The Bossier banner., 1894-02-01

sweeping up from the Caribbean, and
he put the delicate craft into the first
harbor. Taken away from the evil to
come"
Again, my friends, there is a blessing
in an abbreviated earthly existence in
| the fact that it puts one sooner in the
center of things. All astronomers, in
/ fidel as well as Christian, agree in be-
lieving that the universe swings around
some great center. Anyone who has
studied the earth and studied the
! heavens knows that Gods favorite
| figure in geometry is a circle When
! God put forth His hand to create the
universe, He did not strike that hand
at right angles, but He waved it in a
circle and kept on waving it in a circle
until systems and consultations and
galaxies and all worlds took that mo-
tion. Our planet swinging around the
sun, other planets swinging around
other suns, but somewhere a 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 immensity.
Now, does not our common sense
teach us that in matters of study it is
better for US to move out from the CEN
ter toward the circumference, rather
than to be on the circumference, where
our world now is? We are like those
who study the American continent
while standing on the Atlantic beach.
The way to study the continent is to
cross it, or go to the heart of it. Our
standpoint in this world is defective.
We are at the wrong end of the tel
escope The best way to study 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 cyl
inders. We wear our eyes out and our
brain out from the fact that we are
studying under such great disadvan-
tages.
Millions of dollars for observatories
to study things about the moon, about
the sun, about the rings of Saturn,
about transits and occultations 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
up stairs amid the slylights to study.
Now, when one can sooner get to the
center of things, is he not to be con-
graduated? Who wants to be always
in the freshman class? We study God
in this world by the Biblical photo
graph of Him, but we all know we
can in five minutes of interview with a
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 Bruins
wick, and all Edinburgh, and all the
theological institutions in Christen.
dom. Is it not better to go up to the
very headquarters of knowledge?
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 hurled into
, light and internal 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 enhancing
vision-rushing about the apothecary
shops of this world, wondering if this
, is good for rheumatism, and that is
good for neuralgia, and something else
is good for bad cough, lest we be sud
. denly ushered into land of everlasting
health, where the inhabitants never
say: 81 am sick.
q What fools we all are to prefer the
circumference to the centeri What z
= dreadful thing it would be if we should
v be suddenly ushered from this wintry
+ world into the Maytime orchards O.
r Heaven, and if our pauperism of sir
, and sorrow should be suddenly broker
!. up by presentation of an emperor
4 castle, surrounded by parks will
4 springing fountains and paths up anc
down which angels of God walk tive
/. and twol
d We stick to the world as though W.
r. preferred cold drizzle to warm ha bita
l. tion, discord to cantata, sackcloth tt
:. royal purple-as though we preferred
s piano with four or five keys out of tunt
V to an instrument fully attuned-a
Il though earth and Heaven had ex
d changed apparel and earth had takel
:, on bridal array and Heaven had gon
ir into deep mourning, all it's waters stag
d nant, all its harps broken all chalice
t, cracked at the dry wells, all the lawn
IS sloping to the river plowed witt
h graves, with dead angels under the fur
h row. Oh, want to break up my owl
t, infatuation, and l want to break u
n your infatuation for this world. l tel
you if we are ready, and if our work i
II done, the sooner we go the better, an
r. if there are blessings in longevity,
h want you to know right we'll there ar
h also blessings in an abbreviated earthl
% existence.
h If the spirit of this sermon is true
e how consoled you ought to feel abou
n members of your families that Wen
d early. Taken from the evil to come,
n this book says What fortunate es