle.
ana II you have the grace OF Col in vour
heart You can get sweetness out of that
wh'cl would otherwise irritate an annoy
/ A returnet missionary toll ma that p COM
pany OF adve1turers rowing up the Ganges
We're stung to death by flies that iufest that
region at certain seasons. [ have seen
no ~ a. -.
OF men SLAIN by insect annoyancas.
The only way to get prepared for
the great trouble of life is to conquer these
/ small troubles. What would We saw of a
! soldier who refused to load his gun or to 90
/ into the conflict because it was only skirmi-
/ lsh, saying: II am not going to expend my
/ ammunition on a sl1irmish Wait until there
comes general engagement and then Won
will see how courageous an and what bat
| Ting | will dos'
? The general would say to sucn man, "If
you are not faithfutin a sliirmish, You would
be nothing in a general engagement" AMI
have to tell you, o Christian men, il you
cannot apply the principles OF Christ's re-
ligion on small scale you wilt never bs
able to apply them on large scale II you
cannot successfully contend against these
small sorrows that come down single han led,
what will you do when the greater disasters
of life come down with laundering artillery,
rolling over your souls
i Again we must bring the religion of
Christ into our commoneSt blessings. When
the autumn comes and the harvests are in
and the governors make proclamation, VS.
/ assemble in churches AMI We are very thank
| ful. But every day ought to be thanks
| giving day. We do not recognize the COM
mon nercies Of life We have to see
bind man lei by his dog bsfore
| we begin to bethink ourselves of what a
/ grand thing it is to have eyesight We have
TO see some one aff1 cted with st. Vitus's
dancs before We are ready to thank God for
the control of our physical energies. We
have to see some wounded man hobbling on
his crutca or with his empty coat-sleeva
pinned W before we learn to think what a
grand thing Col did for us when He gave
I us healthy uss o. oar limbs
We are SO stupid that nothing but the mis-
fortunes OF others can arouse US up to our
/ blessings. As the OK graz9s in the pasture
I M to its eyes in Cover, yet never thinking
who makes the clover, and as the bird pioxs
no the worm from the furrow not kuo wing
that it is God who makes everything, from
the anDlalcula in the sod to the seraph on
the throne, SO we go on eating, drinking and
enjoying, but never thanking or seldom
thanking; o., if thanking at all, with only
| half heart
[ compare our indifference to the brute.
but perhaps wronged the hrut,. / do not
know but that, among its other instincts, it
may have an instinct by which u recogniz As
/ the divile hand that feels it. do not know
hus that Col is, through IT, holding COM
| munication with what we call Irrational
creation" The cow that stands I'm Ter the
willow by the water course chewing it's cud
looks very thankful. and WAC can tell how
much bird means by its song.
The aroma Of flowers smells like iuceusa
ana U0e mist arising from the rtvar LOOKS