The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-04-05
FLOWERS OF CASPER
Dr. Talmage Draws an Inspiration
from Them.
me Eloquent Orators Easter Dis
eounse-LeSuOns which the Flow
ern Bring TO the Dispirited Z
and the Rereaved.

washington, April q Copyright, 1S99)
In this Easter sermon DR.. .Talmage
interprets the message which the flow
ers bring to the anxious, the dispirited
and the bereaved; text, Luke 1928, 'If
then God so clothe the grass, which is
to-day in the field, and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, how much more will
lie clothe you, o ye of little faith?1i y.
The lily is the queen of Bible flowers,
The rose may have disputed her throne
In modern times and won it, but the
rose originally had only five petals. 1t
was under the long continued and in
tense gaze of the world that the rose
blushed into its present beauty. In the
Bible train, cassia and hyssop and
frankincense 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
The rose may now have wider empire,
but the lily reigned in the time Of
Esther, in the time Of Solomon, in the
time of Christ. Caesar had his throne
on the hills. The lily had her throne in
the valley. In the greatest sermon that
was ever preached there was only one
flower, and that lily. The Bedford
dreamer John Bunyan, entered the
house of the interpreter and was shown
cluster of flowers and was told to
consider the lilies"
We may study or reject other sciences
ut our option-it is so with astronomy,
itissowith chemistry, it is so with juris-
prudence, it is so with physiology, it
is SO with geology-but the science of
botany Christ commands us to study
when He says: "Consider the lilies"
Measure them from root to tip ofpetGl.
Inhale their breath. Notice the grace
fulness of their poise. Hear the whis-
per of the white lips of the eastern and
the red lips of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of
lilies are the lily of the Nile, the Japan
lily, the Lady Washington of the
Sierras, the Golden band lily, the Giant
lily of Nepaul, the Turks cap lily, the
African lily from the Cape of Good
Hope. All these lilies have the royal
blood in their veins. But l take the
lilies of my text this morning as typ
ical of all flowers, and their voice of
floral beauty seems to address us, say
ing: Consider the lilies, consider the
azaleas, consider the fuchsias, consider
the geraniums, consider the ivies, con-
slider the hyacinths, consider the hello
tropes, consider the oleanders." With
deferential and grateful and intelligent
and worshipful souls, consider them.
Not with insipid sentimentalism or
with sophomore vaporing, but for
grand and practical and everyday, and,
ii need be, homely uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angels of the
grass. They all have voices, When the
clouds speak they thunder, when the
whirlwinds speak they scream, when
the cataracts speak they always whis-
per-. stand here to intrepet their mes
sage. What have you to say to us, o ye
angels of the grass? This morning |
mean to discuss what flowers are good
for. That is my subject: What are
Howers good for?
l remark, in the first place, they are
good for lessons of Gods providential
care. That was Christ's first thought
ALI these flowers seem to address us to-
day, saying: God will give you ap-
pareland food" We have no wheel with
which to spin, no loom with which to
weave, no sickle with which to harvest
no well sweep with which to draw
water, but God feeds us with the bread
of the sunshine, and God has appareled
us with more than Solomonic regality
We are prophetesses of adequate ward.
robe. IF God so clothed us, the grass
Of the field, will He not much more
clothe you, o ye of little faith?" Men
and women of worldly anxieties, take
this message home with you! How long
has God taken care of you? Quarter OF
the journey of life? Half the journey
of life? Three-quarters the journey OF
life? Can you not trust Him the rest
of the way? God does not promise you
anything like that which the Roman
emperor had on his table at vast ex-
pense-50Q nightingales' tongues but
He has promised to take care of you
He has promised you the necessities
not the luxuries-bread, not cake. II
God so luxuriantly clothes the grass Of
the field, will He not provide for you
His living and immortal children? He
will.
No wonder Martin Luther always had
a flower on his writing desk for in.
spiration Through the cracks ofgthe
prison door flower grew up to cheer
Picciola. Mungo Park, the great trav
eler and explorer, had his life saved by
flower. He sank down in the desert
to die, but, seeing flower near by, il
suggested Gods merciful care, and he
got up with new courage and Travelled
on to safety. said the flowers are the
angels of the grass. / add now they are
the evangelS OF the sky. -sTr-,.
If you ask me the question: "What
are flowers for?" respond, they are
good for the bridal day.. The bride
must have them on her brow, and she
must have them in her hand. The mar
riage altar must be covered with them
A wedding without flowers would baa'
inappropriate as q wedding withou
music. At such time they are for con
gratdlation and prophecies of good. Sc
much of the pathway of life is coyeref
up with thorns, we ought to cover thu
beginning with orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such oc
casions, for in ninety-nine out of hun
dred cases it Is the very best thing thai
rould have happened. The world may
criticise and pronounce it an inapti
tude and may lift its eyebrows in sur
prise and think it might suggest some
thing better, but the God who sees thu
20, 20, 50 years of welded life before
they have begun arranges for the hest