Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-03-30
SEEK BIN.
Why Want to Stay in This Clubhouse
World
When tho Kings pe,x>cs Sre waiting
for u SboVe--S-.aon 10y Rev.
4. Dewitt TaimsEe, DID.

T.DcWitt Taimsce, DID.
DIR. Talmacc's text last Sunday was;
Amos v, 5: Seek Him that makcth
the seven stars and Orion"
a country farmer wrote this text
Amos. of Tckoa. lie plowcd the earth
and threshed the grain by n new
threshing machine just invented. as
formerly the cattle trod out the grain.
He gathered the fruit OF the sycamore
tree and sacrificed il with an iron comb
Just before il was getting ripe, as it
was necessary and customary in that
way 20 take from il its bitterness. lie
was the sou of poor shepherd. and
suffered; but before the stammering
rustic the Philistines and Syrians aud
Phmnicians. and Moabites. and Am
monites and Edomites, and Israelites
trcmbled.
Moses was law-givcr. Daniel was n
prince: Isaiah courticr aud David
king; but Amos, the author OF my text
was peasant. and rs might be sup.
posed, nearly all his parallelisms are
pastoral. his prophecy full of the odor
OF ncw.mown hay. and the rattle of To-
Gusts, aud the rumble of carts with
sheaves, and the roar of wild beasts de-
vouring the flock while the shepherd
came out in their defense. He watched
the herds by day, and by night inhabited
booth made out of bushes, so that
through these branches he could see the
stars all night long. and was more IA
miliur with them than we who have
tight roofs To our houses, and hardly
ever see the stars except among the tall
brick chimncys of the great towns.
But ut seasons of the year when herds
were in special danger, he would stay
out in the open field. all through the
darkness. his only shelter the curtain
of the night-hcavcn. with the stellar
embroidcries and silvcrcd tasscls Of
lunar light
What life of solitude all alone with
his hcrdsi Poor Amos! And at twelve
o'clock at night. bark 10 the VOLTS
bark, and the lions roar. and the
bears growl, and the owls tc-whit-tc-
who and the scrpcnt's hiss, a. lac un-
Willingly stems too near while moving
through the thickcts, So Amos. like
other hcrdsmcn, got the habit of study
ing the map of the heavens because il
was so much Of the time spread out be-
fore him He noticed some stars adj
vancing and others rcccding. lie as
ISOLATED their dawn aud setting with
certain seasons of the year He had a
poetic nature and he read night by
night, and month by month"; and year
by year the poem of the consultations,
divincly rhythmic But two roscttcs
of stars especially attracted his attcn-
ton while seated on the ground or W.
ing on his back under the open scroll
OF the midnight heavcns-thc Plciadcs,
or Seven Stars, and Orion.
IheIormer group this rustic prophet
associated with the spring. rs IL rises
about the first of May. The latter he
associated with the winter rs IL cones
TO the meridian in January. The
Pleiades, or Seven Stars, connected
with all sweetness and Joy; Orion. the
herald of the tempest. The aucients
were the more apt to study the physiog-
nomy and juNtaposition OF the heaven
~ bodies because they thought they had
a special influence upon the earth, and
perhaps they were right. ii tHc moon
every few hours lifts and lots down the
tides OF the Atlantic ocean. and the
electric storms OF the sun, 10y ali scicn-
tlhc admission, affect the earth why
not the stars have proportonate effect?
And there are some things which
make me think that il may not have
been all superstition which connected
the movements and appearance of the
heavenly with great moral events ON
earth. Did not a meteor run ON an
evangclisiic crrand ON the first Christ
mas night and designate the rough
a. II / o
in their course fight against Siscra?
Was IT merely coincidcntal that before
the destruction of Jerusalem the moon
was eclipsed Tor twelve consecutive
nights? Did it merely happen so that a
new star appeared in constellation Cas-.
siopeia. and then disappeared just be-
fore King Charles y. of France. who
was responsible for st Bartholomew
massacre, died? Was it without signif.
icance that in the days of the Roman
Emperor Justinian war and famine
were preceded by the dimness of the
sun, which for nearly n year gave no
more light than the moon. although
there were no clouds TO obscure il?
Astrology, after all. may have boon
fomcthing more than brilliant
leathenism. No wonder that Amos Of
the text having heard these two an
thcms of the stars put down TN, stout
rough staff OF the hcrdem11 aud took
into his brown hand. and cut and Knot
ted fingers the pen OF prophet. and
advised the recreant people 90 return to
God, saying: "Seck Him that makcth
the Seven Stars and Orion This com
mand, which Amos gave 7Sj years Il
C., is just as appropriate for rs, 1892
a. n.
In the first place, Amos saw. "a we
must see, that the God who made the
Plciadcs and Orion must bc the God of
order. II was not so much % star here
and a star there that impressed the i'm
spirco herdsmau. but seven in one
group, and seven i'm the other group
lie saw shat night after night and sea-
son after season and decade aftcr do.
cnde. they had kept step OF light cach
one in It's owu place. ei~terhood never
clashiug and never coutestinr rr,rc
dcnce. From tnc time Uc,ioI called
the Ficiadcs the seven daughters of
Atlas, and Vir~i. wrote in his Tncid
OF storm Orion" until now. they have
observed the order established for their
coming and going; order written not i'm
manuscript tL1t may bc pivcon-holcd.
but with tnc hand Of tho Almighty ON