The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-02-01

are Caesars and to God the things
that are Gods" Magnetic and epi-
grammatic this inspired peasantl
Useless attempts he declares -
pearls cast before swine;" unimpor-
tant results He describes as the at /.
tempt to gather figs OF thistles."
Allegories! Why, tie parallels are
all allegories, and. how He flung them
out upon His audiences. whole arm-
fuls Of amethysts and emeralds and
diamonds and rubies!
But we must not only look at Him
from a worldly standpoint. How He
smote whirlwinds into silence, and
made the waves of the sea lie down,
and opened doors of light into the
midnight of those who had been born
Blind, and turned deaf ears into gal
leries of music, and with one touch
made the scabs of incurabIe leproSy
fall off, and renewed healthy circuls.
ton through severest paralysis, and
made the dead girl waken and ask
for her mother, and at His crucifix-
ion pulled down the clouds until at
12 o'clock at noon it was as dark
as IL o'clock at night, and started
an influence that will 60 on until
the last desert will grow roses, and
the last case of paresis take healthtul
brain, and the last illness become
rubicund of cheek and robust of chest
and bounding of foot, and the last
pauper will get his palace, and the
last sinner taken unto the warm
bosom of pardoning God! Where
did all this start? In that cradle
within sound OF bleating sheep and
believing cattle and amid rough ban-
tering of herdsmen and camel driv-
ers. What a low place to start Tor
such great heights! o artists, turn
your camera obscura on that. Village
OF Bethlehem! Take it all inthe
wintry skies lowering, the focks shiv-
ering in the chill air, Mary, the pele
mother, and Jesus, the child. No
wonder that Paul Veronese and Cuyp
and Rubens and Tintoretto and Cor
reggie and Perugino and GhirlandAjo
and Raphael put their best pencils II
that scene.
So have shown you the shadows and
the sunshine Of that Christie cradle of
Bethlehem. In these Christian MmesJ !
realize that there are many cradles mn
der shadows. Oh, the story Of empty
cradles all up and down the earth. 81
cabins and in palaces! There are stand.
ing in garrets or in storeroons cradles
that will never rock again. Rachel
mourning for her children and will not
be comforted because they are not,
But through all the shadows break
CLEANS of sunshine, as the clouds of the
Christie cradle were cleft By glorious
light. Escaped from the strueeless
through which we have all passed Aad
must yet pass, those little ones tooA|
Heaven at one bound. Instead Of ~
earthly career it is a Heavenly cafeer,
with capacities, with velocfties, with
opportunities beyond our .comprehen-
sion. Instead of celebrating On earth
the Saviour's birth they stand in the
Saviour's presence. Instead of the h0l.s
iday celebrations Of the old HOMESTEAD
it is to them eternal jubilee at = tah3el
where the angels of God are the curl-
bearers and amid festivities that -
sound with a laughter and music
and blaze with brilliance and . e1Ofy
s'that eye hath not seen nor ear heard.
No use in wishing them merry Christ
mas, for the merriments Of Heaven 1in3|
out upon them from temples that arr
always open, amid pleasures that never
die. Oh, it is not dull Heaven, hui.
lively Heaven, for there are. 50 many
children there! They thrOng the
streets; they look out Of the sHcuae At
Many Mansions;" they stand on tAe,
beach to see the fleets cast anchor 3tAr
in the vale; they crowd the gates It'll
greetings when the old folks come n
they clap their hands In an etexneI
gladness; they dance in an eternal G}ee
See you not the sunshine that p0ufs
I into the shadows Of that cradle mill
they are all gone?
But shadows have their uses. There
must be background to every good
picture. Turner always put at least
one flock Of clouds on his canvass, md
the clouds OF earth will be the back
ground to bring out more nightly tn
brightness Of Heaven. And will It not
be glorious If after all this scene 0f
earthly yicissitude we meet again n
our Fathers house and talk over the
past in an everlasting holiday. Hui
meanwhile look out for the cradles.
How much they decide for this vosId
and the next! When Wellington NJ
born at Mornipgton, England, that de:
cided Waterloo and saved Eusule
When Handel was born In Halle G1s
ony, that decided the oratorios o. in
das Maccabaeus' and "Esthern I'D
"Israel in Egypt" and "Jeptha1 ~
Messiah When Eli whitney NJ
born at Westboro, that decided ths
wealth Of all the cotton fields of ths
south. When Gutenberg was b0tG d
Metz, Germany, that decided the lihta
ries of all Christendom. When Clark
son was born in Cambridgeshire, i ID
land, that decided the doom of hunaMl
bondage. When Morse was born y
Y prood,e Hill Mass that decfdaA fltn