Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-09-14

our ordinary blessings. Evaru
h president Of the United S. au'unr
the governors make proclama,;asees and
we are called together in onr ~, 7 and
to give thanks to God for bis ~onurehes
But every day ought to he aeoodressl
glvlng LAY we take most of the Inns ~
nave nad Io,ooo blessings this morn,N we
Beror the night m we win hung
.h,urs as nlore DRESSINGS You viii navo.
think OF mentioning before God never
We must see n blind man led !.
by his dog before we learn wha aons
grand thing 1T Is to have ones evaai
We must see a man with ST %asut
dance before we learn what . ,lus
thing it is to have the use of siant
steal energies. We must see somo pnyI
der crippled, limping along on sol
clutch, or his empty coat sleeve n;, ny
up before we learn what a grand ,hl'
it is 20 have the use of all our nbvala l
faculties. In other words. we a,o
stupid that nothing but the misfortu@
of others can wake us up to An annN
citation Of common BLESSINGS Npp'e
We get on board a train and s..
for Boston, and come to Norw"n
bridge, and the draw is off aa
crash! goes the train. Fifty Iiv;ua
lives dashed out. We escana MY
come home in great excitement o y"
call our friends around us, and Thu
congratulate us; and we all kneeI dow.
and thank God for our escape wbile -
many persisted. But tomorrow morr
ing you get on q train Of cars for 20
ton. You cross that bridge at NorwolS
You cross all the other bridges yor
get to Boston in safety. Then Won "a.
turn home. Not IN accident. not a.,
alarm. No thanks. In other words
you seem to be more grateful WHOM
fifty people lose their lives and Won 90,
off, than you are grateful to God when
you all get off, and you have no alarm
at all. Now you ought to be thankful
when you escape from accident, bnt
more thankful when they all escanp
In the one case your gratitude is some.
what selfish; in the other it is mora
like what it ought to lie.
Oh! these common mercies, thess
common blessings, how little we an.
preCiate them and how soon we for.
get them. Like the OK grazing, with
the clover up &c its eyes. like the bird
picking the worm out of the furrow-
never thinking to thank God who
makes the grass grow, and who gives
life to every living thing, from the
animalculae in the sod to the seraph
on the throne. Thanksgiving on the
9th Of November, in the autumn Of
the year; but blessings, hour by hour
and day by day, and no thanks at all.
/ compared our Indifference to the
brute. / do not know but that God
is, through it, holding communication
with what we cali Irrational crea.
ton" The cow that stands under the
willow by the water course, chewing
its cud, looks very thankful; and who
can tell how much a bird means by Its
song? The aroma of the flowers 81. III
like incense, and the mist arising from
the. river looks like the smoke Of a
morning sacrifice. Oh, that we were
as responsive!
If you were thirsty and asked me for
a drink, and l gave you this glass OF
water, your common instinct would
reply. THANK you" And yet, how :
many chalices of mercy we get hour
by hour from the hand of the Lord, !
our Father and our King, and we do
not even think to say, Thank you"
More just to men than we are just TO
God.
Who thinks Of thanking God for
the water gushing up in the well, foam
ing in the cascade, laughing over the
rocks, pattering in the shower, clapp.
! ing its hands in the sea? Who thinks
to thank God for that? Who THINKS
to thank God for the air, the fountain
of life, the bridge of sunbcams, the
path Of sound, the great fan on a not
summer day? Who thinks to thank
God for this wonderful physical Or
ganism. this sweep Of vision, tins chime
of harmony struck into the ear, uas
crimson tide rolling through arteries
and veins, this drumming of the heafs
on the march of immortality
I convict myself, and l convict every
one of you while l say these thhgs'
that we are unappreciative of the cem
mon mercies of life. And yet II the,
were withdrawn the heavens Wouu
Withhold their rain, and the earth Wouu
crack open under our feet, and famine
and desolation and sickness ana Woo
would stalk across the earth, anu ws
whole earth would become a place o.
skulls.
Oh, my friends. Let us wake up -
an appreciation Of the common mercl'
of life. Let every day be q Sappaut
every meal a sacrament, every room :
holy of holiness. We all have puruens
to bear; let us cheerfully bear tnem
We all have battles to hight; it W
courageously fight them. !.
If we want to die right, we must Nv
right. You go home and attend TO you.
little sphere of duties. / will 90 nom.
and attend to my little sphere Oh uu
ties. You cannot do my work; can
not do your work. Negligence anu
dolence will win the hiss OF eyerllsu
scorn, while %faithfulness will ga,ne
its garlands, and wave its scepter, aI Ia
sit upon its throne long after the worm
has put on ashes and eternal ages ha'S
begun their march.