Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-02-11
~ext: go Home to Thy ), and
Tell Them How Great Things the Lord
Hath Done for Thec'-From Book Of
Mark, Chapter ., Verse 10.

@I1l HERE are a great
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@IV many people long
~& ing for some grand
NsSEsNlA sphere in which
)NkSSSXs.NkSS to serve God. They
MiAISkNSxANNy admire Luther at
ENMSaEASW the Diet of Worms,
@ME# and only wish that
MVIAFM they had some such
Ni@IVV great opportunity
INV in which to display
their Christian
Xix tremble and they only wish that
they had some such grand occasion in
which to preach righteousness, temper
ance, and judgment to come. All they
want is an opportunity to exhibit their
Christian heroism. Now the apostle
ZONES to us and he practically says: II
Will show you a place where o can
exhibit all that is grand and beautiful
and glorious in Christian character,
and that is the domestic circle"
If one is not faithful In an insignifi-
cant sphere he will npt be faithful in a
resounding sphere. III Peter will not
help the cripple at the gate of the Tenn
pie. he will never lie able to preach
three thousand souls into the kingdom
at the Pentecost. If Paul will not take
pains to instruct in the way of saliva
tlon the sheriff of the Philippian dun
geon, he will never make Felix trem-
Die. He who is not faithful in a skir-
m1sh would not be faithful in an Ar
m%ageddon. The fact is, we are all
placed in, just the position in which we
can most grandly serve God, and we
ought not to be chiefly thoughtful
about some sphere Of usefulness which
we may after awhile gain, but the all
absorbing question with you and with
me. ought to be-: Lord, what wilt thou
have me (now, and here) to do?"
There is n word in my text
around which the most of our thoughts
will to-day rcyoNe. The word is
HOME. Ask ten different men the
meaning of that word and they will
give you ten different definitions. To
one it means love at the hearth, it
means plenty at the table. industry at
the workstand, intelligence at the
books. devotion al, the altar. To him
it means a greeting at the door and a
smile at the chair. Peace lowering like
wings. Joy %clapDing its hands with
laughter. Life a tranquil lake. Pill
lowed on the ripples sleep the shadows.
ASK another man what home is, and
he will tell you it is want, looking out
OF a cherries fire-grate and ~kneading
hunger in IN empty bread-tray. The
damp air shivering with curses. No
Bible on the shelf. Children, robbers
and murderers in embryo. Vile songs
their lullaby. Every face a picture OF
ruin. Want n'the background and sir
staring from the front. No Sabbath
ave rolling oyveF that doorsill. vesti.
bule Of the pit, Shadow of Internal
walls. Furnace for forging everlasting
chains. Faggots for an intending fun.
eral, pile. Awful word! 1t is spelled
with curses, it weeps with ruin, il
chokes with woe, it sweats with the
death-agony Of despair.
The word Home" in the one CASE
means everything bright. The word
Home" in the other case means every.
thing. terrific. RI.
1 shall speak ito you of home as a
test of character, home as a refuge
home as a political safeguard. home
as a school, and home as a type OF
heaven.
And in the first place l remark thai
home is a powerful test of characte,
The disposition in public may be in
gay costume, while in private it is ip
dishabille. AS ~play-actors may appea,
in one way on the stage and may an.
pear in another way behind the scenes
so private character may be very diff
ferent from public. character. Private
character is often public character
turned wrong side out. A man may
receive you into his parlor as though
he were a %distillation of smiles, and
yet his heart may be a swamp of net.
ties. There are business men who all
day long are mild and courteous and
genial and good-natured in CONNER
cial life, keeping back their %irritability
and their petulance and their discon.
tent; but at nightfall the dam breaks
and scolding pours forth in floods and
freshets. ~
Reputation is only the shadow o,
character. and a very small house
sometimes will cast a very long shad.
ow. The lips may seem to drop myrrt
and cassia, and the disposition to be as
bright and warm as a sheaf of sun.
beams. and yet they may only
be a magnificent show window
to a wretched stock Of goods
There is many a man. who is
affable in public life and amid CONNER.
cial spheres, who, in a cowardly way
takes his anger and his petulance home
and drops them in the domestic circle
The reason men do not display thei1
bad temper in public is because they
do not want to be knocked down. There
are men who hide their petulance and
their irritability just for the same rea-
son that they do not let their notes &c
to protest; it does not pay. Or for the
same reason that they do not want a
nan in their stock company to sell his
stock at less than the right price, lest ii
depreciate the value. AS at sunset the
wind Uses, SO after a sunshiny day
there may be a tempestuous night,
l TInvN oro NNoNlN J. -, ,.1ls --L H.