Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1893-03-02

that does not understand you and does
not want to understand you; will COM
fort and Will soothe ard | will be your
warmth. las hen gathe-eth her chick
ems under her wing" "a. the warm
heart of God is ready for all those to
whom the world has given the cold
shoulder.
SACRIFICE Unto DEATH.
But notice that some one must take
the storm for the chickens All. the hen
takes the storm have watched her
under the pesting rain. have seen her
in the pinchins frosts almost frozen to
death or almost strangled in the waters.
and what fight she makes for the young
under wing if dog or hawk or man
comes-.too near! And so the broodins
Christ takes the storm for us. What
food of anguish and tears that did not
dash upon his holy soul, What beak OF
torture did not pierce his vitals! What
barking Cerberus of hell was not let out
upon him from the kennels!
What he endured, oh. who can tell,
To save our souls from death and he'll.
Yes. the hen took the storm for the
chickens. and Christ takes the storm for
rs. 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 unCer the fence half
dead. And now the rain turns to snow.
and it is an awful night. and in the morn
ing the whiteness about the gills and the
beak down in the mu1 show that the
mother is dead. and the young ones come
out and cannot understand why the
mother does not scratch for them some
thing to eat. ard they walk over her
wings and call with their tiny voices.
but there is no answering cluck. She
took the storm for others and perished.
Poor thing. Self sacrificing 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 spiritual safety
are blood spattered wings. are night shat
tered wings. are tempest torn wings.
In the Isle of Wight saw the grave OF
Princess Elizabeth. who died while
prisoner at Carisbrook castle. her finger
on an open Bible and pointing to the
words. Come unto me all ye that labor
and ere heavy laden. and will give yo'l
rest" Oh. come under the wings!
But now the summer day is almost
passed, and the shadows of the house
and barn and wagon shed have length
ened. The farmer. with scythe or hoe
On shoulder. is returning from the fields
The oxen are unyoked. The horses are
crunching the oats at the full bin. The
air is bewitched Of honeysuckle and wild
brier. The milkman. pail in hand. is
approaching the BARNARD. The fowls.
keeping early hours. are collecting their
young. "Cluck" "Cluclw Chuck: ana
soon all the eyes Of that feathered nursery
are closed.
The bachelors OF the winged tribe have
ascended to their perch but the hens. IN
motherhood divinely appointed. take
all the risk of slumber on the ground.
and all night long the wings will stay
outspread. and the little ones will not
utter a sound. Thus at sundown. low
ingly. safely. completely, the hen broods
her Young. SO. if we are the Lords. the
evening of our life will come. The heats
of the day will have passed. There will
be shadows, and we cannot see as far
The work of life will be about ended.
The hawks of temptation that hovered
in the sky will have gone to the woods
and folded their wings. Sweet silences
will come down The air will be redo
lent with the breath of whole arbors OF
promises sweeter than jasmine or even
ing primrose The air may be little
chill, but Christ will call US, and wewill
know the voice and heed the call, and we
will come under the wings for the night
the strong wings. the soft wings. the
warm wings-and without fear and III
full sense of safety, and then we will
rest from sundown to sunrise. ''as hen
gathereth her chickens under her wing.
Dear me, how many souls the Lord hath
thus brooded!
Mothers, after watching over sick era
dies and then watching afterward over
wavward sons and daughters. at last
themselves taken care of by motherly
God. Business men, after lifetime
struggling with the uncertainties of
money markets, and the change of tariffs.
and the underselling of men who be-
cause of their dishonesties can afford to
undersell. and years of disappointment
and struggle, at last under wings where
nothing can perturb them any more than
bird Of prey which is 10 miles off dis
trlrbs chick at midnight brooded in a
barnyard.
TRUSTING IN DIVINE SHELTER.
Ny text has its strongest application
for people who were born in the country,
wherever You may now live, and that is
the majority of you. You cannot hear
my text without having all the rustic
scenes of the old farmhouse come back
to you. GooG old days they were. You
knew nothing much of the world. for
you had not seen Ihe world.
By law of association you cannot recall
the brooding hen and her chickens with
out seeing also the barn, and the hay
NOV, and the wagon shed. and the
house, and the room whore :ou played,
and the freside with the big backlog
before which You sat, and the neighbors,
and the burial, and the wedding, ard
A. daa,, .,,oxrbonte and hear the VII