Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-12-02

bandman when ''the shock of corn coneth
IN In his season
Perhaps now this may be an answer TO
question which / asked one Sabbath morn
ing, but did not answer Why Is 1t that so
many really good people have so drsadtuiiy
to suffer- You often nno gooa man VIZ" ,,o,,
enough pains aud aches and distresses, you
would think, TO discipline a whole colony.
while you will find msn who Is perfectly,
useless going about with easy digestion au1
steady nerves and shining health, ana nb
exit from the world Is comparatively pain
less. How do you explain that' Well l
noticed in the husking time that the husk-
ing neg was thrust into the corn, and then
there must DO stout pull before the swath-
ing 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
widowed, and some Of it was mice nibbled,
and some Of it was great promises and no
fufilment Ell cobs and no corn. Nubblns'
After the good corn had been driven no 10
the barn we came around with the corn
basket and we picked up these nubbins.
Taey were worth saving, but not worth
much. So all around US there are people
who amount to comparatively nothing.
They develop into no kind OF usefulness.
They are nibbled on one side By the worii,
aud nibbled on the other side by the devil,
and widowed all over. Great promise and
no fulflment. All cobs aud no corn. Nu5.
binsl They are worth saving suppose
many of them will get to heaven, but they
are not worthy to be mentioned in ths same
day with those who went through great
tribulation into the kingdom Of our God.
Who would not rather have the pains OF
this lifa the misfortuneS o. this life-who
would not rather be torn AMI wounded aud
lacerated and wrenche1 AMI husked and at
last 90 in amid the very bsst graia OF the
gransry-thau to be pronounced not worth
husking at ally Nubbins? In other words,
want to say TO you people W 10 have distress
of body and distress in business AMI distress
of all sorts the Lord has not any gru1ge
against you. 1t is not derogatory; it is
complimentary. "Whom the Lord loveth
He chasteneth," and it is proof positive that
there is omething valuable in you, or the
Lord would not have husked you.
You remember also that in the time OF
huskiny it was a neighborbood reunion. By
the great fireplace in the winter, the fires
roaring around the gloriisd backlogs on an
old-sashioned 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 beyont the
meadow and they came from beyond the
brook. and they came from ra ,ions two AMI
three miles around.
Good spirits reigcei supreme. AMI there
were great handshakings, and there was
carnival, and there was the recital Of tue
brightest experience in all their lives, and
there was q neighborhoOd reunion the mem
orv of which makes all the nerves OF my
body tremble with emotion as the strings OF
a harp when the fingers OF the player have
swept the chords. The husking time was the
time OF neighborhool reunion and so
heaven will b. Just that. There they coms
upl Tney slept in the old village church
ward. There they come up! They reclined
amid the fountains and the sculpture aud the
partsrres of a city cemetery. There they
come up! They went down when the snip
founderei Off Cape Hatteras. They como up
from all sides-from potter's field AMI out
of the solid masonry OF Westminster Ab0ay.
They come upl They come up
All the hindrance to their Oettsr nature
husked off. All their spiritual despond-
encies huske1 off Alt their hindrances to
usefulness husked off The grain, the
golden grain. the God fashioned grain,
visible and conspicu aus. Some Of them Oh
earth were SUCH disagreeaoe CHRISTIANS
vor could hardly stand IL in their presence.
NOW in heaven they are 50 radian5 you
hardly know them. The fact IS, all their
inperfectiOns have be I'll huSzel Oh. Ihey
did not mean on earth t. BE- dislgresable.
They meant we'll enough. but they told
YOU how sick you looked, aud tney toll you
how many hard things they had heard aoou5
YOU. and they told you how often they hal
10 stand up tor yon in some battles until
YOU wished almost that they had beed slain
in so ne of the battles. Good, plous con-
csntrated. well meaning disagreeables. Now
in heaven all their offsnsiyeness has been
huskei of. Each one is as happy as he can
BE-. Every one he meets as happy as he cln
he.
Hsaven-ons great nei ghborhooi union.
All kings and queens. all songsterS all mil
honairss. all blnqueters. Col the Father
with His children all arounl Him. NO
'goodby' in all the air No grave cut IN
all the hills River Of crystal rolling over
bed of pearl, under arch Of chrysoprase, IN
to seas of glass mingled with fire. Stant at
the gate Of the granary and see the gram
come in: out Of the frostS into the SUNSHINE,
out of the darkness into the light, out OF tl9
tearing and the ripping, AMI tbs twisting
and the wrenching and laceratlng, AMI the
husking time of earth into the wide open
uOOf OF me mig BIdudig nv a. 7'SN'N
of corn cometh in in his season.
Yes. heaven is a great sociable, with JOY
like the 10y Of busking time. No one there
feeling so big he declines TO speak to some
one that is not so large. Arcaangel willing
10 listen TO smallest cherub. No boiling OF
the door of caste at ons heavenly mansion
TO keep out the citizen Of a smaller mansion.
No clique in one corner whispering about
clique IN another corner. David taking mona
of the airs of giant killer; Joshua making
no one halt until he passes because he made
the sun aud moon halt; Paul making no AS
sumption over the most ordinary preacher
of Righteousness: Naaman, captain OF TIC
Syrian host no more honored than the cap
tive maid who toll him where he could get
a good doctor Oh. my soul, what coun-
tryl The humblest man king, the poorest
woman queen, the meansst house palace,
the short est lifetime eternity And what Is
more strange about it all is We may all get
there.
Not ], y says some one stan hing back I'M
der the galleries. Yes you. Not ~ saws
some one who has not been in church in
fifteen years before. Yes you. Not l."
says some one who has been for fifty years
filing uD bis life with all kinds Of wicked
ness. Yes, you. There are monopolies ON /
th-moDopolistic railroads and monopo-
liStic telegraph companies and monopolistic |
gram dealers. but no monopolieS in religion !
All who want 20 be saved NAV be saved !
without money and without price" Sal /
walton by the Lord Jesus Christ for all the |
people. OF course use common sense in this |
matter. You cannot expect TO get to |
Charleston by taking the ship for Portland, 1
sud you cannot get to heaven by going in .
an opposite direction. Believe in the Lord !
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Through that one gate of pardon ana peace
all the race may 90 ia.
But" says some one, 40 you really
think would be at home in that supernal
society il should reach it;' / think you
would. know you would. l remember
that in the huskiny time there was a great
equality OF feeling am)ng the neighbors
Ihsre at one corn SHOCK a farmer would be
at work who owned two hundred acres Of
ground. The man whoh he was talking
with at the next corn shock owned but
ta'"ty acres OF ground, aud perhaps all that
covered by a mortgage.
That evening, at the close OF the huski ng
day, one man drove home a roam span so
risky. 50 full OF life they got their feet over
the traces. The other man walked home.
Great differences in education, great differ
ence in worldly means but noticed at the
husking time they all seemed to enj)y each
others society. They did not ask anv man