Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-01-05

yn NM anu thS SNRR-AN~ -
sky-blue, and to-
paz of rhombic prism, and the ruby OF
frozen blood, and here you say that
the coral, which is miracle OF shape
and transport Of color to those VINO
have studied it, is not worthy OF men
ton in comparison with our holy re-
ligion. mo mention shall be made OF
coral" At Saint Johnsbury, VT, In
museum built by the chief citizen. as
l examined specimen on the shelr,
l first realized what holy OF HOLES
God can build and has built In the
temple of one piece Of coral. / do
not wonder that Ernst Heckel. the
great scientist, while in Ceylon, was SO
entranced with the specimens which
some Cingalese divers had brought up
for his inspection that he himself
plunged into the sea, and went clear
under the waves at the risk of his life.
again, and again, and again. that he
might know more of the coral, the
beauty Of which he indicates cannot
even be guessed by those who have
only seen 1t above water, and after
the polyps, which are it's sculptors,
and architects, have died and the chief
glories OF these submarine flowers
have expired. job, in my text, did
not mean to depreciate this divine
sculpture in the coral reefs along the
sea coasts. No one can afford to de-
preciate these white palaces OF the
deep, built under Gods direction. He
never changes his plans for the build
Ing OF the islands and shores; and
for uncounted thousands of years the
coral gardens, and the coral castles,
and the coral battlements go on and
up. ! charge you that you will please
God and please yourself IL you will
go into the minute examination of the
corals-their foundations, their pima
Giles, their aisles, their pillars, their
curves, their cleavages, their reticula-
ton, their grouping-families of
them, towns of them, cities of them,
and continents of them. Indeed, you
cannot appreciate the meaning OF my
the coral. Labyrinthian, stellar, col
umnar, floral, denied like shields from
battle, spotted like leopards, embroid-
cred like lace, hung like upholstery
twilight and auroras and sunbursts of
beauty! From deep crimson to milk
white are its colors. You may find
this work Of God through the ami
malcules eighty fathoms down, or
amid the breakers, where the sea
dashes the widest, and beats the
mightiost, and bellows the loudest.
Nothing so impresses me with the
fact that our God loves the beauti-
full. The most beautiful coral of the
world never comes to human observa-
ton. Sunrises and sunsets he hangs
up for nations to look at; he may
green the grass, and round the dew
into pearl, and set on fire autumnal
foliage to please mortal sight. but
those thousands of miles of coral
achievement l think he has had built
for his own delight. In those galleries
he alone can walk. The music of those
wave, he only can hear. The snow
of that white and the bloom Of that
crimson he alone can see. Having
garnitured this world to please the hui
man race, and lifted a glorious heaven
to please the angelic intelligences, /
am glad that he has planted these gar
dens of the deep to please himself.
But here and there God allows speci-
mems of submarine glory to be brought
up and set before us for sublime con-
temptation. While speak, these great
nations of Zoophytes, meandrinas and
madrepores, with teatacles for trowel,
are building just such coral as we find
in our text. The diamond may be more
rare, the crystal may be more spark
ling. the chrysoprase may be more
ablaze, but the coral is the long, deep,
everlasting blush Of the sea. Yet Job,
who understood all kinds of precious
stones, declares that the beauty and
value of the coral are nothing COM
pared with our holy religion, and he
picks up this coralline formation and
looks at it., and filings 1t aside with
all the other beautiful things he has
ever heard Of, and cries out in ecstasy
of admiration for the superior quail
tiles of our religion: mo mention
shall be made of coral"
Take my hand, and we will walk
through this bower of the sea. while |
show you that even exquisite coral is
not worthy of being compared with
the richer jewels of a Christian soul.
The first thing that strikes me in look
ing at the coral is It's long continued
accumulation. 1t is not turned up like
Cotepaxi, but is an outbutting and an
outbranching of ages. In Polynesia
there are reefs hundreds Of feet deep
and one thousand miles long. Who
built these reefs, these islands? The
zoophytes. the corallines. They were
not such workers who built the pyra-
mids as were these masons, these crea-
lures OF the sea. What small crea-
lions amounting to what vast aggre-
cation? Who can estimate the ages
between the time when the madrepores
laid the foundations of the islands
and the time when the madrepores
put on the capstone of completed
CD Al