The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-12-18
LIFE'S HORNETS.
DR.. Talmage Thinks They are
Blessings in Disguise.
They Learn Us How to be Patient and
Clear Our Souls of Spiders-The
Petty Annoyances of Life are
Chiseling Out Our Eter-
nal Welfare.

race. 1t bombards the grain fields and
the orchards and the vineyards, Ihe
Colorado beetle the Nebraska grass
hopper, the New Jersey locust, the uni
versal potato bug, seem to carry on the
work which was begun ages ago when
the insects buzzed out of Noah ark as
the door was opened.
In my text, the hornet flies out on its
mission. 1t is a species of wasp, swift
in its motion and violent in its sting.
It's touch is torture to man or beast
We have all seen the cattle run below
ing under the cut of its lancet In boy
hood we used to stand cautiously look
ing at the globular nest hung from the
tree branch, and while we were look
ing at the wonderful covering we were
struck with something that sent us
shrieking away. 1t has captains over
hundreds, and twenty of them alight-
ing on one man will produce death.
Nv friends, when we are assaulted
by great behemoths OF trouble, we be-
come chivalric, and we assault them;
we get on the high-mettled steed OF our
courage, and we make cavalry charge
at them. and, if God be with us, we come
out stronger and better than when we
went in. But, alas, for these insectile
annoyances of life these foes too small
to shoot-these things without any
avoirdupois weight-the gnats and the
midgets and the flies and the wasps and
the hornets In other words, it is the
small singing annoyances OF our life
which drive us out and use us up. In
the best-conditioned life, for some
grand and glorious purpose God has
sent the hornet.
Iremark, in the first place, that these
small stinging anoyanccs may come in
. the shape of nervous organization.
People who are prostrated under ty-
= phoid fevers or with broken bones get
plenty of sympathy; but who pities
anybody who is nervous? The doctors
saw, and the family say and everybody
saws: "Oh! she's only little nervous
that's ALI" The sound of heavy foot
the harsh clearing of throat, q dis
cord in music, want of harmony be
tween the shawl and glove on the same
person, u curt answer. a passing slight
the wind from the east, any one OF tel
thousand annoyances opens the doc
for the hornet. The fact is the vas
majority of the people in the countr,
!, are overworl5ed, and their nerves ar
!; the first to give out. A great multitud
n are under the strain of Leydon, who
| when he was told by his physician tha
y if he did not stop working while h
ID was in such physical health he woul
n die. responded: Doctor, whether
live or die, the wheel must be keT
d going round" These sensitive PEI
sons of whom speak have blecdin
sensitiveness. The flies love to ligt
on anything raw, and these people al
like the Canaanites spoken OF in tt
= text or in the context-they have
very thin covering and are vulnerao
at all points. "And the Lord sent IL
hornet"
. Again, the small insect annoyanc
l NAV come to us in the shape of frien'
il and acquaintances who are always sa
ing disagreeable things. There a
some people you cannot be with for ha
an hour but you feel cheered and col
forted. There are other people "
0O cannot be with for five minutes befo
M YOU feel miserable. They do not met
oo to disturb you, but they sting you
~ the bone. They gather up all the va
Ns which the gossips spin, and retail
eX- They gather up all the adverse cri
cisms about your person, about yo
business, about your home, about yo
er- church, and they make your ear
funnel into which they pour it. Th
I'M laugh heartily when they tell you,
though it were good joke and y
est laugh, too-outside.
These people are brought to our
tention in the Bible, in the book
Po1 Ruth. Naomi went forth beautiful
with the finest of worldly prospet
and into another land; but, al
ler, awhile, she came back widowed
J. sick and poor What did her friel
do when she came to the city? III
all went out and, instead of giving
. common-sense consolation, what
they do? Read the book OF Ruth
find out. They threw up their ha
and said. "Is this Naomi?" as mucl
to say, "How awful bad you do loo
When entered the ministry loo
very pale for years, and every year,
four or five years, hundred time
year, was asked if had not the
sumption; and, passing through
room l would sometimes hear pee
sigh and say: "A-ah! not long for
world" resolved in those times
q | never, in any conversation, We
say anything depressing and by
help of God l have kept the resolut
These people of whom speak reap
bind in the great harvest field OF
couragement. Some day you
them with hilarious good morni
and they come buzzing at you '
Are some depressing information.
Lord sent the hornet"
ono When l see so many people in
world who like to say disagree
DICE things, and write disagreeable thl
| come almost in my weaker MON
T. of to believe what man said to N
Philadelphia one Monday mornini
,ods went to get the horse at the livery
'o BILE, and the hostler, plain man,
to me: "Mr. Talmage, saw that
preached to the young men yesterc
said, "Yes." He said: mo us'
use; mans failure"
The small insect annoyances O.
' = oh 81