The Penn's Grove record., 1893-09-08

| gratis ak and the trappers gun, ana a YER
monter might go over the Allegheny and the
| Rocky mountains and see neither an Dread
nor a Sylph.
The groves where the gods used to dwell
have been cut up for flrewood, and the man
, who is looking for great spheres and great
| scenes for action will not find them. And
, vet there are Alps to scale and there are
Tablespoons to swim, and they are in com.
mon life. 1t is absurd for you to say that you
would serve God II you had a great sphere.
II you do not serve Him on 4 small scale. you
would not on a large scale. II you cannot
: stand the bite ofa nudge, how could you en-
dure the breath OF a basiliskf.
Our national government does not think it
belittling to put a tax on pins and q tax ON
buckles and a tax on shoes. The individual
taxes do not amount to much, but in the
J aggregate to millions and millions OF dollars
And 1 would have you, oh Christian man put
a high tariff on every annoyance and VeXA-
| ton that comes through your soul This might
not amount to much in single cnses, but III
the aggregate it would be a great revenue OF
spiritual strength and satisfaction.
A bee can suck honey even out OF a nettle.
and if YOU have the grace OF o in your
heart YOU can get sweetness out OF thtt
which would otherwise irritate anu annoy
A returned missionary told me that q com
pany Of Adventures, rowing up the Ganges,
were stung to death by flies that fnfest that
region at certain seasons. l have seen the
earth strewn with the carcasses of men slain
by insect a~nnoyances. The only way to get
prepared for the great troubles of life is to
conquer these small troubles.
Suppose a soldier should say, 'Th1s is only
q skirmish, and there are only q few enemies
4 won't load my gun wait until L get into
some great general engagement" mat
man Is q coward and would be q coward in
any sphere. II a man does not serve his
country in q skirmish. he will not In a
| A-I 10 ,-ntt arn nnf faffhfIt fgntng
out against the s~ingle-handed misfortunes Of
this life you would not be faithful when
great disasters with their laundering
artillery came rolling down over the soul.
This brings me to another point. We
ought to bring the religion of Jesus Christ
into our trials. If we have q bereavement, If
we lose our fortune, II some great trouble
blast like the tempest, then we go to God for
comfort, but yesterday in the little annoy
ances of your store or office, or shop or fac-
tory, or banking house, did you go to God
for comfort? You did not.
My friends, you need to take the religion
of the Lord Jesus Christ Into the most ordt-
nary trials OF your life. You have your mis-
fortunes, you have your anxleties. you have
your vexations. "oh," you say, ''they don't
shape my character. Since I lost my child.
since 1 have lost my property, l have been a
very different man from what was" My
brother, ii is the little annoyances of your
life that are souring your disposition, clip
ping your moral character and making you
less and less of a man.
You go into an artists studio. You see
| him making a piece OF sculpture. You say,
t'Why don't you strike harder2" With his
mallet and his chissl he goes click, clicS,
click and YOU can hardly see from stroke &c
stroke that there is any impression a upon
the stone, and yet the work is going on. You
BAY, 'why don't you strike harderY" ''Oh!'
he replies, "that would shatter the statue. !
must make 1t in this way, stroke by stroke
And he continues on by week and month
until after awhile every man that enters the
studlo is fascinated.
Well, 1 find God dealing with some man
He is shaping him for time and shaping hin.
Tor eternity. l say, 80 Lord, why not with
one tremendous blow of calamity shape that
tnan for the next world?" God says, "Thats
mot tho way / deal with this mar it is stroke
after stroke, annoyance after annoyance, ir-
lfitation after irritation, and after awhile he
Twill be done and a glad spectacle for angels
and men,"
Not by one great stroke, but by ten thou
sand little strokes OF misfortune are men
lifted for heaven. You know that large for
fumes can soon be scatteredb by being paid out
jim small sums oil money, and the largest estate
| of Christian character is sometimes entirely
Host by these small depletions.
We m u bring the religion of Jesus
Christ to help US In these little annoy
ances. Do not say that anything is too
Insignificant to affect your character.
Rats may sink IA ship. One lucifer
match may destroy q temple. A queen
got her death by smelling OF a poisoned
rose. The scratch Of a sixpenny nail
may give you the lockjaw. Columbus, by
hsking for a piece of bread AMI a drink OF
water at a franciscan convent, came to tho
discovery Of q new world. And there is Il
great connection between tribes and i'm
mensities, between nothinss and every
things.
Do you not suppose that Goi cares for
your Insignificant sorrows? Why, my friends,
there is nothing Insignificant in your life.
How dare you take the responsibility of say
ing that there is? Do You not know that
the whole universe Is not ashamed to take
doing down there In the grass, poor little
violet? Nobody knows you are here. Ara
you not afraid nights? You will die with
thirst. Nobody cares for you. You will
suffer you will perish" 'tNo,' says a star,
"I'l watch over 1t tonight" mo-" saya
the cloud, "rl give It drink" "No," says
the sun, I'll warm 1t in my bosom" An
then the wind rises and comes bending
down the grain and sounding its
psalm through the forest, and 1 say,
"Whither away, o wind, GA such switt
wlng2" and it answers, II am going TO COO
the cheek Of that violet" And then I SEE
pulIeys at work in the sky, and the clouds
ara drawing water, and 1 say, ''What are you
doing there, o clouds2" They say, 1--WE are
drawing water for that violet" And then
look down into the grass, and I say, "Can it
be that God takes care o. a poor thing like
youY" and the answer comes up, eyes. yes.
God clothes che grass OF the field, and He has
never forgotten me, a poor violet. Oh, my
friends, II the heavens bend down to such in
significant ministry as that, 1 tell you God is
willing to bend down to your care. since He
is Just as careful about the construction Of q
4 anidaria aya a q Ha ia in tho nNnfnrnnofinn n
flaming galaxies.
Plato had a fable which I have now nearly
forgotten, but it ran something like this H
said spirits of the other world came back tc
this world to And a body and Inc a sphere OIL
work. One spirit came and tookthe boiy o.
a king and did his work. Another spirit camC
and took the body OF a poet and did his work.
After awhile Ulysses came, and he said
why, all the fine bodies are taken, and al
the grand work is taken. There is nothing
left for me-" And some one replied. "Ah
the best one has been left for you" Ulysses
said, whats thatY' And the reply was
"The body OF a common man, doing q CON
/ mon work and for a common reward" A
| good fable for the world and just as goo
! fable for the church.
y But, 1 remark again, we ought to bring the
religion of Jesus Christ into our ordinary
8 blessings. Every autumn the President o
/, The United States and the governors max
I proclamation, and we are called together IL
= our churches TO give thanks to God for Hi
! goodness. But every day ought to bethanks
giving day. We take most of the blessing:
s Of life as a matter OF course. We have haC
l ten thousand blessings this morning TO
7 which we have not thanked God. Before tn.
| uight comes We will have a thousand NOR
blessings you Will never think of mentioning
: before God.
: We must see a blind man led along by hi
: dog before we learn what a grand thing it i
: to have ones eyesight. We must see a maj
: with st. Vitus's dance before We learn what
= grand thing it is to nave the use Of our physi
. cal energies. We must sec some soldie
: crippled, limping along on his crutch or hi
empty coatsleeye pinned up, before we lear
= what a grand thing II is to have the use O
/ MI our physical faculties. In other words
y I've are so stupid that nothing but the misfor
tunes OF Others can wake US up to an appra
II ~lriation of our common blessings.
II We get on board n train and start for Bos
a ton and come TO Norwalk bridge, and tn