Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-07-19

different would dol" You will never
have them around again. The work is
done; tho bent to the character is given;
tho eternity is decided | say this to
young parents, those who are 20 and 80
or 35 years Of age-haye the family altar
tonight. How do you suppose that ia
ther felt as he leaned over the couch Of
his dying child, and the expiring son
said to him: Father, you have been
very good to me- You have given me a
fine education, and you have placed me
in fine social position, you have done
everything for me in worldly sense
but, father, you never told me how to
die Now am dying, and lam afraid. "
Unkindness to the Departed.
In this category Of irrevocable mis-
takes 1 place also the unkindnesses done
the departed When was a boy, my
mother used to say to me sometimes,
"De Witt, you will be sorry for that
when am gone. " And remember just
how she looked, sitting there with cap
and spectacles and the old Bible in her
lap, and she never said truer thing
than that, for / have often been sorry
since. While we have our friends with
US we say unguarded things that wound
the feelings Of those to whom we ought
to give nothing but kindness. Perhaps
the parent, without inquiring into tho
matter, boxes the child ears. The little
one, who has fallen in the street, comes
in covered with dust, and as though the
first disaster were not enough she whips
it. After awhile the child is taken, or
the parent is taken, or the companion is
taken, and those who are left say: "Oh,
if we could only get back those unkind
words, those unkind deeds If we could
only recall them" But you cannot get
them back. You might bow down over
the grave of that loved one and cry and
cry and cry. The white lips would make
no answer. The stars shall be plucked
out Of their sockets, but these influences
shall not be torn away. The world shall
die, but there are some wrongs immor'
tai The moral Of which is, take care Of
your friends while you have them. Spare
the scolding. Be economical Of the
satire. Shut up in a dark cave from
which they shall never swarm forth all
the words that have a sting in them.
You will wish you had some day-very
soon you will, perhaps tomorrow. Oh,
yes. While with a firm hand you ad-
minister parental discipline also admin
lister it very gently, lest some day there
be a little slab in the cemetery and on
it chiseled, "Our Willie" or "Our
Charlie" and though you bow down
prone in the grave and seek place OF
repentance and seek it carefully with
tears, you cannot find it.
There is another sin that l place in
the class Of irrevocable mistakes, and
that is lost opportunities Of getting
good l never come TO a Saturday night
but l can see during that week that l
have missed opportunities Of getting
good never come to my birthday but
| can see that l have wasted many
chances Of getting better. l never 60
home on Sabbath from the discussion OF
a religious theme without feeling that
might have done it in a more success
full way. How is it with you? If you
take a certain number Of bushels OF
wheat and scatter them over certain
number of acres Of land, you expect a
harvest in proportion to the amount OF
seed scattered And l ask you now,
Have the sheaves Of moral and spiritual
harvest corresponded with the adyan-
tages given? How has it been with you!
You may make resolutions for the tu-
ture, but past opportunities are gone.
In the long procession Of future years
all those past moments will march, but
the archangel's trumpet that wakes the
dead will not wake up for you one Of
those privileges. Esau has sold his birth
right, and there is not wealth enough
in the treasure houses Of heaven TO buy
il back again. What does that mean! IL
means that II you are going to get any
advantage out Of this Sabbath day you
will have to get it before the hand
wheels around on the clock TO IL to-
night. It means that every moment OF
our life has two wings, and that 1t does
not fly like hawk in circles, but in
straight line from eternity to eternity.
1t means that, though other chariots may
break down or drag heavily, this one
never drops the brake and never ceases
TO run. 1t means that while at other
feasts the cup may be passed to us and
we may reject it, and yet after awhile
take it, the cupbearers to this feast
never give Us but one chance at the
chalice, and rejecting that we shall
"find no place for repentance, though
we seek it carefully with tears "
Lost Opportunities.
There is one more class Of sins that l
put in this category Of irrevocable sins
and that is lost opportunities Of useful
ness Your business partner is a proud
man. In ordinary circumstances say to
him. Believe in Christ" and he will
say, "You mind your business and III
mind mine" But there has been affiic-
tioa In the household His heart is ten
der. He is looking around for sympathy
and solace Now is your time speak,
speak, or forever hold your peace. There
Is a time in farm life when You plant
the corn and when you sow the seed.
Let that go by, and the farmer will
wiring his hands while other husband
men are gathering in the sheaves. You
are In religious meeting, and there IS
an opportunity for you to speak a word
FOR Christ. You say, 81 must do 1t. "
Your cheek fushes with embarrassment
You rise half way, but you COVER before
men whose breath is in their nostrils,
and you sag back, and the opportunity Is
gone, and all eternity will feel the ef-
feet Of your silence. Try to get back
that opportunity You cannot find IT.
You might as well try to find the fleece
that Gideon watched, or take in your
hand the dew that came down ON the
locks of the Bethlehem shepherds, or to
find the plume Of the first robin that
went across paradise. 1t is gone-it IL
gone forever. When an opportunity for
personal repentance or OF doing good
passes away, you may hunt for it; you
cannot find it, You may fish for 1t II