The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-10-11

happened. The best friends you had
proved traitor to your interests. A
sudden crash of national misfortune
Frustrated your credit You may feel
anxious about where you are standing
and fear that the next turn of the
commercial wheel will bring you pros
trate. You foresee what you consider
certain defalcation. You think of the
anguish of telling your friends that
you are not worth dollar. You know
not how you will ever bring your
children home from school. You won
der how you will stand the selling Of
your library or the moving into a
palmer house. The misfortunes of life
have accumulated. You wonder what
makes the sky so dark. 1t is toward
evening
Trouble is an apothecary that mixes
a great many drafts, bitter and sour
and nauseous, and you must drink
some one of them. Trouble puts up
great many packs, and you must car
ry some one of them. There is no
sandal so thick and we'll adjusted but
some thorn will strike through it.
There is no sound so sweet but the I'M
dertaker's screwdriver CRATES through
it. In this swift shuttle of the heart
some of the threads must break. The
journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus
will soon be ended. Our Bible. our
common sense, our observation, reiter-
ate in tones that we cannot mistake
and ought not to disregard, it is to-
ward evening.
Fighting Against Misfortune.
Listen to Pauls battle shout with
misfortune. Hank to the mounting
Latimer's fire song. Look at the glory
4 that hath reft the dungeon and filled
| the earth and heavens with the crash
of the falling manacles of despotism.
And then look at those who have tried
to cure themselves by human pre-
scriptions, attempting to heal gangrene
with patch of court plaster and to stop
the plague of dying empires with the
quackery of earthly wisdom Nothing
can speak peace to the soul, nothing
can unstrap our crushing burdens,
nothing can overcome our spiritual
foes, nothing can open our eyes to
see the surrounding horses and chart
OTIS of salvation that fill all the noun
tains, but the voice and command of
him who stopped one night at En-
maus.
The words of the text are pertinent
to us all from the fact that we are
nearing the evening of death. l have
| = hot To,
though each moment were to be our
last. l do not believe that theory. AS
far as preparation is concerned we
ought always to be ready. But we
cannot always be thinking of death,
for we have duties in life that demand
/ our attention. When man is selling
goods, it is his business to think of
the bargain he is making. When a
man is pleading in the courts it is his
duty to think of the interests. of his
clients. When clerk is adding up
accounts, it is his duty to keep his
mind upon the column of figures. He
who fills up his life with thoughts of
death is far from being the highest
style of Christian. I knew a man who
| l
might die before morning." He is
now an inf1del But there are times
when we can and ought to give our
selves to the contemplation of that
solemn moment when the soul time
ends and eternity begins. We must go
through that one pass. There is
no roundabout way, no bypath, no cir
| TO
will be to us a shameful occurrence
I. or time of admirable behavior. Our
friends may stretch out their hands to
keep us back but no imploration on
their part can hinder us. They might
offer large retainers, but death would
not take the fee The breath will fail,
and the eyes will close, and the heart
will stop. You may hang the couch
with gorgeous tapestry, but what does
death care for bed curtains?
The Eternal Resting Place.
This ought not to be depressing
theme. Who wants to live here for
ever? The world has always treated
less like scolding and complaining,
but yet would not want to make this
my eternal residence. ! love to watch
the clouds and battle my soul in the
blue sea of heaven, but expect when
the armament is rolled away as a
scroll to see a new heaven, grander,
higher and more glorious. You ought
to be willing to exchange your body
that has headaches and sideaches and
weaknesses innumerable, that limps
with the stone bruise or testers with
the thorn or flames on the funeral
pyre Of fevers. for an incorruptible
body and an eye that blinks not be-
fore the jasper gates and the great
white throne. But between that and
this there is an hour about which no
man should be reckless or foolhardy. 1
doubt not your courage, but 1 tell you
that you will want something better
than strong arm, a good aim and a
trusty sword when you come to your
last battle. You will need a better
robe than any you have in your ward
robe to keep you warm in that place.
/ Circumstances do not make so
much difference. 1t may be bright day
when you push off from the planet
or it may be dark night, and while
the owl is hooting from the forest 1t
may be spring, and your soul may go
out among the blossoms, apple Or
chards, swinging their censers in the