St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-04-08
BOUND IN A BUNDLE
Dr.. Talmage Chooses a Familiar
Simils for q Text.
The Precious Duadlc of Life and
the Care II Should Rccetvc-ThlnEs
Of Earthly and Heavenly
Existence.

things which go 10 make up mans
| earthly and heavenly life; text. i Samuel
25:29. The soul of my Lord shall be
| bound in the bundle of life with the
Lord thy Cod
Beautiful Abigail in her rhythmic
plea for the rescue of her inebriate hus-
band, who died within ten days, adj
| 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,
divinely bound up and TO be divinely
| protected.
That phrase 'bundle Of life" heard
many times il my fathers family
prayers. Family prayers. you know,
have frequent repetitions, because day
by day they acknowledge about the
| same blessings and sympathize with
about the same misfortunes. and l do
not know why those who lead at house
hold devotions should seek variety of
composition. That familiar prayer be-
comes the household liturgy. l would
not give one of my old fathers prayers
for so Evolutionary applications.
Again and again. in the morning and
evening prayer. l heard the request
that we might all he bound up in the
bundle of life, but / did not know until
q few days ago that the phrase was
Bible phrase.
Now. the more think of ii the better
! like it. Bundle of life! 1t is such
simple and unpreterding, yet express
sivc comparison. There is nothing like
grandlIoqucncein 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
hen clucking her chickens together and
see the photographs of hypccrites with
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.
and The shifting sand that lets down
the house with a great crash and hear
the comparison of the text, the most
unpoetical thing we can think ola
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 bum
dies of great value, bundles put up with
great-csution. 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
hesYens-bundles of clothing on the
way from comfortable homes to the
door of the mission-rcom. and Christ
stood in the snowbanks and said as the
bundles passed: NAKED, and We
clothed me. Inasmuch as We have done
it 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 Abb
gail, in my text. speak of the bundle of
life! Oh, what precious bundle is
life! Bundle of memories, bundle of
hopes, bundle of ambitions, bundle Of
destinies! Once in awhile a man writes
his autobiography, and it 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
friumphs! But if the autobiography of
the most eventful life were well written
it would make many chapters Of adven-
ture, of tragedy. of comedy, and there
would not be an uninteresting step
from cradle to grave.
Bundle of memories are you! Boy
hood memories, with all its injustices
from playmates, with all its games with
ball and bat and kite and sled. Man.
hood memories with all your struggles
in starting oppositions. ac-
cidents, misfortunes. losses, successes.
Memories of the first marriage you ever
saw solemnized. of the first grave you
ever saw opened. of the first mighty
wrong you ever suffered, of the first
victory you ever gained. Memory of
the hour when you were affianced,
memory of the first advent in your
home, memory of the roseate cheek
faded and of blue eyes closed in the
last sleep, memory of anthem and of
dirge, memory of great pain and of
slow conyalescence. memory Of times
when all things were against you. mem
DRY of properties that came in like the
full tide of the sea, memories of life
time. What a bundle!
81 lift that bundle to-day and unloose
The cord that binds it, and for a mo-
ment you look in and see tears and
smiles and laughter and groans and
mondays and midnights of experience.
and then l tie again the bundle with
heartstrings that have some time
vibrated with joy and anon been
thrummcd by fingers of woe.
Bundle of hopes and ambitions also
is almost every man and woman. es-
pecially at the starting. What gains
he will harvest. or what reputation he |
will achieve, or what bliss he will reach,
or what love he will win. What makes |
college commencement day so entranc- !
ing to all of us as we see the students |
receive their diplomas and take up the
garlands thrown to their feet. They |
viii be Faradays in science; they will |
be Tennysons in poesy; they will be |
Willard Parkers in surgery: they will |
be Alexander Hamiltons in national |
finance; they will be Horace Greeleys |
in editorial chair; they will be Web
sters in the senate. Or she will be a
Mary Lyon in educational realms, or .
Frances Willard on reformatory plat
form. or Helen Gould in military hos
pitfalls. Or she will make home life-fa- |!
diant with helpfulness and self-sacri-
fee and magnificent womanhood. Oh,
what a bundle of garlands and scepters
from which I would not take one sprig
of mignonette nor extinguish one spark
of brilliance. They who start life with
out bright hopes and inspiring ambi-
tons might as well not start at all. for
every step will be a failure. Rather
would / add to the bundle. and if open
it now it will not be because wish to