The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-27
a Timely Sermon by the Rev. r.
Fl. Sawyer.
TIMES TIDE is EBBING
Forward. Ever Forward Is the Relentless
Law of Nature and the Message of
the Dying Year as Well as the
Command of God

Drifting thro' time in lifes frail boat
Leaving past SORROWS behind us,
Into the future we carelessly float.
With the joys of the present to blind
us.
Silently but swiftly times tide IL
ebbinG. and upon its turbulent bosom
the great masses of humanity are be-
ing borne along. From whence they
came, they can scarce remember, and
whittier they go they do but dmly
realize Silently, but an! so surely, all
things are passing onward The old
year is dying; a few brief days and
hours and 1897 with its joys and sor-
rows, It's sunshine and shadows will
nave passed away, its privileges and
opportunities gone forever and with its
departure our words and deeds will be
recorded by the great historian of the
| uniVerse-the book will be closed; it's
teeming pages to greet our wondering
eyes only in the great day of judgment.
The dying year goes not without its
parting message TO mankind. Reproof,
| rebuke, adfnonitions, warnings. hope
| encouragement, love divine. are bur
| fragments of the great message direct
| ed by the dying year to every sincere,
| honest heart made receptive to is
truthful tones. Man cannot interpret
| that part of the message intended for
his fellow man, but there are great fun
| damental truths underlying all parts of
| the message which may well be consid-
| cred by all men,
AS we contemplate the rapid exit of
| the old year, and the near approach of
| the new, let us be reminded of that
eternal law of nature which impels all
creation constantly forward. Let us
realize that the old order changeth,
| giving place to new. That the new
| of yesterday hath become the old of to-
| day, and that which is old to-day will
| nave become the new tomorrow.
"All creation is moving forward In
| every department OF nature there is
+! bustling activity. The sun, the moon
and their thousands of planetary asso-
| eiates move grandly onward through
| out the ages in their appointed orbits,
| setting the pace for Mother Earth. who
in her constant forward motion teaches
| her children the great lesson of univer-
| sal progress.
Let us. in fancy, stand tonight upon
| the shores of old ocean and, looking far
out across its broad expanse of waters,
behold Tle wonders of the receding tide,
| for here, too, we may read the lesson of
eternal advancement. Tis early morn
ing now, the first faint streaks Of gray
| are slowly changing their leaden TINS
for brighter golden hues heralding the
near approach of the glorious god of
day, soon to appear i. all of his majes-
tic splendor welcomed by a grand mu-
steal outburst from the silverY threads
of myriads of Dame Natures sweetest
songsters. During the long hours of
the night the tide came in. creeping
silently higher and higher upon the
beach, floating from its resting place
the debris that had accumulated since
its last visit. Now as we stand upon
the SHORE in the clear light Of this
beautiful morning, we behold the tide
Gods scavenger, bearing away to ports
unknown. its burden of filth that the
beach may be as pure and clean as a
well-kept parlor, that the health and
happiness of Gods children, for whom
the beach was designed, may not be inn
paired 1t viii seem more real To us
If we notice some of the unsight1y bur
dens being borne away from the sight
and smell of those who will soon APP
pear to walk upon the shining sands.
There is portion of a wrecked schoon-
err whose presence reminds the ohserV-
er of brave seamen who found a watery
grave; of the upturned faces and star
ing eys of dead men waiting far down
in the depths of the sea for the trumpet
call to Judgment. See those casks and
barrels, filled with the filth of the ada
cent city, deposited where the ebhing
tide would catch them up and bear
them far away. There are cans, boxes.
bottles thrown down by careless hands
and all slowly disappearing upon the
bosom of the rcceding waters. The
waters are freiGhted with "a great bur
den of all that is vile and disgusting
now, but soon they will have become
joy their pure depths. rejecting the
rare beauty of the azure dome of
heaven.
The law governing the mysterious
changes in nature Is identical with that
law governing mans existence. Both |
are the product Of the creative power.
As God cleanses the Shores of old ocean
by means of the flowing tide, 81 is there I
a great tidal wave flowing forth from |
the throne of God, which comes in con (
tact with the hearts of sinful men
cleansing them OF all impurities Need /
l tell you that the tidal wave is Gods /
word, revealing His love for man in the /
gift of Jesus Christ, his only hagotten /
Son. whose teachings have made the |
world what Il is to-day-the practice of I
whose PRINCIPLES will rid the earth Of I
all tina. is selfish, vile and degraded
me law of progress Is universal
birds, beasts. men nations--worids are
developed by this voice of limitless
power behind them, crying, onward,
ever onward
In every department OF nature the
new cries To the old, move on. and by /
its rapid advance in life crowds that
which is before 1t into the realms of |
death. Forward. make way fer us
whispers The sturdy young sapling nf
the forest. and yielding 70 decay the
giant tree tatters and falls with a crash
that sends The echoes dancing down the
hilisdes and over the mountains. The
EtNlit SplAhEtlne Is hufGleu onward ny /
the hot haste of summer: the refresh \
ing Nerdure Of summer hastens away at
the first approach of autumu's pathetic
brown and gold. while the shril blasts
Of winter cause the beautiful foliage OF ,
autumn To hasten en- 10 its cold and 4
cherries bed beneath the drifting \
SHOWS.
Man. earth's proud sovereign. is not .
exempt from this relentless law old !
age is commanded To hasten on by inn
petuous youth; the young men bow /
their heads i'm sorrow as they stand upon +
The brink II The open grave and see
their aged deal lowered into the lnys- .
FERROUS depths. and turn away with .
thoughtful hearts 10 take up tine added f
responsibilities Of life. only To hear he
hind them the pdJter. patler Of countless .
little feet ana % ~ shiA chorus of child .
lsh voices bidding them hasten on to- .
ward the ranks Il the aged and later
into Iha NaAnuE t.mL