The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-02-28
he world has given the cold shoulder.

the storm. have watched her under tn
pelting rain. have seen her in the pinch
ing frosts. Almost frozen to death, or al
most strangled in the waters. and what
| fight she makes for the young under VIM
II dog or hawk or a laan come too near
And so the brooding Christ takes the storm
| for us. What flood of anguish and tear
that did not dash upon his holy soul! Wha
beak Of torture did not pierce his vitals
| What barking Cerebus of hell was not le
out upon him from the kennels?
What He endureth o who can tell
10 save our souls from death and hell.
Yes. the hen took the storm for the chick
ems, 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 to snow. and it is an awful
night. and in the morning the whiteness
about the gills and the bcak down in the
mud show that the mother is dead, and
the young ones come out and cannot UNDER
stand 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 click.
She took the storm for others and per-
ished. Poor thing! Self-sacriticing, even
unto death! And does it not make you
think of him who endured all for US! So
the wings under which we come for spirit
night-shadowed wings. are tempesttorn
wings. In the isle of Wight saw the
grave of Princess Elizabeth. who died while
a prisoner at Carisbrook Castle. her finger
on an open Bible and pointing to the words:
Come unto me all we that labor ant are
heavy laden, and l will give you rest. 3"
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 scythe or hoe OH shoulder. is
returning from the fields. The oxel are
unyoked. The horses are crunchin, the
oats at the full bin. The air is bevitch-
ed of honeysuckle and wildbriar. The
milkman. pail in hand, is approaching, the
barnyard. The fowls. keeping early lours,
are collecting their young: ''Cltck!'
"Cucll"' "Cluck!' and soon all the eyes
of that feathered nursery are closed. The
bachelors of the winged tribe have ascend
ed to their perch, but the hens, in q m,thcr-
hood, divinely appointed, take all the risk
of a slumber on the ground and all night
long the wings will stay outspread aIl the
little ones will not utter a sound. thus at
shutdown, lovingly. safely. completely the
hen broods her young. SO, if we az the
Lords the evening of our life will ONE.
The heats of the day will have passed
There will be shadows and we cannt see
as far. The work of life will be abou end
ed. The hawks of temptation that bver-
vi III iiiC ShS w III HAVE Stiic W thC WotlS
and folded their wings. Sweet silenccwll
come down. The air will be redolentwith
the breath of whole arbors of promises
sweeter than jessamine or enning
primrose. The air may be a lit
tie chill, but Christ will call us. ad we
will know the voice and heed the cd, and
we will come under the wings for thetight,
the strong wings, the soft wings, thowarm
wings and without fear and in full sense
of safety and then We will rest frn sum
down to sunrise. ''as hen gatherth her |
chickens under her wing" Dear me How |
many souls the Lord hath thus Hooded. |
Mothers after watching over sick radies |
and then watching afterward way
ward sons and daughters at last thelselves
taken care of by a motherly God. IlSiness
men, after lifetime struggling with he I'M
certaintics of money markets and thc;hange
of tariffs and the underselling of me, who,
because of their dishoncsties. can aord To
and years of disappointment and
struggle, at last under wings where othing
can perturb them any more than Il ord of
prey, which is ten miles off. distllrbs chick
at midnight brOoded in a barnyard.
My text has its strongest appllcaOn for |
people who We're born in q countrywher-
ever you may now live and that is te ma
without having all the rustic scenesd the
4ld, lighthouse come back 10 v0u. Coz dd
of the world. for you had not seen rae i
world BY law of association you cannot
recall the brOoding hen and her chickens
without seeing also the barn and the hay
now, and the wagon she'd and the house,
and the room where you played, and the
fireside with the big back log before which
YOU sat, and the nelghbors, ana the burial
and the wedding and the deep snoWDahks,
and hear the village bell that called you 10
worship. and seeing the horses which. al
ter pulling you to church. stood around the
old clapboarlnd Westinghouse and those
who sat at either end Of the church pew,
and indeed, all the scenes OF your 1lrst Tour
teen years and you think OF what you were,
then and what you are now, and all these.
thoughts are aroused by the sight OF the,
old hencoop. Some of YOU had better 90
back and start again. In thought return
to that place and hear the cluck, and sec,
the outspread feathers, and come under inc
wing and make the Lord your portion ana
shelter and warmth, preparing for every,
thing that may come and so AVOID belnal
classed among those described by the closn
ing words of my text. las hen gatheretr
her chickens under, her, wings, and "
sibility upon us Eye would not" Alas"
for the "woud-nots." If the wanderin'e
broods of the farm heed not their moth
er's call and risk the hawk and dare th
frcshet and expose themselves to tho
frost and storm, surely their calamitip -
not. When q good man asked youD'
NOT. When n good man asks n youac
woman who had abandoned her home ase,
who was deploring her wretchedness W
she did not return, the reply was: u dacb
not go home. My father is so proyok, ,a
he would not receive me home "Thel.,,o
said the Christian man, Il will test thi Inc
md he wrote to the father and the reant
came back. and i'll a letter marked outsbul
"Immediate," and inside saying; u A
her come at once; all is forgiven Co;
Gods invita- ton for you is marked I'm -
date on the outside, and inside is writ 1
He will abundantly pardon" Oh, We Will
derers from God and happiness and htkya
and heaven. come under the shelte hoe
wing. Under this call | see you turf hor
from your old way to the new way,
living way, the Gospel way. A vesseeer'
the Bristol channel was nearing the rJ W
called the ''Steep Holmes" Under i'm
tempest the vessel was unmanageable, l..
the only hope was that the tide w1 eJo
change before she struck the rocks Of
went down, and so the captain stoodk 30
the deck watch in hand Captain fea'
crew amid passengers were palld for'
terror. Taking another look at his WI lac
and another look at the he Shot r en-
Thank God, we are saved. The 4,n,
has turned! One minute more and at
would have struck the rocks Some ou''
Of you have been a long while drifting mi
the tempest of sin and sorrow and he Jol
been making for the breakers. Thai
God, the tide has turned Do you late
feel the lift of the bilow? The grace, ,
God that bringeth salvation has appea
to your soul, and in the words of BoazeW
Ruth. ! commend you to 1.-The Lord Godills