Middletown transcript., 1899-06-24
EPwoRTH LEAGUE.
Topic For the Week Beginning June
=, spiritual Growth"-Text.
Mark iv, 26-32.

| ana grow up, ne Kn0WeLn not now.
The old miracle Of seed time an
harvest is being again performed befor
our open eyes. We see the transforms
tion of bare hillsides into verdure cla
pillows of beauty. Bare seeds are sown
and we watch the breaking graves 0
soil heaved with mysterious life beneatl
until the blade, the bloom, the frui
appear. We ewatch the whole process a
we have watched it all the years pas
with keen eyed wonder and BATE
breath. Yet we have never been able t,
discover the power that works in all tn
process nor to detect the hidden workel
who produces the open wonder befor,
our sight.
Last night in prayer meeting {
young lady arose-shall we call her gir
or woman2 She was on that boundary
line SO fascinating between the two
girlhood merging into sweeter, deeper
mysteries of womanhood, eyes kindline
with new visions, lips parted with new
speech, ears alert for new music. heart
beating with expectancy, feet pressing
new thresholds of opportunity. She
arose without invitation and said sim.
ply, modestly, brayely, "1 wish to dc
all I possibly can for Jesus the coming
year" That was all. But how much
it meantl The Seed Of years gone by,
watered with prayerful tears by father
and mother, watched with heart longing
unutterable for long months, had sprung
to life. The springtime had come. In
that life there had been no lapse into
sinful dissipation and agonizing repent
ance, no special altar service with i'm
portunity, hesitancy and final yielding
of will. All these are good in cases
which need them. In her case there
was no such need. In babyhood she was
dedicated to God in baptism and daily
prayed over, and from earliest infancy
the spirit life cared for as tenderly, pa
tiently, skiilfully, as the little body was
nourished and nursed. From physical
weakness she had been developed to
robust, young, healthy womanhood. In
spirit she had been as carefully reared.
The Bible was to her Gods truth, to be
known, believed and practiced. Jesus
was her Saviour. She belonged to Him,
was an object of His constant care and
assured of His protection, love and di-
rection. Her duty and privilege were to
love, trust and help Him. All this had
been terminating, growing with her
expanding intellect and increasing pow
ers Of body and soul, until now it burst
the husk and showed the blade of
new existence in upper air and sun
shine.
So grows the kingdom Of God in the
human soul. Plant with patience, wa
ter and cultivate with diligence, trust
God that good seed in good soul soil
shall spring by His unseen power in due
time into blade and ear and harvest.
The power is unseen, the Life Giver
still invisible, but the growth reveals
Him near, and the old miracle of life
continues with undated attractiveness
in the lives Of His people.
Blossoms must bloom Of themselves.
To force open the calyx and hasten the
lowering is to ruin all. If it blooms at
all, it must be by inner impulse and
not from outward force. Pick open the
bud, and you spoil the rose
A dozen seeds share the same home in
! handful Of soil. and spring into leaf !
Under the same sun rays and breezes. |
rhe same dewdrops and showers water 4
hem, yet no two are alike in leaf or
'oot or flower. What mysteriousness |
les herel Who dreamed that each of |
hese brown seeds held such power of |
hought and will and feeling as to Sc
ect from soil and sun and air and mois-
ure just the elements adapted to de-
'elop its own planf What wisdom in 4
planning and executing the design /
'urely seed Is wonderful. thinker
nd a most skillful worker. Do seeds
hink and feel and choose2 /
How seeds grow, who can tell 2. How
ouls grow each one can know some
Vhat IL his own soul grows and he
watches its development. What can
Ily know Of the thoughts and feelings
{ rose except as it watches itselffand
opposes the other to be like it? Seeds
ave impulses; SO have souls. Roots
leet stones they cannot penetrate and
nd also soil with elements they can
axe and in their inner structure change 1
rom mineral to vegetable. How they |
o it, we don't know and don't believe
aey know. But they do it.
Souls have impulses, meet obstacles,
nd also material for making manhood
nd womanhood. But with these there
consciousness not found in the seed.
ouls know good and bad, feel the glow
approval and pang of self scorn, real
70 the duty of right doing, have pow
: in themselves to make plans Of
rowth and to carry them out. They
mt make the soil, the sunshine, the
lowers Of moral and spirit life, but
ley can determine how they will grow
j them and what they will make from 1
lem. Oh, soul is a wonderful thing
Sorrows may crush you If you let
lem fall on you wrongly, but if you
md little they fall on the earth and
ack the soil more firmly about your
lots, give you a better hold eH earth earth 1
i'd frmer lifting Of being toward
Ie upper heavens. If branch is lop-
ID off. perhaps it will help you grow
ore symmetrical Pruning and thin
ng of fruit make the rest of the yield
rger and more luscious. Ii
The American Tract society has 400
lblications in the Spanish language
ID intends to make an effort to put
,anish primer and New Testament in
g hands Of every Cuban family able
ID willing to read them.
Some people are more afraid Of what
hers may say than most women are
mouse.