Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-11-16
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/ Oh the DrLOk JaDDOh, buO DIOhlSO ludU0
SO long ago, ringing down the sky,
"Thy farherless children, l will pre-
serve them alive, and let thy widows
| trust in me. Some one said to a very
| poor woman, 'How is it that in such
| distress you keep cheerful" She said
81 do it By what I call cross prayers.
| When I had my rent to pay and moth
ing to pay it with, and bread to buy
and nothing to buy it with, / used to
sit down and cry. But now do not get
| discouraged. If I go along the street.
when [ come to a corner Of the street,
say, The Lord help me. I then go on
until I come to another crossing of the
street, and again I say, THE Lord help
me-. Ard so I utter prayer at every
crossing. and since I have got into the
habit of saying these cross prayers +
have been able to keep up my courage. !"
Learn again from this subject that
people sometimes are surprised to find
out that what they have been struggling
with III the darkness is really an 'sangel
of blessing " Jacob found in the morn
ing that this strange parsonage was not
an enemy, but q God dispatched messen-
ger to promise prosperity for him and
for his children. And so many a man
at the close Of his trial has found out
that he has been trying to throw down
his own blessing. IF you are Chris
tian man. I will go back IN your his
tory and find that the grandest things
that have ever happened to you have
been your trials. Nothing short Of
scourging, imprisonment and shipvreck
could have made Paul what he was
ToSaY,J,s Hard Stru1rYa
When David was fleeing through the
wilderness, pursued by his own son, he
was being prepared to become the sweet
singer of Israel. The pit and the dun
geon were the best schools at which Jo-
seph ever graduated. The hurricane
Athat upset the tent and killed Jobs chill
dren prepared the man Of Uz to be the
subject of the magnificent poem that
has astounded the ages There is no
way to get the wheat out Of the straw
but to thrash it. There is no way to
purify the gold but to burn it. Look at
the people who have always had it their
own way. They are proud, discomfort
| ed, useless and unhappy. If you want to
find cheerful folk go among those who
have been purified by the fire. After
Rossini had rendered William Tell
| the five hIndredth time a company of
musicians came under his window in
Paris and serenaded him. They put up
on his brow a golden crown Of laurel
leaves. But amid all the applause and
enthusiasm ROssini turned to q friend
and said, 81 would give all this bril-
liant scene for a few days of youth and
love" Contrast the melancholy feeling
Of Rossini, who had everything that
his world could give him, with the joy
full experience of Isaac Watts, whose
sorrows were great, when he says:
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let or4r songs abound
And every tear be dry.
We're marching through Immanue1's ground
To fairer worlds high.
It is prosperity that kills and trouble
that saves. While the Israelites were on
the march, amid great privations and
hardships, they behaved we'll After
awhile they prayed for meat, and th
sky darkened with a great flock
Guails, and these quails fell III great
multitudes all about them, and the Is
raelites ate and ate and stuffed them
selves until they died. Oh, my friends,
it is not hardship or trial or starvation
that Injuries the soul, but abundant sup
! ply. 1t is nc the vuIture of trouble that
eats up the Christian life. 1t is the
Quails, it is the quails. You will yet
find out that your midnight wrestle by
the brook Jabbok is with an angel of
! God come down to bless and to save.
The Mark OF the Struggle.
Learn again that while our wrestling
with trouble might be triumphant we
must expect that it will leave its mark
upon US. Jacob prevailed, but the angel
touched him, and his thigh bone sprung
from it's socket, and the good man went
limping on his way. We must carry
through this world the mark of the
combat. What plowed these premature
wrinkles in your face? What whiteneC
your hair before it was time for frost?
What silenced forever so much of the
| hilarity of your household? All, it is
because the angel of trouble hath touch
ed you that you go limping on your
way You need not be surprised that
those who have passed through the fire
do not feel as gay as once they did. Do
not be out Of patience with those who
come not out of their dependency
They may triumph over their loss, and
yet their gait shall tell you that they
have been trouble touched. Are we sto-
les that we can unmoved see our cradle
rifed of the bright eyes and the sweet
lips? Can we stand unmoved and see
our gardens of earthly delight uprooted?
Will Jesus, who wept himself, be an
CRY with Us if we pour our tears into
H. 70 n
what we loved best? Was Lazarus more
dear to him than our beloved dead to
us? No. We have right to weep. Our
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