Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-03-03

.l1ll As q hs.s 3 ssth her chickens
i,ader her ,e'mgs. and Ne 1roald not
Matthew xiii, 81.
Jerusalem was IN sight as Christ cana TO
the crest of Mount Olivet, a height of 100
feet. The splendors OF the religious capital
of the whole earth irradiatei the landscape
There is the temple. Yonder is the kings
palace. Spread out before His eyes ara the
pomp, the wealth. the wicsedness ami the
coming destruction OF Jerusalem, aud He
burst into tears at the thought of the ob-
duracy Of place that He would gladly have
saved, and apostrophizsS. saying, ''Od,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would |
have gathered thy children together even
as hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not
Why did Christ select hen and chicken as
a simile? Next to the oppoSiteneSS of the
comparison think it was to help all public
teachers in the matter Of illustration 10 get
down off their stills and use comparisons
that all can understand. The plainest bird
on earth is the barnyard fowl. It's only
adornments are the red comb in its head
dress and the wattles under the throat 1t
has no grandeur Of genealogy. All we know
is that its ancestors came from India, some
Of them from height OF 1000 feet on the
sides of the Himalays. II has no pretenton
Of nest like the eagles eyrie. 1t has no luster
OF plumage Ike the goldfincb Possessing
anatomy that allows flight, yet about the
last thing that it wants to do is to fly, and
in retreat uses foot almost as much as wing
Musicians have written out in musical
scale the song of lark and robin red breast
aud nightingale, yet the hen Of my text
bath nothing that could be taken for a song
but only cluc$ aud cackle. Yet Cairst in
the text uttered, while looking upon doomed
Jerusalem, declares that what He had
wished for that city was like what the hen
does for her chickens. Christ was thus sim.
pie in His teachings. AMI get how hari il is
for us, who are Sunday-schoOl instructors
end editors and preachers aud refOrmers,
and those who would gain the ears of audi
enceS, TO attain that heavenly AMI divine
art Of simplicity.
We have TO run q course Of literary dis
orders as children a course OF physical dis
orders. We come out of school and college
loaded down with Greek mythOlogies and
out Of the theological seminary weighed
down with what the learned fathers said,
and we fly with wings Of eagles AMI hamin.
goes and albatroSSes, and il takes a COOL
while before we can come down to Christs
similitu5es the candle under the bushel, the
salt that has lost its SAVIOR, the net thrown
into the sea, the spittle on the eyes of the
lllll4 ADdE dAlG wv uCu AAAtA CIllhCues
There is not much poetry about this
winged creature of God mentioned in my
text, but she is more practical and mora
motherly and mora suggestive of good
things than many that fly higher and wear
brighter colors. She is not prima donna
OF the skies nor a strut of beauty in the
aisle Of the forest. She does not cut a circle
under the sun like the Rocky Mountain
eagle. but stays at home 10 look after family
affairs. She does not swoo2 like the condor
Of the Cordilleras to transport a rabbit from
the valley to the TOP OF the crags. but Just
scratches for living. How vigorously
with her claws she pulls away the grouni
to bring up what is hidden beneath When
the breakfast or dining hour arrives, she
begins 10 prepare the repast AMI calls all her
young 70 partaSe.
am in sympathy with thu unpretsntiou;
I'D fashioned hen, because like most Of US
she has to scratch for a living. She knows
AZ the start the lesson which most people of
good sense are slow TO learn that the gaiu
ing Of livelihood implies work, an that
successes do not lie on the surface. but are to
be upturnei by positive AMI continuous
effort The reason that society and the
church, and the world are 50 full OF failures,
90 full Of loafers, 50 full Of dead beats is be-
cause people are not wise enough to take the
lesson on which any hen would teach them
that il they would find for themselves and
Tor those dependent upon them anything
worth having they must scratch for it.
Solomon said. Go to the ant. thou slug
gard say, GO 10 the hen, thol slug
gard" In the Old Testament God compares
Himself TO an eagle stirring up her n9st, al |
in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is
compared TO a descending dove, but Christ,
IN a sermon that begins with cutting sar-
rasm for hypocrites and ends with the
paroxysm Of path0s in the text, compares
Himself to ben.
One day in the country We saw sudden
CONSERVATION in the behavior OF old Dom.
mick. Why the hen should be so disturbed
we could not understand. We looked about
10 see If a neighbours dog were invading the
farm. We looked up to see if stormcloui
we're lowering. We could see nothing on
the ground that could terrOrz,, and we
could see nothing in the air 70 ruffis the
feathers Of the hen. but the loud, wild af-
frigbted cluck which brought all her brool
at full run under her feathers male Us lOo's
again around us and above W. when we saw
that high up and far away there was "a
pacious bird wheeling round and round, an
down and down. and not seeing us as We
stool in the shadow 10 clm9 nearer and
lower until we saw its beak was curved from
base 70 tip and it had two flames o. fire for
eyes, and it was a hawk.
But all the chickens were under old Dom
inicks wing, and either the bird of prey
caught glimpse OF u, or not able to finl
the brood bundled under wing darte1 back
into the clouds. So Christ calls with great
~arpesiness 10 the young. Why, what is the
matter; II IS bright sunlight. and there can
be no danger. Health is there. A COOL
home is theirs. Plenty Of fool is theirs
- - = Iof- n,kI
continues TO call, calls with more EN-.
phasis and urges haste and SAYS not a
second ought to be lost Oh. do tell US what
is the matter. An, now l see. There are
hawks OF temptation in the air: there are
vultures wheeling for their prey: there are
beaks OF death ready TO plunge; there are
claws Of allurement ready to clutch. Now
| see the peril. Now. l understand the
urgency. Now l see the only safety. Would
that Christ might this day take our sons AMI
daughters into His shelter, las a hen gath
ereth her chickens under her wing"
The fact is that the most Of them will
never find the shelter unless while they are
chickens. II is a simple matter Of inexor-
able statistics that most of those who do not
come - Christ in youth never come at ali
What chance is there for the young without
divine protection? There are the grOg
shops. There are the gambling bells. There
are the infdelities and immoralities OF
spirituals D. There are bad books. There
are impurities. There are the business ras-
calities. Aud so numerous are these asssil.
nents that it is a wonder that honesty aDd
virtue are not lost arts.
The birds Of prey, diurnal and nocturnal.
OF the natural world are ever on the alert.
They are the assassins of the SKY. They have
varieties OF taste. The eagle prefers the
flesh Of the living animal The vulture pre-.
Ters the carcass. The falcon kills with one
stroke, while other styles OF beaks give pro.
longation Of torture. Aud 50 the temDta-
tons OF this life are various Some make
quick work Of death, and others agonize the
mind and body for MANY years AMI sons
like the living blood Of great souls. and
others prefer those already gangrened. But
wing and sharp beak AMI a cruel claw,
aud what the rising generation needs is a
wing Of protection.
Fathers, mothers older brothers AMI sis
ters and Ssbbath-sc1ool teachers. be quick
and earnest and prayerful aud importunate
and get the chickens under the wing. May
the 5abbath-schOols Of America and Great
Britain within the next three months sweep
oil their scholars into the kingdom. Whom
they have now under charge is uncertain.
Concerning that scrawny, puny child that
Jay in tue cradle many years ago. toe father
lead, many remarked, what mercy if
the Lord would take the clildn and the
mother really thought so too. But what a
good thing that God spared that child, for |
t became world renowned in Christian |
literature and one OF Gods most Industrious |