The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-03-08
would probably have At least ere Of
those three radiant stories Of what
Christ thought Of the human hand.

those three radiant stories Of What
Christ thought Of the human hand.
A pastor in his sermon told how .
little child appreciated the value Of
his hand when he was told that on
the morrow it must be amputated in OF.
der to save his life. Hearing that, he
went to quiet place and prayed that
God would spare his hand. The sur
geon, coming the next day to do his
work, found the hand so much better
that amputation was postponed, and
the hand got well. The pastor, telling
OF this in sermon, concluded by hold
ing up his hand and saying: "That is
the very hand that was spared in an
swer to prayer, and hold it up, mon.
ument of Divine mercy"
Again, the hand is the chief execu-
tive officer of the soul when wrung in
agony. Tears of,relief are sometimes
denied to trouble. The eyelids at such
times are as hot and parched and burn
ing as the brow. At such time even
the voice is suppressed. and there 10 no
sob or outcry. Then the wringing Of
the hand tells the story. At the close Of
life wasted in sin sometimes comes
that expression Of the twisted fingers
the memory of years that will never
return, of opportunities the like Of
which will never again occur and con-
science in its wrath pouncing upon the
soul and all the past horror, only to
be surpassed by the approaching hor-
Co a 1c
the casket Of dead wife whom he has
cruelty treated. So man wrings' his
hands at the fate of sons and daughters
whose prospects have been ruined by
his inebriety and neglect and depravity.
So the sinner wrung his hands when
after life full of offers of pardon and
peace and heaven he dies without hope.
When there are sorrows too poignant
for lamentation on the lip and too hot
for the tear glands to write in letters
of crystal on the cheek, the hand re-
cites the tragedy with more emphasis
than anything in Macbeth" and "King
Lear"
Worse than the wringing Of the
| hands was the punishment that Gram
mer gave his right hand when he put it
in the fire of the stake and without
| fiinching said: "Forasmuch Is my
hand offended in writing contrary to
my heart, my hand shall therefore be
the first punished. It shall be the Asst
burned. This was the hand that wrots
it."
But it is not always in such glad
greeting that we can employ our right
| hand. Ais, that so often we have to
employ the hand in farewell saluta-
ton. If ycu1 right hand retained
some impress of all such uses, it would
be volume of bereavements. Oh, the
good-bys in which your right hand has
participated! Good-by at the stsam-
boat wharf. Good-by at the rail I Jain
window. Good-by before the opening
of the battle. Good-by at the dying
pillow. We all needed grace for $. ch
handshaking, though our hand vas
strong and their hand was weak, aud
we will need grace for the coming good
bys, and that grace we had better seek
while amid the felicities of health and
homes unbroken. Thank God, there
will be no good-by in Heaven.
| Again, the hand is the chief executive
of the soul when employed in benedic-
ton. No gesture of the human hand
means more than the outstretched ges-
ture. In many of our religious denom-
nations we are not permitted to pro-
nounce an apostolic benediction until
we have been regularly ordained az
ministers Of the gospel, but there are
kinds of benediction that you may all
pronounce without especial permission
from presbytery or conference or con-
vention. You have right to spread
abroad both right and left hand in be.
slowing blessing of kindness and
| good will upon all you meet. With
both hands bless the children. Take
them in your arms and kiss their fair
cheek. Take with them round OF
merriment in the room before you
leave it, and by prayer put them in the
arms of the Christ, to go to whom in
olde7 time they struggled to get out OF
the arms of their mothers. God bless
the cradles and high chairs and nurser.
les all around the world.
Extend your hands in benediction for
the aged. Take their counsel and ask
their prayers, and smooth the path
down the declivities. By neglect and
unfilial demeanor add no wrinkles tc
their brow, no more stoop to theiI
shoulders. They have their hand or
the latch of the door through which
they will soon go out of sight of you,
homes and churches. May the mantles
Of Elijah fall upon the Elijahs! Spreat
your hand for the benediction upon al
the men and women in the tug of life
many Of them tired and buffeted ani
disheartenec-
Il And what better use can I make q
my hands, which are the chief execL
tive officer of my soul, than now II
spread them abroad in the apostoli,
benediction which has been pronounced
for centuries, and over hundreds O
thousands of assemblages, at coronA
ions and obsequies, at harvest home