St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-26
RELIGIOUS H0MILIES.
Rev. DR.. Vail breaches a Ser
mon for Children of His
Church. ~
Lesson Of the Tireless Ants
Used to Illustrate the
Sermon.
Bishop Charles H. Fowler
Talks at Oxford Church
Anniversary. ii
Abraham's Obedience to the
Behest Of God Taken ass
8 Text. y.

Universalists at Music hall yesterday.
1t was 'children's day" in Rev. DR..
VaiPs church, and the services were
appropriate to the occasion. The pro-
gramme has heretofore been published
in full in the GLOBE. The pastor
preached the sermon, synopsis OF
which follows:
81 want to call attention to the special
mention of the feeble folk that God has
ditions in which Nature has placed
them. and SO taking advantage, make
the most of what they have; and to this
end 1 have chosen the words, The ants
are people not strong, yet they pre-
pare their. meat in the summer And
in the beginning we learn something of
the great things that may be done by
very weak people. who are organized,
willing, and use all their forces to ac-
complish a given object. When we
consider the little Amazon ant as a war
rior, as an organizer, and as worker,
we must consider his limitations. We
must remember he is weak, small, un-
armed, without brains; that he has enc
mics among birds that fly and animals
that run; that he has very unequal
chance for successful life at the best.
Ants like honey very much, but are
too feeble to strive with the honey-bird,
so they must provide themselves in an
other way. Now on plants we find a
feeble, Insignificant insect called the
aphis, and this little aphis exudeS a
honey-dew when touched, mach as a cow
does milk-a honey-dew of which the
ant is very fond. So the ants capture
the aphides and carry them home.
Knowing the value Of their captives.
they take the utmost care OF their tiny
herds. They stall-feed them IN the
most careful manner, sparing no time
or pains in making life pleasant for the
aphis, and taking in return the exuded
honey. dew every day. So we learn the
lesson of patience with the
Lesson of Organization.
1t is the old story of perseverance,
And it has the same features we have
known SO long. There is absolutely
nothing new in it; but there are the
miracles standing before JUS. You pause
and say: How can so small, so feeble
folk do such mighty things?' Simply
by never hating, never resting, by a
united and common purpose. by never
complaining, and by that patient,
steady movement that we have seen-
very commonplace but. very effective.
And the last railroad that spans this
continent, and the last triumph in engi-
neering. and the latest discoveries in
electricity-all these have a flavor of
the same unresting patience.
We will next see the sad Illustration
of one ot Natures methods of admins
tering punishment to her children. 1t
will be practical lesson also. because
it touches our lives as we'll as theirs.
The ant has, as we have seen, an un-
usual endowment, and when she uses
the power Nature gave her accomplishes
almost miraculous things. But some OF
these tribes of ants, like the AmazonS,
turn slavers. In the battles they take
the uniformed young of the enemy.
These they hatch and bring up, and
condemn to slavery. No more for Mr..
Amazon now! He sits back>on his dig
nity, and takes his ease. His food is
brought, his work is done by another
hand. just then Mother Nature steps
in. and atrophies his powers. He loses
his instructive grasp of things; he has
been carried so much he can not walk
now; he has been living so luxuriously
he no longer has the power to march, TO
endure, to fight. He is-useless lumber,
and soon swept out Of the way.
This means lesson to us. You read
how the Roman was Injured to hardship
in his early days. You read how ease
crept in and kept creeping Ill. In the
early times a warrior prlded nlmSeif
that he slept on the bare ground, swan
the river when its chill penetrated his
bones, ate berries by the roadside be-
cause his ratlons had given out; but in
the later time the ruler was carried in
his litter; he was cushioned to prevent
jolting; lie was washed in scented wafer
by slaves, and bag of perfume was
placed around his neck. Then came
the crash that felled the nation, a giant
tree, the echoes of its fall reyeberatlng
through the ages. Such is the story Of
the paralvzed, atrophied nation, and
such the way in which God takes away
Its power.
A church has its activities in its
schools, its members, its various socle-
ties. While their blood runs full and
swift, while they are quick, watchful,
patient, purposeful, the church is
Strong. When you see their ranks be-
coming SO weary that the lazy step
loses it's elasticity, wheu the workers
Meet You with a Yawn.
when they say.'a little more sleep. "then
look out: for God, through the natural
law of atrophy. is working out His will
to all who fail to use the privileges He
gives them. So it is in your business,
in your profession, in your moral life.
Show me the young man who has be-
come careless to truth, who has made
up his mind that there is shortcut to
success and happiness-shO him to
me and | will show you a man whose
powers will soon be arrested i'll growth,
who will some day see the point where
Nature took vengeance on him byal7
lowing his powers to degenerate, and
the world to stamp him as back
number and out of date. tDs
- on
A GENEROUS RESPONSE ,i3
lsRoJl CALI, RaSuJfS We'll Hter a