The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-03-08
BOUND IN A BUNDLE.
The Precious HURDLE Of Life and
the Care II should Receive-Thingu
Of Earthly and Heavenly
Existence.
twashIngton March 5. copyrIght 1Spa.l

DR.. Talmage shows in this sermon the
things which 60 to make up mans
earthly and heavenly life; text, Samuel
'25:29. The soul Of my Lord shall be
bound in the bundle of life with the
Lord thy God"
Beautiful Abigail, in her rhythmic
plea for the rescue of her inebriate hus-
band, who died within ten days, ad-
dressed David the warrior in the words
of the text. She suggests that his life,
physically and intellectually and spirit
ually, is valuable package or bundle,
diyinely bound up and to be divinely
protected.
That phrase ''bundle of life" heard
many times in my fathers family
prayers. Family prayers, you know,
have frequent repetitiOns, because day
7ay they acknowledge about the
same blessings and sympathize with
about the same misfortunes, and do
not know why those who lead at house
hold deyotions should seek variety of
composition. That familiar prayer be-
comes the household liturgy. l would
not give ony of my oid fathers prayers
for 80 el6eutionary supplications.
Again and again, in the morning and
evening praye~ heard the request
that we might all be bound up in the
bundle Of life, but l did not know until
a few days ago that the phrase was a
Bible phrase.
Now, the more think of it the better
! like 1t. Bundle of life! It is such a
simple and unpretending, yet express
sive comparison. There is nothing like
grandiloquencein the Scriptures. While
there are many sublime passages in
Holy Writ, there are more passages
homely and drawing illustrations from
common observation and everyday life.
In Christ's great sermons you hear a
hen clucking her chickens together and
see the photographs Of hypocrites with
a sad countenance and hear of the grass
of the field, and the black crows which
.our Heavenly Father feeds, and the salt
that Is worthless, and the precious
stones flung under the feet Of swine,
ard the shifting sand that let's down
the house with great crash and hear
the comparison of the text, the most
unpoetical thing we can think of-a
bundle. Ordinarily. it is something
tossed about, something thrown under
the table, something that suggests gar
rets or something on the shoulder OF
"a poor wayfarer. But there are bun
dies Of great value, bundles put up with
great caution, bundles the loss Of which
means CONSERVATION and despair, and
there have been bundles representing
the worth Of kingdom.
During the last spell Of cold weather
there were bundles that attracted the
attention and the plaudits of the high
heavens-bundles of clothing on the
way from comfortable homes to the
door of the mission-room, and Christ
stood in the snowbanks and said as the
bdhdles passed: Naked, and "
clothed me. sInasmuch as We have done
1t unto one Of the least of these, my
Brethren, We have done it unto me.
Those bundles are multiplying. Bless
ings on those who pack them! Bless
ings on those who distribute them!
/ Blessings on those who receive them!
With what beautiful aptitude did Abi'
gail, in my text. speak of the bundle Of
life! Oh, what a precious bundle is
7ifel Bundle of memories, bundle Of
hopes, bundle of ambitions. bundle oi
-destiniesl Once in awhile man writes
his autobiography, and 1t is of thrill
ing interest. The story of his birth
place, the story of his struggles, the
story of his sufferings, the story of his
triumphsl But II the autobiography oi
the most eyentful life were well written
1t would make many chapters of adven'
-ture, of tragedy, of comedy, and there
would not be an uninteresting steI
from cradle to grave.
Bundle OF memories are you! Boy
hood memories, with all its injustice'
from playmates, with all its games with
ball and bat and kite and sled. Man
hood memories, with all your struggles
in starting-obstacles, oppositions, ac
.cidents, misfortunes. losses, successes
Memories of the first marriage you evei
saw solemnized, of the first grave yor
ever saw opened, of the first mighty
wrong you ever suffered, of the frst
victory you ever gained. Memory OF
Hhe hour when you were affianced
memory of the first advent in youi
home, memory of the roseate cEeel
faded and of blue eyes closed in the
last sleep, memory Of anthem and Of
.dirge, memory of great pain and Of
slow convalescence, memory OF times
when all things were against you. mem
ory of prosperties that came in like the
full tide of the sea. memories Of life
time. What a bundle!
lift that bundle to-day and unloos'
the cord that binds it, and for mo
ment you look in and see tears ant
smiles and laughter and groans ana
mondays and midnights Of experience
and then l tie again the bundle will
heartstrings that have some tint
vibrated with Joy and anon beer
7, thrummcd by fingers Of woe.
\ Bundle of hopes and ambitions alsC
Wis almost every man and woman, es
pecially at the starting. What gain
he win harvest, or what reputation HI
will achieve, or what bliss he will reach
or what love he will win. What make!
college commencement day so cntranc
ing TO all of us as we see the students
receive their diplomas and take up th'
garlands thrown to their feet. They
will be Faradays in science; they viii
be Tennysons in poesy; they will b,
Willard Parkers in surgery; they vii
be Alexander Hnmiltons in nationa
s,aaacc; they will be Horace Greeley,
in editorial chair; they will be Web
,sters In the senate. Or she will be
Mary Lyon in educational realms, or
Frances Willard on reformatory plat
form, or Helen Gould In military hos