The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-03-01

SpaJtereu wings are nlght-Shadowed |
wings. are tempest-torn wings In the
Isle OF Wight saw the grave of Prin.
cess Elizabeth, who died while q
at Carisbrook Castle, her finger
on an open Bible and pointing to the
words; Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and l will give
you rest" o, come under the wingsl
But now the summer day is almost
past, and the shadows of the house and
barn and wagon-shed have heightened.
The farmer, with scythe or hoe on
shoulder, Is returning from the fields i
The oxen are unyoked. The horses are
crunching the oats at the full bin. The
air is bewitched OF honeysuckle and
wildbriar. The milkman, pail in hand,
Is approaching the barnyard. The
fowls. keeping early hours are collect
ing their young: "Cluck" "Cluckp
"Cluckl" and soon the eyes of that
feathered nursery are closed. The bach
elors OF the winged tribe have assembled
to their perch, but the hens, in moth
erhood divinely appointed, take all the
risk OF slumber on the ground, and
all night long the wings will stay out
spread and the little ones will not utter
a sound. Thus at sundown, lovingly,
safely, completely, the hen broods her
young. So, II we are the Lords, the
evening of our life will come The
heats OF the day will have passed. There
will be shadows and we cannot see as
far. The work of life will be about
ended. The hawks OF temptation that
lowered in the sky will have gone to
the woods and folded their wings
Sweet silences will come down. The
air will be redolent with the breath OF
whole arbors of promises sweeter than
jasamine or evening promise. The air
may be little chill, but Christ will
call us, and we will know the voice and
heed the call, and we will come under
the wings for the night, the strong
wings the soft wings, the warm wings,
and without fear, and in full sense Of
safety, and then we will rest from sun
down to sunrise, "as a hen gathercth
her chickens under her wing" Dear
mel How many souls the Lord hath
thus brooded. Mothers after watching
over sick cradles and then watching
afterward over wayward sons and
daughters, at last themselves taken
care OF by motherly God Business
men, after lifetime struggling with
the uncertainties OF money markets
and the change of tariffs, and the un-
derselling Of men, who, because of theii
dishonesties, can afford to undersell
and years of disappointment and strug
gle, at last under wings where nothing
can perturb them any more than birt
Of prey, which is ten miles off, disturb
chick at midnight brooded in barn
yard.
My text has its strongest application
for people who were born in the coun
try, wherever you may live, and that
the majority Of you. You cannot hea
my text without having all the rusti
scenes of the old farmhouse come bac
to you. Good old days they were. Yo
knew nothing Of the world, for you ha
not seen the world. By the law Of a.
sociation you cannot recall the brooC
ing hen and her chickens without se'
ing also the barn, and the hay-mov
and the wagon-shed, and the hous'
and the room where you played, an
the fireside with the big backlo
before which you sat, and th
neighbors, and the burial, and the wet
ding, and the deep snowbanlS, and he'
,, the village bell that called You to wo
i ship, and seeing the horses which, aft
pulling YOU to church, stood around Il
old clapboarded Westinghouse, al
} those who sat at either end OF the churC
pew, and indeed all the scenes Of yo'
first fourteen years, and you think
u what you were then and of whatyou n
now, and all of these thoughts n
:, aroused by the sight Of the old he
coop Some Of you had better
Il back and start again. In thought !
|, turn TO that place and hear &
n cluclk, and see the outspread feather
; and come under the wing, and mai
. the Lord your portion and shelter al
. warmth, preparing for everything tn
\ may come, and so avoid being class
Z among those described by the ciosll
& words OF my text, las hen gathere
Il her chickens. under her wings, and
70 would not" All, that throws the l
i sponsibility upon us "Ye would no
81 Alas! for the "would-nots." II the wa
s derinr broods Of the farm heed 4
n their moth er's call and risk the ha,
nnd dare the freshet and expose the
70 selves TO the frost and storm, sure
u their calamities are not the mothe
- fault. "Yo would notp God wou
- but how many would not When
- good man asked q young woman W
=, had abandoned her home and W
was deploring her wretchedness W
IL she did not return, the reply WI
N 81 dare not go home My father is
provoked he would not receive me
60 home" "Then," said the Christi
ie man, "I will test this" and so he wrc
% TO the father, and the reply came ba
- In letter marked outside, "Imme
- ate,'' and inside saying, Let her col
IN at once; all is forgiven" So Gods in
es tation for you is marked ''Immedia'
Or on the outside, and in the inside II
~ written, "He viii abundantly pardo
m N o, ye wanderers from God and hap
40 ness and home and heaven, come unc
y the sheltering wing Under this CT
o. see you turning from your old way
U the new way, the living way, the g
IN pei way. A vessel In the British CHI
mel was nearing the rocks called
"Steep Holmes" Under the tempest
!. vessel was unmansgeable, and the Oh
~ ~ hope was that the tide would char
a before she struck the rocks and ",
~ down, and 30 the captain stood on
n ~ A a. n !