Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-01-15


lot show himself all DAY long. There IS nothing
! INT shadow How slow We are 10 realize that
! DE storm IS from God and the darkness from
3od and the chill from God. Or
se buy the day before the mar
| GETS retreat: we mako an invest
nent hat never pays; cor we purchase goods
mt We cannot Gispota Of or "a crop OF grain
| we sowed is ruiaed. 6g drought or freshet; or
| when VIC took account ~ stock on the LIST OF
| Janupry we found ourselves thousands OF dol
! ara worse n than We expected. Who under
! such cirIums tances says, This loss Is from
| God | must have been allowed TO GO into that
unfortunate enterprise for some good reason;
I God controls the cast wind as well rs the west
wind"
My friends, ] cannot look FOR one moment OK
that retrograde shadow on AhaZs dial without
learning that God controls the shadows and
that lessen We need all 10 learn. That he con.
trolls the sunshine is not 80 ne -cssaFy u lesson,
FOR anybody can be happy when things go right
When you sleep eight hours a night and rise
With al appetite that cannot easily wait -
rreGkfast ana you so over o. the store and open
your mail 10 read more orders than you can
Eli, and In The next letter you find
. dividend far larger than you have
been promised, ald your neighbor
comes IN 10 tell you somc Factoring thing he
has heard said about you, and YOU find that all
the styles OF goods In which you deal have ad.
yanccd fifteen per cent. in value. and on your
way home YOU meet your children In full romp
ana there are roses on the center OF the tea
table and roses OF hCalth In checks all round
the table, what more do you want of consola'
iion? don't pity you bit. You feel as II you
could boss the world But for those I'm just OPP
posite circumstance nay text cones IN with an
onnipotencc Of meaning. The sAaGowl on
the shadow Shadow OF Der, avoneGt! Shadow
OF sickness. SHADOW OF bankruptcy. Shadow
of mcntal depression. Shadow Of persecution
Shadow Of death 81 cal out, Oh, sun-dial OF
Ahaz, and tell all people that God manages the
shadow As Hezcllah sat in his palace win
dow wrapped IN inyalidism and surrounded by
apodynes AKA cataplasIns and looked out upon
the black hand q the only clock known - that
time and saw IL move back ten degrees. he
learned a lesson That g majority Of the human
race need this horr 20 lclrn-h1t TIE best
friend MAN ever had controls the
shadow The sct-blcts are sometimes
the best things that can happen. The great
German author schiller, could not work I'M
less he had IN his room the scent OF rotten APP
pies, end the decay 81 tho fruits OF earthly pros
ptr.ty may become an inspiration instead Of
depression. Robert Chambers lame feet shut
bin Up from other work, and he became the
woriG-l onowncd publisher. and helped fashion
the best literature OF the ages. The painful
disorder like That OF HcZckilh, called corbun-
Gle, Is spelled exactly the same ~ the precious
stone called The cpr2unc,c, and The panS OF suf-
- iAi. hfrkDlc llt cl 'illlliuI al Nttlu''
Your s0--eJcl, like that OF Ahazs aun-dial may
be recovery ard triumph. never
had = setback but fl trrEel out 70 be a set-for-
ward. You never would have become q Chris
tian II You Lad not lad a setback. Tho highest
thrones N heaven are fCr the Sct-backs. In
1851 tho shadow OF The Sun-diGl OF this nation
was set back, aud All things seemed going 10
ruin, and II was set back further in 1867, and
further IN 1873 and stll further in 1855, but
there Is lot GA intelligent end wcll-haianccd
man. North or South, East or West but feels
il was set back toward tAc sunrise.
But / promised 90 show You how the
shadows might be turuCd back. First by
rc.us much among the young people. In most
family circles thcre are Grandchildren. BY
this divine arrarI gmsut most Of the people
who have pusscG the meridian Of life can COM
pass themselves with iWcHhty. 1t IS a bad |
thing Tor 81 old maa or old woman 10 sit look I
ingat the ynacity Of their grandchildren shout |
ing, stop that racket Better Join in the
Fun. Let iIa SO-yCars-old grandfather join
thc s-y, arS-0,d grandson or granddaughter. /
My nh, r and uctht lived 10 see over eighty |
Oh !Grcn ana Grandchildren and greatgrandchil- |
G. On and e more b5istCrOuS crew were never |
tune out on this sulluLaIy sphere and they |
ali seemed 90 cry u the old folks Keep young"
and they dii keep young. Don't walk with q
cane unless you have 10, or only rs defense in |
a city gtuCt.d with too many cannes. Don't /
wear glasses stronger than necessary, putting |
on number tens when Cightccus VIII 90 rs well. |
Don 20 into the company OF those who are al. !
ways talking about rhcumat SIN and lumbago
and shortEess OF breath and the breyity Of
human life. IL is too much Tor my gravity 10 !
hear an octogcpgriaI talking about the short. /
ness Of humag lie Prom all l can find
out he has always been hero and from
present prospects he IS always going 20 stay. |
Remain young. Hang up your stockings in 4
Christmas time. Help the boys ~ their kites. |
Teach The girls how to dress their dolls. Bet !
ter than arnica Tor your siia joints and catnip |
tea fer your slccpiess nights, Will be large
dose OF youthful companionship.
Sunrisal But not like one OF those mornings I
after you had gone 70 bed late, or aid not sleep |
well, and you get up chilled and yawning, and /
the morning bath IS a repulsion, and you feel |
like saying 10 the morning sun shining into .
your window: Il do not see what you find to |
smile about; your brightness Is 10 me q mock.
cry" But the thrush OF the next world Will be /
morning after y sound sleep, q sleep that |
nothing can disturb, and you will rise the sun
shine In yOur faces, and in your first morning in
heaven you viii wade down into the sea OF glass /
mingled with fire. the foam on fire with splen-
dor you never saw on earth and the rolling
waves arc doXo.ogies. and the rocks OF that
shore are golden and the pebbles OF that beach |
are pearl, and the skies that arch the scene are
o commingling OF all the colors that 81. John
saw on the wall OF heaven. the crimson and tho
blue and the saffron and the orange and tho
purple and tho gold and the green wrought on
those skies in shape OF garlands, OF banners, OF
ladders, OF chariots, OF crowns, OF thrones.
what q sunriscl DO you not feel its warmth
on your faccsy Seville McCollum, the dying
boy Of our Sunday-school, uttered what shall
be the peroratioI OF this sermon, Throw bach
the shutters AID let the sun in" And so the
shadow OF Ahaz's sun-dial turns from sunset
to sunrise.