Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-10-08
THICK ENING GLOON.
GROWING OLD WITHOUT RELIGION =
DISMAL PROSPECT.

DR.. TaImnEe Offers ConsOHing Sug-
-estions to Those Who Have Pass
ed Lies Neutrality-suspicious. Brfghtens
the Shadows of Evening.
WASHINGTON, Oct. Tin this sermon
DR. Talmage discourses upon the invi-
tation given to Christ to stay overnight
in the oriental village and makes some
consolato-y suggestions. The text is
Luke xiv, %, abide with US, for it is
toward evening"
Two villagers, having concluded their
erraEd in Jerusalem, have started out
at the city gate and are on their way
to Emmaus. the place of their resi-
dence. They go with a sad heart. Je-
sus. who had been their admiration
and their joy, had been basely maSsa-
cred and entombed. As, with sad face
and broken heart, they pass on their
way Il stranger accosts them. They
tell him their anxieties and bitterness
of soul. He in turn talks to them,
nightly expounding the Scriptures.
He throws over them the fascination
of intelligent conversation. They for
get the time and notice not the objects
they pass and before they are aware
have come up in front of their house.
They pause before the entrance and at
tempt to persuade the stranger to tar
ry with them. They press upon him
their inequalities Night is coming on,
and he may meet Il providing wild
beast or be obliged to be unsheltered
from the dew. He cannot go much far
ther now. Why not stop there and
continue their pleasant conversation?
They take him by the arm, and they
insist upon his coming in. addressing
him in the words. abide with us, for
it is toward evening" The lamps are
lighted. the table is spread. pleasant
socialities are enkindled. They re-
joice ife the presence of the stranger
guest He asks blessing upon the
bread they eat. and he hands q piece
of it to each. Suddenly and with over
whelming power the thought flashes
upon the astounded people-;t is the
Lord And as they sit in breathless
wonder. looking upon the resurrected
body of Jesus. he vanished. The in
teryiew ended. He was gone.
On the Down Grade OF Life.
With many of US Is is & bright sun
shiny day of prosperity. There is not
a cloud III the sky, not Il leaf rustling
in the forest. no chill in the air. But
we cannot expect all this TO last. He
is not III Intelligent man who expects
perpetual daylight of joy. The SUD
will after awhile near the horizon; the
shadows will lengthen- While J speak
many of us stand in the very hour de-
scribed in the text. For it is toward
evening" The request of the text is
appropriate for some in every commu-
nifty, for with them il is toward the
evening of old age. They have passed
the meridian of life. They are some
times startled to think how old they
are. They DO not. however. like others
to remark upon it. If others suggest
their approximation toward venerable
appearance. they say, why. | am not
so old after ALL They do, indeed, no.
tice that they cannot lift quite as much
as once; they cannot walk quite SO
fast: they cannot read quite SO well
without SpectacleS; they cannot so cas-
lily recover from Il cough or any occa-
sional ailment: they have lost their
taste for merriment: they are surprised
y
say that it only seems but little while
ago that they were boys: they are 60
ing Il little down hill; there is some
thing in their health. something in
their vision. something in their walk,
something in their changing associa-
tons. something above, something be-
Meath. something within to remind
them that it is toward evening.
The great want OF ali such is to have
Jesus abide with them. 1t is Il dismal
thing to be getti:>@ old without the re-
juvenatinG influence of religion. When
we stop on the down grade of life and
see that it dips to the verge of the cold
river. we want to behold some one
near who will help us across it When
the sight loses its power to glance and
gather up. we need the faith that can
illumine When we feel the failure of
the ear we need the clear tones of that
voice which in olden times broke UP
the silence of the deaf with cadences
of mercy When the aXmen of death
hew down whole forests of strength
and beauty around us and we are left
in solitude, we need the dove of divine
mercy to sing in our branches. Wher
the shadows begin to fall and we fee
that the day is far spent. we need
most of all to supplicate the beneficen'
Jesus in the prayer of the villagers
abide with us. for it is toward even
ing
Indications of Night.
The request of the text is an appro
pirate exclamation for all those who
are approaching the gloomy hour Of
temptation. There is nothing easieI
than to be good natured when every
thing pleases. or to be humble wheI