The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1893-03-17

, and icy fOrmality, and so the imperiled
one slips off and floats down. Give it
the other end of the plank-warmth Of
sympathy, warmth OF kindly association.
| warmth of genial surroundings.
But notice that some one must take
the storm for the chickens. All. the hen
takes the storm. l have watched her
under the pelting rain. l have seen her
in the pinchirg froStS almost frozen to
death or almost strangled TO death in the
waters, and what fight she makes for
the young under wing if dog. or hawk,
| or man come too near. And SO the
| brooding Christ takes the storm tor us.
What flood Of anguish and tears that did
not dash upon His holy soul! What beak
of torture did not pierce His vitals!
What barking Cerberus of hell was not
let out upon Him from the kennels.
What He endured oh, who can tell,
To save our souls from death and hell!
Christ Takes the Storm for Us.
Yes, the hen took the storm for the
| chickens. and Christ takes the storm for
| us. Once the tempest rose so suddenly
| the hen could not get with her young
back from the new ground to the barn,
! and there she is under the fence half
dead. And now the rain turns 20 snow,
! and it is an awful night, and in the
morning the whiteness about the gills
and the leak down in the mud show
that the mother is dead, and the young
ones come out and cannot understand
why the mother does not scratch for
them something to eat and they walk
over her wings and call with their tiny
voices, but there is no answering cluck.
] She took the storm for others and per-
I :,I1 - 81 ,rit
unto death.
And does it not make you think of
him who endured all for us? So the
wings under which we come for spiritual
safety are b!oOd-spattered wings, are
night-shadOwed wings, are tempest-torn
wings. In the Isle of Wight ! saw the
grave of Princess Elizabeth. who died
while . prisoner at CariSbrOok Castle,
her finger on an open Bible and point
ing to the words, Come unto me, all We
that labor and are heavy laden, and /
will give you rest" Oh, come under the
| wings!
But now the summer day IS almost
past, and the shadows of the house and
barn and wagOn-shed have heightened.
The farmer. with scvthe or hoe on shout
der, is returning from the fields. The
oxen are unyOked. The horses are
crunching the oats at the full bin. The
air is bewitched of honey suckle and wild
brier. The milkman. pail in hand, is
approaching the barn-yard. The fowls,
keeping early hours, are collecting their
young. 'Cluck!' "Cluck" ''Cluck!"
and soon all the eyes of that feathered
nursery are closed.
Tie bachelors of the winged tribe have
assembled to their perch, but the hens, in
motherhood divinely appointed, take
all the risk of slumber on the
ground, ana all night long the wings will
stay outspread and the little ones will
not utter a sound. Thus at shutdown,
lovingly, safely, completely, the hen
broods her young. So. if 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 jasmine or even
ing primrose 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 fON 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 shutdown to sunrise. las a hen
gathereth Ter chickens under her wings"
Dear me! How many souls the Lord
hath thus brooded!
Mothers, after watching over sick
cradles and then watching aiterward
over wavward sons and daughters, at
last themselves taken care o. by a
mOtherly God. Business men, after a
lifetime struggling with the uncertain
ties of money markets. and the change
of tariffs, and the underselling of men
who because of their dishOnesties can
afford to undersell, and years of disaD-
pointment and struggle, at last under
wings where nothing can pcrturb them
any more than bird of prey which is
ten miles off disturbs chick at mid
night broOding in a barnyard.
NV text has its strongest application
for people who were born in the country,
wherever You may now live, and that is
the majority of you. You cannot hear
my text without having all the rustic
scenes of the old farmhouse come back to
you. Good old days they were. You
knew nothing much of the world, for
[, you had not seen the world.
BY law of association you cannO: re-
call the broading hen and her chickens
without seeing also the barn, and the
haymow, and the wagon shed. and the
house, and the room where YOU played,
and the fireside with the big black log
before which you sat, and the neighbOrs,
and the burial, and the wedding, and the
deep snow-banks, and hear the village
! bell that called you TO worship, and see
ing the horses which. after pulling you
! TO church, stood around the old clap
boarded meeting house, and those who
sat at either end of the church pew. and
indeed all the scenes Of your first four
teen years, and you think OF what you
were then and of what you are now. and
all these thoughts are aroused by the
sight Of the old hencoop. Some OF you
had better go back and start again.
In thought return to that place and
hear the cluck and see the outspread
feathers and come under the wing and
make the Lord our portion and shelter
and warmth, preparing for everything
that may come, and so avoid being
classed among those described by the