Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-12-15


one day. And they began
to be merry" Picture Prodigal son
returned from the wilderness. So God,
our mother, teaches us everything by
pictures. The sinner is lost sheep.
Jesus is the Bridegroom. The useless
man is barren fig-trec. Tho Gospel is
Il great supper Satan, sower of
tarcs. Truth, a mustard seed That
which ave could not have understood
in the abstract statement, God, our
mother, presents to rs in this Bible
album OF pictures God-engrnvcd. Is
not the divine maternity We thus
teaching us?
remark again, that God has a
mothers favoritism. A father some
times shows a sort Of favoritism. Here
is bJy--strong, we'll, of high fore
head and quick intellect. The father
says, . | will take that boy into my
firm YET; or, Il will give him the
very best possible education. There
are instances where. for the culture
OF the one boy, all the others have
been robbed A sad favoritism; but
that is not the mothers favoritc |
will tell you her favorite There Is a
child who at . years of age had a fall.
lie has never got over it. The scarlet
fever muflled his hearing. He is not
what lie once was. That child has
caused the mother more anxious nights
than all the other children. If he
coughs in the night, she springs out of
a sound sleep and goes to him The
last thing she does when. going out of
the house is to give charge in regard
to him. The first thing on coming in
is to ask in regard To him Why
the children OF the family all
know that he is the favorite, and say,
Mother, you let him do just as he
pleases, and You give him great
many things which you do not give MS.
lie is your favorite" The mother
smiles; She knows it is so. SO he
ought to be: for if there is any one in
the world that needs sympathy more
than another, it is an invalid child,
weary on the first mile of life's
journey; carrying an aching head,
a weak side, an irritated lung. So
the mother ought to make him
fayorite. God. our mother, has favor
ties Whom the Lord lovcth he chas-
teneth." That is one whom he cS-
pecially loves he chasteneth God
loves us all; but is there one weak,
and sick, and sore, and wounded, and
suffering. and faint? That is the one
who lies nearest and more perpetualIy
on the great, loving heart of God. Why
it never coughs but our mother, God,
hears it. II never stirs weary limb
in the bed but our mother, God, knows
of it. There is no such "A watcher as
God. The best nurse may be oyerbornc
by fatigue, and fall asleep in the chair;
but God our mother. after being up u
year of nights with Il suffering child,
never slumbers nor sleeps.
"Oh!' says one, u cannot under
stand all that about affection" A re-
finer of silver once explained it to u
Christian lady, Il put the silver in the
fire, and keep refining it and trying
it till can see my face in it, and then
take it out" Just so it is that God
keeps his dear children in the furnace
till the divine image may be seen
in them; then they are taken
out of the fire. Well" says
some one, If that is the way that God
treats his favorites, do not want to
be favoritc." There is barren field
on the autumn day just wanting to be
let alone. There is bang at the
clevices The field says, "What is the
farmer going to do with me now?'
Tho farmer puts the pillow in the
ground, shouts to the horses, the cou-
ter goes tearing through the sod, and
the furrow reaches from fence to fence.
Next day there is bang ut the bars, and
rattle of whiille-trccs again. The
field saws, II wonder what the farmer
= L..
bitches the horses to the harrow, and
it goes bounding and tearing across the
field. Next day there is Il rattle at the
bars again, and the field says, What
is the farmer going to do nowr'
lie walks heavily across the
field, scattering seed rs he
walks After while cloud comes.
The field says, What, more trouble!"
1t begins to rain. After while the
wind changes to the northwest, and it
begins to snow. Says the field, is it
not enough that | have been torn and
trampled upon and drowned? Must
now be showed UNDER After while,
spring comes out of the gates of the
South: and warmth and gladuess come
with it, A green scarf baudages the
cash of the wheat-tield, and the July
morning drops crown of gold on the
head of the grain. ''Oh! says the
field, NOW know the use of the
plow, of the harrow, Of the heavy
foot, of the shower, and of the snow
storm. 1t is well enough to be trod-
den. and trampled, and drowned, and
showed under, if in the end can yield
such q glorious harvest" :" He that
goeth forth and wecpeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his
shcavcs with him"
When see God especially busy in
troubling and trying Christian. |
know that out of that Christians char.
acter there is To come some especial
good. A quarrymau goes down into
the excavation, and with strong
handed machinery bores into the rock
The rock says, What do you do that
for" lie puts powder in; he lights n
fuse. There is u laundering crash
The rock says, why the whole mount
ain is going to pieces. The crow
bar is plunged: the rock is dragged
out After while it is taken
into the artists studio 1t says, We'll,
now have got to good, warm, com
Portable place at last, But the
sculptor takes the chisel and mallet,
and he digs for the eyes, and he cuts
for the mouth, and he borcs for the
ear. and he rubs il with sand-paper,
until the rock SAYS, when will this
torture be ended" 4 sheet is
thrown over it. 1t stands in darkness.
After while it is taken out. The
covering is removed. 1t stands in
the sunlight, in the presence of ten
thousand applauiing people, as they
greet the statue of the poet. or the
Prince, or the conqueror ''Ah!" says
the stone. nov | underestimate. | am
a great deal better off now standing as
Il statue OF &c nqueror than ] would
have been down in the quarry" SO
Gods finds man down in the quarry
of igno auce aud sin. How TO get him
up? He must be bored. and blasted.
and chiscled, and scored, and stand
sometimes in the darkness.
But after while the mantle of
afiiiction will fall of, and his soul will
be greeted by the one hundred and
forty-four thousand ami the thous-
ands of thosands, Us more than con.
queror. Oh, my friends, God, our
mother, is just as kind in our affections
as in our properties God never
O.