The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-12-20


to max. painting; it will take fifty
thousand of these touches" And /
want you, my friend, to n erstard
that it is these ten thousand annoy
ances which under God are making up
the picture of your life, to be hung az
last in the galleries of Heaven, fit for
angels to look at. God knows how to
make picture.
l go into sculptOr's studio and see
him shaping a statue. He has chiseA
in one hand and a mallet in the other,
and he gives a very gentle stroke
click, click. click, j say: "Why don't
you strike harder?" oh" he replies,
that would shatter the statue. i
can't do it that way; must do it this
way" So he works on. and after
awhile the features come out, and
every body that enters the studio h
charmed and fascinated. Well, God
has your soul under process of develop
ment, and it is the little annoyances
and vexations of life that are
cbiseling out your immortal ns-
ture 1t is click, click, clicki 1
wonder why some great Providence
does not come, and with one stroke
prepare you for Heaven. Alb, no; God
says that is not the way. And so He
keeps on by strokes of little vexatiOns,
until at last you shall be a glad spec
tacle for angels and for men.
You know that large fortune may
be spent in small change, aud a vast
amount of moral character may go
away in small depletions. 1t is the
little troubles of life that are having
more effect upon you than great ones
A swarm of lOcusts will kill a grain
! field sooner than the incursiOn of three
or four cattle. You say, "Since I
lost my child, since lost nv property.
/ have been a different man" But
you do not recognize the architecture
of little annoyances, that are hewing,
digging, cutting, shaping, splitting
J and i1terjoining your moral qualities
Rats may sink a ship. One lucifeT
match may send destruction through
block of storehouses- Catherine de
Medicis got her death from smelling
poisonous rose. Columbus, by stopping
and asking for a piece of bread and a
drink of water at a franciscan con-
vent, was led to the discovery of a new
world. And there is an intimate con
nection between trihes and immensi-
ties, between nothings and every
things.
Now. be careful TO let none of those
annOyances go through your soul I'M
arraigned. Compel them to administer
to your spiritual wealth. The scratch
of a six-penny nail some times produces
lockjaw. aud the clip of a most Dtini-
tesimal annoyance may DAMAGE yOu
forever Do not let any annoyance or
perpleXity come across your soul with
out its making you better.
Our government does not think it he
littling to put tax on small articles
The individual taxes do not amount to
much but in the aggregate to millions
and millions of dollars. And / would
have you. oh Christian man, put a
; high tariff on every annoyance and
vexatiOn that comes through your soul
! This might not amount to much in
! single cases, but in the aggregate il
} would be a great revenue of spiritual
strength and satisfaction. A bee can
} suck honey even out of nettie; and
if YOU have the grace of God in your
heart. you can get sweetness out OF
that which would otherwise irritate
and annoy
A returned missionary told me that
! a company of adventurers rowing up
. the Ganges were stung to death by
flies that infest that region at certain
seasons. / have seen the earth strewB
with the carcasses of men slain by in
sect annovances. The only way to get
prepared for the great troubles of life
is to conquer these small troubles.
If had my way with you would
have YOU possess all possible worldly
prosperity. / would have you each
one a garden-a river river flowing
through it, geraniums and shrubs on
the sides, and grass and flowers a.
beautiful as though the rainbow had
fallen. I would have you house, a
splendid mansion, and the bed should
be covered with upholstery dipped in
the setting sun. / would have every
hall in your house set with statues and
statuettes. and then / would have the
four quarters of the globe pour in all
their Injuries on your table, and you
should have forks of silver and knives
of gold. inlaid with diamonds and
amethvsts. Then you should each one
of you have the finest horses, and your
pick of the equipages of the world.
Then would have you live $50 years,
and you should not have pain or ache
until the last breath
Not each one of usF' you say. Yes;
each ore of you. Not to your enc
mies?'' Yes: the only difference !
would make with them would be
that would put little extra gilt on
their walls, and little extra embrOid-
cry on their slippers But, you say,
why does not God give us all these
things?' An! / bethink myself he
is wiser. 1t would make fools and
sluggar1s of us if we had our OVID
way. No man puts his best picture IN
the portico or vestibule of his house
God meant this world to be only the
vestibule of Heaven, that great gal
leries of the universe toward which we
are aspiring. We must not have it too
good in this world, or we would want
no Heaven.
Polycarp was condemned to lie
burned to death The stake was
/ -