The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-05-20

stances. pray and dig, dig ana pray.
and pray and dig. How does that pas
sage go? 'The mountains shall de-
part and the hills be removed, but my
loving kindness shall not fail" IL
your merchandise, II your mechanism.
If your husbandry fail, look out for ra-
vens. If you have in your desponden
cy put God on trial and condemned
Him as guilty Of cruelty, move to-
day for new trial. II the biography
Of your life is ever written, I will tell
you what the first chapter. and the
middle chapter, and the last chapter
will be about, if It is written ac-
curately. The first chapter about
mercy, the middle chapter about mer-:
cy, the last chapter about mercy. The
mercy that lowered over your cradle.
The mercy that will hover over your
grave. The mercy that will cover all
between.
Again, this story Of the text I'm
presses me that relief came to this
prophet with the most unexpected and
with seemingly impossible conveyance.
If it had been robin-redbreast, or
musical lark. or meek turtledove.
or a sublime albatross that had
brought the food to Elijah. it would
not have been so surprising. But, no.
It was bird so fierce and inauspicate
that we have fashioned one Of our most
forceful and repulsive words out of it
-ravenous. That bird has a passion
for picking out the eyes of men and
of animals. It loves to maui the sick
and the dying. 1t swallows with vul-
turous guzzle everything it can put
its beak on; and yet all the food Elijah
gets for six months or a year is from
ravens So your supply is going to
come from an unexpected source
! You think some great-hearted, gen
erous man will come along and give
you his name on the back of your note
or he will go security for you in some
great enterprise. No, he will not
God will open the heart of some Shy
] lock toward you. Your relief will come
from the most unexpected quarter
The providence which seemed ominous
will be to you more than that which
seemed suspicious. It will not be 6
d chafinch with breast and wing dashed
with white and brown and chestnut: i
will be black raven
Here is where we all make our mis-
take, and that is in regard to the col
or OF Gods providence. A white prov
idence comes to us, and we say, ooh
it is mercy" Then a black providenc,
comes toward us. and we say, ooh, tina
is disaster!' The white providenc.
comes to you, and you nave grea
business success, and you have a hun
dred thousand dollars, and you ge
proud, and you get independent 0
God, and you begin to feel that tn
prayer, Give me this day my dali.
bread" is inappropriate for you, TO
you have made provision for hundre
years. Then black providence comes
and it sweeps everything away, an
then you begin to pray, and you be
gin to feel your dependence, and be
= gin to be humble before God, and yo
! cry out for treasures in heaven. TIL
t black providence brought you saliva
: ton. The white providence brough
J.. you ruin. That which seemed to b
! harsh and fierce and dissonant wa
3 your greatest mercy. It was raver
t There was child born IN your house
r All your friends congratulated yor
4 The other children of the family stoo
! amazed looking at the newcomer, an
! asked great many questions, gen
9 ealogical and chronological Yo
!; said-and you said truthfully-that
: white angel flew through the room an
, left the little one there That littl
, one stood with its two feet in til
!, very sanctuary of your affection, an
d with its two hands it took hold of til
t altar of your soul. But one day ther
came one of the three scourges of chi
o dren-scarlet fever, or Group, or dipt
Il theria-and all that bright scene var
: ished. The chattering, the strane
b questions. the pulling at the dresses q
;, you crossed the foor-all ceased.
,. Mrs. Jane Pithey, of Chicago, a vel
e known Christian woman, was left b
d her husband widow with one ha
t dollar and cottage. She was palsie,
! and had mother ninety years of az
y to support. The widowed soul ever
t day asked God for all that was neede
a in the household, and the servant eve
e was astonished at the precision wit
S which God answered the prayers
that woman. item by item, item b
|, item. One day, rising from the fan
$ lily altar, the servant said, "You ha,
7 not asked for coal, and the coal
: out"
q Then they stood and prayed for II
r coal. One hour after that the serval
d threw open the door and said, "Tl
: coal has come" A generous ma
r whose name could give you, had Sc,
$ -as never before and never since
Il supply OF coal. You cannot understan
$ it. do. Ravens! Ravens!
J, Japanese in Hawaii.
S The little republic of Hawaii is en-
/ hcr hTyo 49,