The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-03-11

dnNInlDR 10 say. ne
was very apt to hear it. The Ettrick
shepherd of Scotland, who afterwards
took his seat in the brilliant circle of
Wilson and Lockhart, got his wonder
full poetic inspiration in the ten years
in which he was watching the 6ocks of
Mr.. Laidlaw. There is often sweet
poetry in the rugged prose of the
Scotch shepherd One of these
Scotch shepherds lost his only
son. and he knelt down i'm PRAYER,
and was overheard to say: "Oh, Lord,
ii has seemed good in thy prov
idence to take from me the staff of my
right hand at the time when to us
sand-blind mortals seemed to be most
in need of it; and how | shall climb up
the hill of sorrow and auld age with
out II, thou mayst ken, but ! dinna."
David, the shepherd boy, is watching
his fathers sheep. They are pastur-
ing on the very hills where afterward
lamb was born of which you have
heard much, 1.-THE lamb of God, which
talSeth away the sin of the world"
David, the shepherd boy. was beauti-
full, brave, musical and poetic. think
he often forgot the sheep in his
reveries. There in the solitude he
struck the harp string that is thrill
ing through all ages. David the boy,
was gathering the material for David
the poet and David the man. When
he became an old man, thinking of the
goodness of God, he seemed to hear
the bleating of his fathers sheep
across many years, and to think of the
fipnn xxrhan hn
Bethlehem hills and he cries out in
the text: THE Lord is my shepherd"
If God will help me, | will talk to you
of the shepherds plaid, the shepherds
crook, the shepherds dogs, the shep-
herds pasture grounds and the shep-
herds ilocks.
And first The sheperd's plaid: 1t
would be preposterous for man going
out to rough aud besoiling work to
put on splendid apparel. The potter
does not work in velvet; the serving
maid does not put on satin while toll
ing at her duties; the shepherd does
not wear splendid robe in which to
go out amid the storms, and the rocks,
and the nettles; he puts on rough APP
parel appropriate to his exposed work.
The Lord our shepherd, coming out TO
hunt the lost sheep, puts on no regal
apparel, but the plain garment of our
humanity. There was nothing pre-
tentious about it. ! know the old
painters represent a halo around the
babe Jesus; but do not suppose that
there was any more halo about that
child than about the head of any other
babe that was born that Christmas eve
in Judea. Becoming II man, He wore
seamless garment. The scissors and
needle have done nothing To make it.
graceful. ] take it to have been "a sack
with three holes in it; one for the neck,
and two for the arms. Although the
gamblers quarreled over it, that is no
evidence of its value have
seen two rag pickers quarrel
over the refuse of an ashbarrel.
No; in the wardrobe of Heaven lie
left the sandals of light, the girdles of
beauty, the robes of power, and put on
the besoiled and tattered raiment of
our humanity. Sometimes He did not
even wear the seamless robe. What is
that hanging about the waist of
Christ? Is it a badge of authority? Is
it's royal coat of arms? No; it is a
towel. The disciples feet are filthy
from the walk on the long way, and
are not fit to be put upon the sofas on
which they are to recline at the meal,
and so Jesus washes their feet, and
gathers them up in the towel to dry
them. The work of saving this world
was rough work, rugged work, hard
work; and Jesus put on the raiment,
the plain raiment, of our flesh. The
storms were to beat Him, the crowds
were to jostle Him, the dust was tc
sprinkle Him. the mobs were to pursue
Him. Oh! Shepherd of Israel! leave al
home Thy bright array. For Thee
what streams to ford, what nights all
unsheltered!
Next | mention the shepherd crook
This was a rod with "A curve at the end
which, when sheep was going astray
was thrown over its neck; and in thai
way it was pulled back When the
sheep were not going astray, the shep
herd would often use it as a sort o.
crutch, leaning on it; but when the
sheep were out of the way, the crool
was always busy pulling them back
All we, like sheep, have gone astray
and had it not been for the shepherd
crook, we would have fallen long age
over the precipices Here is MAJ
who is making too much money, II,
is getting very vain. He says: "Afte
awhile | shall be Independent of al
the world. o, my soul, eat, drink an,
be merry" business disaster come
TO him What is God going to d,
with him? Has God any grudg,
against him? o, no, God is throw
ing over him the shepherds crool
and pulling him back into better pas
lures Here is man who has Away
been we'll lie has never had an!