Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-08-05

nut uuilou hlHSDAutiDls AAV ApiiiNN'
wave of Galilee was high, but he bad
to come down before with his feet be
could touch it, and the whirlwind that
arose above the billow was higher yet,
but he had to come down before wifi
his lip he could kiss it into quiet. Beth
lehem a STOPPING down. Nazareth a
STOPPING down. Death between two
burglars a STOPPING down. Yes, it was
in consonance with humiliations that
went before and self abnegatiOns that
came after when on that memorable
day in Herod's temple he stopped down
and wrote on the ground.
His Finger on the Ground.
Whether the words he was writing
were in Greek or Latin or Hebrew ]
cannot say. for he knew all those Ian
guages. But he is still STOPPING down,
and with his finger writing on the
ground. in the winter in letters Of crys.
tails in the spring in letters of flowers,
i'll summer in golden letters Of harvest,
in autumn in letters of fire on fallen
leaves How it would sweeten up and
enrich and emblazon this world could
we see Christ's caligraphy all over it
This world was not flung out into space
thousands Of years ago and then left to
look out for itself. 1t is still under the
divine care Christ never for a half sec
ond takes his hand off it, or it would
soon be a shipwrecked world, a defunct
world, an obsolete world, an abandoned
world, a dead world. Let there be
light, " was said at the beginning. And
Christ stands under the wintry skies
and says let there be snowfakes to en-
rich the earth, and under the clouds Of
spring and says come, We blossoms, and
make redolent the orchards, and in Sep
tember dips the branches in the vat Of
beautiful cOlOrs and swings them into
the hazy air. No whim of mine is this.
Without him was not anything made
that was made" Christ writing Oh the
ground.
If you could see his hand in all the
passing seasons, how it would illumine
the world All verdure and foliage
would be allegoric, and again we would
hear him say as of old, Consider the
lilies Of the field, how they grow" and
we would not hear in the whistle of a
quail or the cawing Of raven or the
roundelay Of brown tbrasher without
saying, behold the fowls Of the air,
they gather not in barns, yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them, " and a
Dominic hen of the barnyard could not
cluck for her brood but we would hear
Christ saying as of old, How often
would l have gathered thy children to-
gether, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and through
the redolent hedges we would hear
Christ saying, Il am the rose Of Sha-
ron. we could not dip the seasoning
from the saltcellar without thinking
Of the divine suggestion, "Ye are the
salt of the earth, but if the salt hath
lost its SAVIOR it is fit for nothing but
to be cast out and trodden under foot
Of men.
Awake From stupidity.
Let US wake from our stupidity and
take the whole world as a parable.
Then, if with gun and pack Of hounds
we start off before dawn, and see the
morning coming down off the hills to
meet us, we would cry out with the
evangelist, 1.-The dayspring from on
high hath visited us, or, caught in
while struggling home, eye
Drows and beard and apparel all covered
with the whirling fakes, we would cry
out with David, Wash me, and |
shall be whittier than snow" In pic
-ure gallery Of Europe there is on the
ceiling an exquisite fresco, but the peo-
pie having to look straight up it wearied
and dizzied them and bent their necks
almost beyond endurance. So a great
looking glass was put near the floor
and now visitors only need to look easily
down into this mirror and they see the
fresco at their feet, and so, much of the
nigh heaven Of Gods truth is reflected
in this world as in a mirror. and things
hat are above are copied by things
around us.
What right have we TO throw away
1ne of Gods Bibles-aye, the first Bible
he ever gave the race? We talk about the
Old Testament and the New Testament.
bat the oldest Testament contains the
lessons of the natural world. Some peo
pie like the New Testament so well the,
discard the Old Testament. Shall W.
ike the New Testament and the Oh
Testament 50 well as to depreciate tn
that which was writer
before Moses was put atloat On the boa
If leaves which was calked with a..
ohaltum or reject the Genesis that wa
written centuries before Adam lost ril
md gained wife: No, mol When
Deity stoops down and writes on the
ground, let US read it.
would have no less appreciation Of
.he Bible on paper that comes out Of
he paper mill, but would urge appre-
,iation of the Bible in the grass, the
Bible in the sand hill, the Bible in the
,eranium, the Bible in the asphodel,
he Bible in the dust. Some one asked
IN ancient king whether he had seen the
,clipse of the sun mo, said he. Il
iaye so much to study ON earth | have
10 time TO look at heaven. " And if our
aculties were all awake in the study Of
fod we would not have time to 60
much further than the first grass blade.
have no fear that natural religion will
.yer contradict what we call revealed
'eligion. have no sympathy with the
ollowers of Aristotle, who after the
elescope was invented would not look
through it lest it contradict some of the
heories of their great master. ! shall
,e glad to put against one lid Of the
Bible the microscope and against the
,ther lid of the Bible the telescope.
Graphic Words.
But when Christ stopped down and
wrote on the ground what did he writer
The Pharisees did not stop to examine.
The towards, whipped Of their own con
,o;ancae Aad nellmell NothinO will