The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-04-27

the fiery courses Of the sun"
"What doest thou, insignificant grass
blade under my feet" II am doing work."
says the grass blade, ''as best can. l help
to make up the soft beauty Of field and
lawn. I am satisfied, il, with millions or
others no bigger than /. we can give pasture
to flocks and herds. am wonderfully made.
He who feeds the ravens gives me substance
from the soil aud breath from the air, and
He who clothes the lilies Of the field rewards
me with this coat Of green"
'For what lonely cloud, goest thou across
the heavens? Through the bright air a
voice drops from afar, saying: up and
down this sapphire floor I pace to teach men
that like me they are passing away. gather
up the waters from lake and sea, and then,
when the thuuders toll refresh the earth,
making the dry ground to laugh with har-
vests OF wheat and fields Of corn. lcatch
the frown of the storm and the hues Of the
rainbow. At evening tide on the western
slopes will pitch my tent, and over me
shall dash the saffron, and the purple, and
the fire Of the sunset. A pillar OF cloud like
me led the chosen across the desert, and sur
rounded by such as the Judge OF Heaven
and Earth will at last descend, for "Behold
he cometh with clouds"
Oh, my friends, If anything In the inan-
innate world be useful, let US immortal men
and women be useful, and in that respect be
like the palm tree. But must not be
tempted BY what David says Of that grsen
shaft Of Palestine, that living and glorious
pillar Of the eastern gardens, as seen in olden
times-the palm tree. / must not be tempted
by what the Old Testament says Of it. to
lessen nv emphasis of what John, the evan.
gelist, says Of it in my text.
Notice that it was beautiful and lawful
robbery Of the palm tree that helped MAKE
up Christ's triumph on the road to Jerusalem
that Palm Sunday. The long, broad. green
leaves that were strewn under the feet OF the
colt and in the way OF Christ were torn OH
from the trees. What a pity, some one
might say, that those stately and grace ul
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-
cession. So it always was, so 1t always will
be 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 prostrated,
the one slain by his tolls and the other for
lifetime invalided. The greatest pictures OF
the world had, in their richest coioring, the
blood Of the artists who made them. The
mightiest oratories that ever rolled through
the churches had in their pathos, the slghs
and eroans Of the composers, who wore their
lives out in writing the harmony. American
independence was triumphant, but 1t moved
on over the lifeless forms Of tens Of thou.
sands Of men who fell at Bunker Hill and
Yorktown and the battles between which
were 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
or Christian workers who preach and pray
and toll and die in the service. The Saviour
triumphs in all directions-but beauty and
strength must be torn down from the palm
trees Of Christian heroism and conservation
and thrown in His pathway.
70 what better use could those palm trees
nm the southern shoulder Of Mount Olivet
and clear down into the Valley OF Geth-
semane put their branches than to surrender
them for the making Of Christ's journey
toward Jerusalem the more picturesque the
mora memorable and the more tiumphantf
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 De
willing to be torn down that right
eousness shall have triumphant way? Cnrlse
was torn down for us. Can we not afford
to be- torn down for Him! IT Christ could
snfPer 60 much for us, can we not suffer
little for Christ? If 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 way?
The process Is going on every moment in
all directions. What makes that father
have such hard work to find the hymn to.
day? He puts on his spectacles and holds
the book close up, and then holds It lar on
and Is not quite sure whether the NUMBER OF
the hymn is $50 or 130, 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, aud his eyes were keen
as hawks, and the hand he offered to his
bride on the marriage day was OF goodiy
shape and as God madeit.
I will tell you what is the matter. Forty
wears ago he resolved his family should nave
no need and his children should be we'll edu.
Gated and suffer none OF the Disadvantages
of lack OF schooling from which he had
suffered for lifetime, and that the wolf OF
hunger should never put its paw on his door
sill, and for forty or fifty years he has been
tearing off from the palm tree OF his physi'
cal strength and manly form oranc1es 70 70
throw in the pathway OF his household. IL
has cost him muscle and brain and health
and eyesight, and there have been twisted
Oh more years from his life than any man
in the crowd on the famous Palm Sunday
twisted off branches from the palm trees on
the road from Bethpage to Jerusalem.
What makes that mother look 40 much
older than she really is? You say she ought
not vet to have one gray line IN her hair.
The truth is the family was not always as
well of as now. The married pair had
hard struggle at the start. Examine the
tips Of the forefnger and thumb OF her right
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 VIII
tell the story of the time when she did her
own work. her own mending and scrubbing
and washing.
Yea, look into the face and read the story
of scarlet fevers and groups and midnight
watchings, then none but God and herself in
that house were awake. and then the burials
and the loneliness afterward, which was
more exhausting than the preceding watch
ing had been, and no one now to put to bed.
How fair she once was, and as fair as the
palm tree, but oil the branches OF her
strength and beauty were long ago torn on
and thrown into the pathway OF her house.
hold.
Alas! that sons and daughters, themselves
~ straight and graceful and educated,
should ever forget that they are walking to-
day over the fallen strength OF an indus
trious and honored parentage. A little
ashamed, are you, at their ungrammatlcal
utterances9 It was through their sacrifices
that you learned accuracy OF speech. 10
yos lose patience with them because they
are a little querulous and complaining.
Iguess you have forgotten how querulous
and complaining you were when you were
getting over that whooping cough or that
intermittent fever. A little annoyed, are
you, because her hearing is poor and you
have to tell her something twice? She was
not always hard of hearing. When you
we're two years old your first cah for I,
drink at midnight woke her from q soupo
sleep as quick as any one will waken at tna
trumpet call or the resurrection.
Oh, nv Young lady, what "a that under