Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-03-25

| wings. y men and women, with SO mani
sorrows and sins and perplexities. IL 70;
want light of comfort. light o' pardon, ligi
OF goodness, in earnest prayer througt
Christ Seek Him that mlketh tae Sever
Stars aud Orion
Again, Amos saw. as we must see tha.
the God who mado these two archipelagoe
OF stars must be an unchanging Col. Their
mad been no change in tie stellar appear
ance in this herdsman's li'etim, an1 hi.
| father, a shepherd, reported 10 him that
there hal been no change in his lifetime
And thsse two clusters hang over the celes
tial arbor now just as they were the first
night that they shone on the L le1ic bowers:
| the same as when the Egyptians built the
| pyramids, from the topof which 10 watci
them; the same as when the Chaldeans cll
culatet the eclipses; the same as whea
| Elihu, according to the book OF JOB, went
out to study the aurorl borealis the sane
under Ptelemaic system AMI Copernicln sys b.
TEN; the same from Cllisthene3 to PythlZ-
oras, and from Pythagoras to Herscael
| Surely, a changeless Col must have fash.
| ioned the Pleiades an Orion On what an
| anodyne amid the uOs AMI downs OF LIE, an
tie flux and rehux Of the tides of prosperity,
10 know that we have clan geless G)1, tn ,
same yesterday, to-day ami forever"
Xerx9S garlaniel and kniglte ths steers-
man OF his boat in tia m)rnins AMI hanged
/ him in the evening os tho sane dly. Tns
world sits in its chariot and drives tan len,
and the horse ahea1 is Huzsl and the horse
behind is Anatleml Lord Gotham. in
King James's time, was applauiel. and had
| thirty-ive THOUSAND dollars a year. bus wlI
alrerward execrate1 and lived on SCRAPS
stolen from the royal kitchen. Alexander
the Great after death rem1ined unburie1 70"
thirty days, because no one would do the
honor Of shoveling him under. The Duke Of
Wellington refused t) have his iron fence
mended because it had been broken By al
nfuriated popuace in sons hour Of political
excitement, an he left it in ruins that men
might learn what a icSlo 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 20 those who rem ember His command
ments 10 do them.n Tnis moment Seek
Him that maketh the Seven Stars aud
Orion
Again. Amos saw, as we must SEE, that
the God who made these two boacons Of the
oriental night sky must BE- God Of love and
kindly warning. The Pleades rising in
miisky said to all the herismen AMI shep-
nerdS and hus5andmsn, go ne out an1 en-
Joy the mild weather AMI cultivate youf
gardens and fields" Orion, coming in win.
ter, warned them to prepare for tempest.
All navigation was regulated by these two
consultations The one sail 10 shipmlster
and crew Hoist sail for the sea AMI gather
merchandise from other lands" But Orion
was the storm signal, and said, REEF sail,
make things snug or pu, into harbor, FOR the
hurricanes are getting their wings out" As
the Pleiades were the sweet evan gels of the
spring. Orion was the warning prophet OF
the winter
Oh, now get tho best view Of GO ever
hail There are two kinds of sermons |
never want to preacl-the one that presents
God so kind, - iniulgent 50 lenieut, So i'm
bscl Ia that men may do wna, they Will
against Him and fracture His every law AMI
put the pry OF their lm9ertinence ant re-
bellion under His throne, and While they are
splitting in His face AMI stIbbiny az His
heart. He takes them up in His arms ani
kiss their infuriated brow and cheek. say
ing. "Of sucl is the king lon OF helven.'
The other kini Of sermon / never wans ID
preach is the one that represents Cos as all
fire and torture ami thun iercloui, AMI VITA
red hot pitclfork tossing tas human rae
into parOxysms OF infinite agony. The SER
mon that ! am now prelcliny believes IN
Col Of loving, kindly warning the Col o.
spring AMI winter, the Col OF Plai1ie5 an
Orioa
You must remember that the winter is just
as important as the spring. Let one winter
pass without frost TO kill vegetation AMI Ice
10 bind the rivers AMI sloH u eDrscl our
fields. and then YOU will have TO enlarge
YOUR hospitals AMI your cemetaries. "A
green Christmas makes a fat sraveyari,
was the old provero. Storms TO purify the
air. Thermometer at ten degrees above zero
10 tone up the system. December ana Jan.
uary just as important as May aud June.
tell YOU we noel the storms OF life just rs
much as we do tle sunshine. There are more
men ruined by prosperity than by adversely.
Ii we had our own way IN lie before this We
would have been impersonationS OF selfish.
ness and wOrld.iness and disgusting sin, ana
uuffed uD until we would have been Ike
julius Caesar. WHO was made by sycophant'
TO believe that he was divine, and that tn3
frecsles on his face were az stars Of the firm
ament.
One OF the swiftest Transatlantic voya ,es
made last summer by our syift5ss steamer
was because she hal stormy wln1 aoatt,
chasing her from New Nor1 - LiyeTpool.
But to those going in the opposite direction
the storm was buifeting AMI MN lranc,'
IL is bad thing to have a storm alead,
pushing US U4EAi OsAN IL HS ~ 49, ~~---~
and aiming toward heaven the storms OF
life will only chase Us the sooner into the
harbor | an 50 glad to believe that the
monsoons and typloons AMI mistrals AMI
siroccos of the iani and sen are not m
chained maniacs let loose upon the earta,
but ar. under divine su9erYisionl 1 am 50
Glad that the God Of the Seven Stars Is aiso
Inc Goi OF Orionl IL was out OF Dantes
mffariuz came the sublime "Dlylna CON-
medie." aud out Of John Muton's blindness
came paradise Lost" an1 out OF miserable
infdel attack came the "Bridgewatei
Treatise" in favo- Of Christianity, ana ouS
or DAVIS exile came tle songs OF colso.a-
ton. and out OF the suf srlngs oil Cnris5
come the possibility OF the worlds redemp'
tiou, ami out Of your bereavement your
persecution, your povertieS your mlstor-
tunes may YET come an eternal heaven.
OF. what a mercy it is that in the text and
all II } and down the Bible God induces US %
loox out toward other worlds Bible astron-
omv i'm Genesis. in Joshua, in job, In the
Psalms. in the prophets, major and minor,
in st. Johns Apocalypse, practically sayin&:
"WorlTsl worlds! wOrldsl Get ready for
thenm We have a nice little world here
that we stick TO, as though losing that we
lose all. We are afraid OF falling oil this
little raft Of a word. We are afraid that
some meteoric iconociast will some night
smash il. and we want everything 10 reyolve
around il. and are disappointed when ws
find that it revolves around the sun instead
of the sun revolving around 1t. What
fuss We make about this little bit OF world,
IFS existence only short time between two
spasms. the paroxysm by whichit was hurried
from chaos into order, and the paroxysm Oh
its demolition.
And am glai that so many texts call us
10 look off to other worlds, many OF them
larger and grander aud more resplendent;
"TSok there" saws Job, sat MAJ ztroth and
Arcturus and his sons I" "Look there" says
81 John. "at the moon under Christs feet!
"Look there says Joshua, "at the sun
standing still above Gibeonv Look there,
saws Moses. 'at the sparkling trma-
mentm "LooS there says Amos
the herdsnsn, at tho Seven Stars
aud Orionm Don't let us be so sad
about those who shove of from this world
under ChristlY pilotage. Don't let us be 50
agitated about our going off this little barge
or sloop or canal boat of world to get on
some Great Eastern OF the heavens. Don't
let us persist in wanting to stay in this barn,
this shed. this clubhouse OF a world when all
the Kings palaces already occupied by many
Of best friends are swinging wide open
their gates TO let us in.
When I read, "Iu My Fathers house are
many mansions | do not know but that
each world is a room, and as many rooms as
there are worlds, stellar stairs, stellar gal
leries. stellar Railways stellar windows.
stellar domes How our departed friends
must pity us, shut up in these cranped
Apartments. tired il we walk fifteen miles.