Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-04-09

~ ~ 0b AhA -" IA O0C
being in the universe knows the statistics OF
solar, lunar. stellar. metsoric creations, AMI
that is the Creator Himself. And they have
all been lovingly christened, each one q name
as distinct as the names Of your children.
He telleth the number of the stars: He
calleth them all by their names The
seven Pleiades had names given to them. and
they are Alcyone, Merope, Celeno, Electra.
Sterone Tar1efe and Maia
But think Of the billions and ~trillious Of
daughters OF starry light that Col calls by
name as they sweep by Him with boaminy
brow and ~lustrous robe. So fond is God Of
~light-natural light, moral light, spiritual
light. Again and again is light harnessei
for svmbolization Christ, the bright
morning star: CHARACTERIZATION the dav-break:%
RIGHTEOUSNESS rising with healing in His
wings. 0 men and women. with 50 many
sorrows AMI sins AMI perplexities. il you
want light Of comfort. light OF pardon. light
OF goodness. in earnest prave: through
Christ, Seek Him that maketh the Savea
Stars and Orion"
Again. Amos saw. as we must see, that
the God who made these two archipe.sgoas
of stars must he an nurhangino Col. There
had been no change in tae stellar APPEAR
ance in this herdsman's lifetime. and his
father, a shepherd, reported to him that
there had been no change in his lifetime.
And these two clusters hang over the celes-
tial arbor now just as they were the first
night that thew shone on the E1e1ic bowers:
the same as when the Egyptians built the
pyramids. from the top OF which to watch
them thu sauna as when the Chaidaans ca
Gu alei the eclpses; the same as when
Elihu, according to the book OF JOB, went
out to study the aurora borealis; the same
under Ptelemalc system and COpernlcan sys-
ten; the same from Calisthenes to Pythag-
oras. and from Pvthagoras to Herschel.
Surely, q changeless God must have fash
toned the Pleiades and Orion. Oh. what an
ano1yne amid the u3s and downs OF life, AMI
tee tux and rehux Of the tides OF prosperity,
to know that We have a changeless Go1. tne
same yesterday, to-day and forever"
Xerxes garlauded and knlghtel the steers
man Of his boat in tue morning an1 hanged
him in the evening of the same day. The
world sits in its chariot and drives tandem,
and the horse ahead is Huzzi and the horse
bshini is Auatnena. Lord Gotham, in
King JAMES, time, was appiauded. and had
thirty-ive unou,ani dollars a wear. but was
alJerwa:u execraoel aud 1lved on SCRAPS
stolen from the royal kitchen. Alexander
the Great after death remained unburled for
thirty days. because no one would do the
honor Of >hoveling him under. The Duke OF
Wellington refused to have his iron fence
mended because it had been broken by an
Infatuated populace In some hour of political
excitement, and he left it in ruins that men
might learn what a tickle thing is human
favor. But the mercy OF the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting to them that fear
Him, and His righteousness unto the chill
dren's children of such as keep His covenant,
and to those who remember His
ments to do them" This moment Seek
Him that maketh the Seven Stars and
Orion" :
Again, Amos saw. as We must see, that
the God VINO made these two beacons of tue
oriental night sky must b. a God of love and
~ H. ---. NJ l1i.In rrct,,r in
miisky said to all the herdsmen and shep-
herds anu husbandmen. come out and en-,
JOY the mild weather and cultivate You:
gardens and fields" Orion, coming iu win.
Ger, warned them to prepare for tempest
All navigation was regulated by These two
considerations the Que said to shipmaster
and crew, "Hoist sail for the sea and gather
merchandise from other lands" But Orion
was the storm signal, and said, Reef sail,
make things snug OF put into harbor, for the
hurricanes are getting their wings out" A;
the Fleiades were the sweet evangels of the
spring, Orion was the warning prophet Of
tine winter.
Oh, now | get the best view of Col l ever
had! There are two kinds of sermons
never want to preacn-the one that presents
God so kind, SO lndulgent, SO lenlent, SO i'm
beetle that men may do what they will
against Him and fracture His every law aud
put the pry Of their impertnenca and re
III aAAAO LAO OLC u" LII pASy d
splitting in His face and stabbing at Hi
heart, He takes them up in His farms ali,
kiss their Infatuated brow and cheek, say
ing, ''Of such is the kingdom of heaven.
The other kind of sermon l never want t.
preach is the one that represents Goo as a
tire and torture and thundercloud, AMI with
red hot pitchfork tossing the human rae
into paroxysms OF infinite agony. The ser
mon that | am now preaching believes ill
God Of loving, kindly warning, the God 0
spring and winter, the God OF Pleiades anC
Orion.
You must remember that the winter is jus
as important as the spring. Let one winte
pass without frost to kill vegetation and ic
to bind the rivers and snow to enrich GU
fields, and then you will have to enlarg
your hospitals and your cemeteries. ..
green Christmas makes a fat graveyard,
was the old proverD. Storms TO purify til
air. Thermometer at ten degrees above Ter
TO tone up the system. December and Ja1
uary just as important as May and June.
tell you we need the storms of life just a
much as We do the sunshine. there are NOR
men ruined by prosperity than by adverslt,
II we had our own way In lie before this "
would have been impersonations OF seltisl
ness and worldllness and disgusting sin, al
pulled up until We would have been Ill
Julius Caesar, who was made by s%ycophan
to believe that he was divine, and that IL
treckles on his face Were as stars of the firm
ament.>
One Of the swiftest transatlantic voyage
made last summer by our swiftest steame
was because she had a stormy wind abaf'
chasing her from New York to Liverpool
But to those going in the opposite directio
the storm was a buifetin5 and a hindranc
1t is a bad thing to have a storm ahea'
pushing us back; but if We be Gods childre
and aiming toward heaven tue storms
life will only chase Us the sooner into tt
harbor. | am 50 glad TO believe that Il
monsoons aud typhoons and Inistrals ar
slroccos Of the lant and sea 1re not II
chained maniacs let loose upon ths cart
but are under divine supervision! l am
glad that the God o; the Seven Stars Is al
the God Of Orion, 1t was out of Dante
suffering came the suollIne "Divina Cor
media, aud out o, john Mlton's blindne
came paradise Lost" an1 our OF miserab
lnhdel atlas. came tn "Bridsewat
: treatise III 1avor o. Christianity. and Q
OF David's exile came the songs Of conso,s
ton, and out of the sufferIngs of Chri.
come the possibility Of the worlds REDEEM,
ton, and out % Your bereavement yor
! persecution, your poverties. your misto
tunes may yet come an eternal hea ven.
On, what "a mercy it is that in the text al
all up and down the Bible God induces us
iook out toward other worlds Bible as.rol
nuV i'm frSpa-fS ~ TA-L,~ - -,