Connecticut western news., 1897-05-13

of avarice and greed. It does not seem so to me. If it were not for the absolute necessities of the cases, nine-tenths of the stores, factories, shops, banking houses of the land would be closed to-
 morrow. Who is that man delving in the Colorado hills, or toiling in New England factory, or going through roll of bills in the bank, or measuring a fabric on the counter? He is a champion
 sent forth in behalf of some home circle that has to be cared for, in behalf of some church of God that has to be SUD- ported, in behalf of some asylum of
 mercy that has to be sustained Who is
 that woman bending over the sewing
 machine, or carrying the bundle, or sweeping the room, or mending the gar
 ment, or sweltering at the washtub? That is Deborah one of the Lords her pines, battling agalnst Amalekitish want, which comes down with iron chariot to crush her and hers. The great question with the vast majority of peo- pie today is not home rule, but whether there shall be any home to rule; not one of tariff, but whether there shall be anything to tax. The great questions with the vast majority of people are:
 'How shall I support my family? How shall meet my notes? How shall pay
 my rent? How shall give food, cloth ing and education to those who are de- pendent upon me?' Oh, if God would help me today to assist you in the solu- tion of that problem, the happiest man in this house would be your preacher. have gone out on a cold morning with expert sportsmen to hunt for pigeons. I have gone out on the meadows to hunt for quail. have gone out on the marsh to hunt for reedbirds, but today am out for ravens.
 Winged Caterers. Notice, in the first place in the story of my text, that these winged caterers came to Elijah direct from God.
 1T have commanded the ravens that they feed thee," we find God saying in an adjoining passage They did not come out of some other cave. They did not just happen to alight there. God freighted them, God launched them and God told them by what cave to swoop. That is the same God that is going to supply you. He is your Father. You would have to make an elaborate calculation before you could tell me how many pounds of food and how many yards of clothing would be neces- sary for you and your family, but God knows without any calculation. You have plate at his table, and you are going to be waited on, unless you act
 like a naughty child and kick and scramble and pound saucily the plate and try to upset things.
 God has a vast family, and every thing is methodized, and you are going to be served if you will only wait your turn. God has already ordered all the
 suits of clothes you will ever need, down to the last suit in which you will be laid out. God has already ordered all the food you will ever eat, down to the last crumb that will be put in your mouth in the dying sacrament. It may not be just the kind of food or apparel we
 would prefer. The sensible parent de- pends on his own judgment as to what
 ought to be the apparel and the food of the minor in the family. The child
 would say, "Give me sugars and con- fections "Oh, nop' says the parent.
 "You must have something plainer
 first" The child would say, "Oh, give
 me these great blotches of color in the
 garmentp' "No," says the parent;
 "that wouldn't be suitable.'' ''
 Now, God is our Father, and we are
 minors, and he is going to clothe us and
 feed us, although he may not always yield to our infantile wish for the
 sweets and glitter. These ravens of the text did not bring pomegranates from
 the glittering platter of King Ahab They brought bread and meat. God had
 all the heavens and the earth before him and under him, and yet he sends this plain food, because it was best for Eli jah to have it. Oh, be strong, my hear CT, in the fact that the same God is go- ing to supply you. It is never "hard times" with him. His ships never break on the rocks. His banks never fail. He has the supply for you, and he has the means for sending 1t. He has not only the cargo, but the ship If it were
 necessary, he would swing out from the heavens flock of ravens reaching from his gate to yours until the food would be flung down the sky from beak to beak and from talon to talon.
 Notice again in this story of the text that the ravens did not allow Elijah to hoard up a surplus. They did not bring enough on Monday to last all the week. They did not bring enough one morning to last until the next morning. They came twice day and brought just enough for one time. You know as we'll as that the great fret of the world is ha mt Inc xxTon fhn | ravens to bring enough for 5C years.
 You have more confidence in the Wash l ington banks or Bank of England than you have in the Royal Bank of Heaven.
 You say: "All that Is very poetic, but you may have the black ravens. Give
 me the gold eagles. ' We had better be | content with just enough. If in the
 morning your family eat up all the food | there is in the house, do not sit down | and cry and say, ''I don't know where | the next meal Is to come from" About l 5, or 6, or o'clock in the morning just
 look up, and you will see two black | spots on the sky, and you will hear the
 Tapping of wings, and instead of Edgar A. Poe's insane raven alight on the | chamber door, 'only this and nothing
 more," you will find Elijah's two
 ravens, or two ravens of the Lord, the
 one bringing bread and the other bring
 ing meat-plumed butcher and baker. | A Living Fountain.
 | God is infinite in resource. When the
 city of Rochelle was besieged and the
 inhabitants were dying of the famine,
 the tides washed up on the beach as
 never before, and as never since, enough
 shellfish to feed the whole city. God is l good. There is no mistake about that.
 History tells us that in 1555 in England
 there was a great drought. The crops l failed, but in Essex, on the rocks in a | place where they had neither soMn nor