Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-04-06
ANGELS OF THE GRASS
DR.. TALMAGE DRAWS INSPIRATION
FROM THE FIELDS.
The Eloquent Pulpit Orators Easter
Discoursc-Lcssonsw which the Flow
ers Hiring to the Anxious, the Dis
piritcJ and the Bcrenycd.


Copyright. 1899. by American Press Asso-
ciaton1
WASHINGTON, April I'm this Easter
sermon DR.. Talmage intcrprets the mes
sage which the flowers bring to the anx-
ious, the dispirited and the bcrcavcd text,
Luke xii, 2S, "lf then God so clothc the
grass, which is today in the field, and to-
morrow Is cast into the oven, how much
more will he clothe you, o We of little
faith?"
The lily is the queen of Bible flowers
The rose may have disputed her throne in
modern times and won it. but the rose
had only five petals. 1t was I'M
der the long continued and intense gaze of
the world that the rose blushed into its
present beauty. In the Bible train, cassia
and hyssup and frankinccnse and myrrh
and spikenard and camphor and the rose
follow the lily. Fourteen times in the
Bible is the lily mentioned; only twice
the rose. Tho rose may now have wider
empire, but the lily reigncd in the time of
Esther, in the tiinc of solomon, in the
time OF Christ. Caesar had his throne on
the hills Tho lily had her throne in tho
valley. In the greatest sermon that was
ever preached there was only one flower,
and that u lily The Bedford dreamer,
John Bunyan, entered the house of tho
interpreter and was shown a cluster Of
flowers and was told to "considcr the
lilies
We may study or reject other sciences at
our optioD--it is so with astronomy, it is
So with chemistry, it is so with jurispru.
dcncc, it is so with physiology, it is so
with geuloqy-but the science of botany
Christ commands us to study when he
says, Consider the lilies. Measure them
from root to tip of petal. 1nhalc their
breath. Notice the gracefulncas of their
poisc. Hear the whisper of the white lips
Of the eastern and the red lips of the
American lily.
Belonging to this royal family Of lilies
arr the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the
Lady Washington of the sicrras, the Gold
en- band lily. tho Giant lily of Ncpaul, the
Turks cap lily, the African lily from the
Cape of Good Hope. All these lilies have
the royal blood in their veins But take
the lilies of my text this morning as typ
iCal of all flowers, and their voice of floral
beauty seems To address US, saying: Con
slider the lilies, consider the azalcaS CON
slider the fuchSiaS, consider the gcraniumS,
consider the ivcs, consider the hyacinths,
consider the hcliotropcs, consider the ole
audcrs" With defcreutal and grateful
and intelligent and worshipful souls, CON
slider them. Not with insipid scntmCn-
taliSm or with sophomore vaporinE, but
for grand and practical and everyday,
and, if need be, homoly uses, consider
them.
Voices of the Flowers.
The flowers are the angels of the grass.
They all have voices When the clouds
Ak they thunder, when the whirlwinds
speak they scream, when the cataracts
speak they roar; but when the flowers
speak they always whisper. I stand here
to interpret their message What have you
to say to us, o We angels of the grass!
This morning | mean to discuss what
flowers are good for. That is my subject
What are flowers good for?
| remark, in the first place, they arc
good for lessons of God 5 providcntal care
That was Christ's first thought. All thcs,
flowers seem to address us today, saying
"God win give you apparel and food
We have no wheel with which to spin, NJ
loom with which to weave, no sickle witt
which to harvest, no well sweep with which
to draw water, but God Stakes our thirst
bread Of the sunshine. and God has appar
eled us with more than Solomonic regal
ity. Wcait prophetesscs of adequate ward
robe. IF God so clothed us, the grass o
the field, will he not mu n more cloth,
you, 0 ye Of little faithf" Men and WON
en- of worldly anxietios, take this messag,
home with you How long has God takel
care of you? Quarter of the journey o
II,,1f l., e
quarters the journey of life: Can you no
trust him the rest of the way? God doe
not promise YOU anything like that which
the Roman Emperor had on his table a
vast cxpcnse-5OO nightingalcs' tongues
but he has promised to take care of you
He has promised you the necessities no
the manufactured, not cake. If God s
luXuriantly clothes the grass Of the field
vii ne not provide for you, his living ant
Immortal children He will.
No wonder Martin Luther always had
flower on his writing desk for inspiration
Through the cracks of the prison floor
flow rr grew up to cheer PiCciola. Mung
Park the great traveller and explorer Ia,
his life saved by flower. He sank dow
4 in the desert to die; hut, seeing "A nOWe
near by, it suggested God s merciful care
and he got up with new courage and tray
| clod on to safety. said the flowers ar
the angels of the grais. l add now the
are the cyangels Of the sky.
If YOU ask me the question, what ar
flowers good for:' | respond, they are goo
for the bridal day The bride must hay
them on her brow, and she must hay
them in her hand. The marriage alta
must be covered with them. A weddin
without flowers would be as inappropriate
as a wedding without music. At such
time they are for reorganization and proph
ecics of good. so much Of the pathwa
of life is covered up with thorns we ougli
to cover the beginning with orange bios
SONS
Flowers Always Appropriate.
Flowers are appropriate on such occa
sions, for in ninety nine out of II hundrc
cases it is the very best thing that coul
have happened. The world may CRITICS
and pronounce 1t an inHptitude and ma
lift its eyebrows in surprise and think
might sug gest something better, but tn
God who secs the 20. 40, so years of wee
dcd life before they have begun arrange
for the best. So that flowers in almost Il
cases are appropriate for the marriage day
The diYcrgenceS of disposition will hecon
CORES pondenCes, reck lessncss will hccon
prudence, frivolity will be turned int
practicality
There has been many an aged widowC
soul who had a carefully locked bureau
and in the bureau IA box, and in the box
folded paper, and in the folded paper
half blown, rose slightly fragrant, disco
orcd, carefully pressed. She put it thci
40 or 30 years ago, On the anniveraar