Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-12-08


and prudence In running machinery Of
all sorts have almost abolished the list
of casualties. and sobriety and indus
try have nearly abolished pauperism,
so that those buildings. which once
were hospitals and almshOuses, have
been turned into beautiful homes for
the less prospered. and If YOU will look
In you will see the poorest table has
abundance and the smallest wardrobe
luxury and the harp. waiting to have
its strings thrummed. leaning against
the piano. waiting for its keys to be
fingered. Yes we have on the shelves
of our free libraries the full story Of
dispensaries and crutches. and clinics,
and surgery. and what time of suf-
fering there must have been on those
battlefelds of Sedan and Gettysburg
and South Africa one or two hundred
years ago.
4 New World Born.
Hospitals and almshouses must
have been a necessity once. but they
would be useless now. And you see
all the swamps have been drained. The
sewerage of the great towns has been
perfected. And the worlds climate
is so improved that there are no pneu-
monias to come out of the cold or
rheumatisms out Of the dampness or
fevers out Of the heat. Consumptions
banished. pneumonias banished. diph-
iberia banlshed. ophthalmia banished,
neuralgias banished. As near as ]
can tell from what have read. our
atmosphere of this century is a min
Cling Of the two months of May and
October of the nineteenth century,
And we believe what our escort says,
for as we pass OH we find health glow
ing in every check, and beaming in
every eye, and springng in every step,
and articulating in every utterance,
and you and whisper to each other as
our escort has his attention drawn to
some new sunrise upon the morning
sky, and we say, each to the other:
"Who would believe that this Is the
world we lived in over n hundred years
ago? Look at those men and women
we pass on the road How improved
the human racel Such beauty. Such
strength, Such gracefulness! Such
geniality! Faces without the mark of
one sorrow, Cheeks that seem never
to have been wet by one tear. a race
sublimated. 4 new world born.
But say to our escort: Did all this
merely happen so? Are all the good
here spontaneously good? How did
you get the old shipwreckcd world
afloat again. out of the breakers into
the smooth seas?" NO. no." responds
our twenty-frst century escort DO
you see those towers? Those are the
towers Of churches. towers of reforma-
tory institutions. towers Of Christian
schools. Walk with me. and let US en-
ter some Of these temples" We enter,
and find that the music Is In the ma
jor key. and none Of it in the minor.
Gloria in Excelsis" rising above "Glo-
ria in Excelsis" Tremolo stop in the
organ not so much used as the trumpet
stop. More Of Ariel than Of Naomi. More
chants than dirges.
But | say to our twenty-hrst century
escort: Il cannot understand this.
Have these worshipers no sorrows. or
have they forgotten their sorrows"
Our escort responds: Sorrows. Why,
they had sorrows more than you could
count. but 10y a divine illumination
that the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries never enjoyed they under
stand the uses Of sorrow and are com
forted with a supernatural coincidence
such as previous centuries never expe-
rienced."
Prophecy Fulfilled.
ask again Of the Interpreter, Has
death been banished from the worldT'
The answer is. NO: but people die
now only when the physical machinery
is worn out and they realize il is time
to 20 and that they are certainly and
without doubt going into world
where they wiz be infinitely better
off and are to live in mansion that
awaits their immediate occupancy.
But how was all this efrectedf | ask
our escort Answer: by Hoods Of gos
pei power You who lived in the
nineteenth century never saw re-
viya Of religion to he compared with
what occurred In the latter part Of the
twentieth and the early part Of the
twenty-frst century. The prophecy
has been fulfilled that a nation shall
be born in a day'-that is, 100000
or 2O.O0O.OOO or 4O,OOOOOO people con
verted in p hours"
As yOu and see in this terrestrial
visitation OF the coming centuries that
the church has. under God. accom-
plished so much. we ask our escort the
spirit OF the twenty-tirst century. to
show us the different kinds OF
churches. SO we are taken in and out
of the churches of different denomina-
tions. and we find that they are just
as different in the twenty-lirSt century
as they were different in the nine
teenth. when we worshiped In them.
There is unity in them as TO the great
essentials Of salvation. But we enter
the Baptist church. and il is baptismal
day. and we see the candidates for
membership Immersed. And we 90
into Presbyterian church and see a
group Of parents around the baptismal
font holding up their children for the
christening. And we enter the Episco-
pal church and hear the solemn roll of
her llturgies, and her ministers are
gowned and surpliced. And we enter
the Lutheran church, and we hear II
the sermon preached the doctrines OF
the greatest Of German reformers. AND
we 20 into the Methodist church Just
IN time to sit down at love feast ant
give audible Amen" when the service
! stirs us. At least 80 kinds Of churches
In the twenty-frst century as there
were 100 different kinds Of churches
.r the nineteenth century.
30 spirit OF the twenty-nrst cen
tury. will you not show us something
of the commercial life Of your timer
He answers, Tomorrow | will show
you all" And on the morrow he take
us through the great marts OF trad'
and shows us the bargain makers an'
4. l...a I.r