Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-01-05


cerned, does it not seem TO you that 1t
would have been better for him to have
gone early?
Now, this, my friends, explains some
things that to you have been inexplic-
able. This shows you why when God
takes little children from household,
he is very apt to take the brightest,
the most genial, the most sympathetic,
the most talented. Why? 1t is be-
most when it does suffer, and is most
liable to temptation. God saw the
tempest sweeping up from the Carib-
bean, and he put the delicate craft into
the first harbor. Taken away from
the evil to come"
Again, my friends, there is bless
ing in an abbreviated earthly exist
ence in the fact that it puts one sooner
in the center of things. All astrono-
mers, infidel as well as Chris
tian, agree in believing that the
universe swings around some great
center. Any one who has studied the
earth and studied the heavens knows
y
is circle. When God put forth his
hand to create the universe, he did not
strike that hand at right angles, but
he waved il in circle and kept on
waving it in circle until systems and
consultations and galaXies and all
worlds took that motion. Our planet
swinging around the sun, other planets
swinging around other suns, but some
where great hub around which the
great wheel of the universe turns.
Now, that center is heaven. That is
the capital of the universe. That is
the great metropolis of immensely.
Now. does not our common sense
teach us that in matters of study it is
better for us to move out from the
center toward the circumference,
rather than to be on the circumference
where our world now is? We are like
those who study the American CONT
nent while standing on the Atlantic
beach. The way to study the con-
tinent is to cross it, or go to the heart
of =. Our standpoint in this world is
detective. We are at the wrong end of
the telescope. The best way to study
a piece of machinery is not to stand
on the doorstep and try TO look in, but
to go in with the engineer and take
our place right amid the saws and the
cylinders. We wear our eyes out and
our brain out from the fact we are study
ing under such great disadvantage.
Millions of dollars for observatories To
study things about the moon, about
the sun, about the rings of Saturn,
about tranSts and OSCILLATIONS and
eclipses, simply because our studio,
our observatory, is poorly situated.
We are down in the cellar trying to
study the palace of the universe, while
our departed Christian friends have
gone upstairs amid the skylights to
study.
Now, when one can sooner get to
the center of things, is he not TO be
congratulated? Who wants to be
always in the freshman class? We
study God in this world by the biblical
photogra of him; but we all
know we can in five minutes inter
view with friend get more accurate
idea of him than we can by studying
him fifty years through pictures of
words. The little child that died last
night to-day knows more of God than
all Andover, and all Princeton, and
all New Brunswick and all Edinburgh.
and all the theological institutions in
Christendom. Is it not better to 60
up to the very headquarters of knowl-
edge?
Does not our common sense teach us
that it is better to be at the center
than to be clear out on the rim of the
wheel holding nervously fast to the
tire lest we be suddenly whirled into
light, and eternal felicity? Through
all kinds of optical instruments, trying
to peer in through the cracks and the
keyholes of heaven-afraid that both
doors of the celestial mansion will be
swung wide open before our entranced
vision - rushing about among the
apothecary shops of this world wonder
ing if this is good for rheumatism, and
that is good for neuralgia, and some
thing else is good for "A bad cough, lest
we be suddenly ushereo INTO land of
everlasting health where the inhab-
liant never says, II am sick"
We stick TO the world as though we
preferred cold drizzle TO warm habita-
ton, discord to cantata, sack-cloth TO
royal purple-as though we preferred
piano with four or five keys out of
tune to an instrument fully attuned-
as though heaven and earth had eX-
changed apparel, and earth had taken
on bridal array and heaven had gone
into mourning, all its waters stagnant,
all its harps broken, all chalices
cracked at the dry wells all the lawns
sloping to the river plowed with
graves with dead angels under the
furrow. Oh, l want to break up my
own infatuation and l want to break
up your infatuation for this world. 1
tell you, if we are ready, and if our
work is done, the sooner we go the
better, and if there are blessings in
longevity l want you to know right
well there are also blessings in an alb
breviated earthly existence.
- IL. l..