Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-11-22
on opportunities past, pur put your EN-.

| immortal SplfltS speed! Wny snoulu a
bird have a swiftness OF wing when it is
of no Importance how long 1t shall take
to make It's aerial way from forest to for
est and we, who have so much more i'm
| portant errand in the world, get on 80
| slowly? The roebuck outruns uS, the
hounds are quicker IN the chase, but wait
until God lets US loose from all limitations
and indictments. Then we will fairly be-
gin. The starting post will be the tomb
stone: Leaving the world will be gradua-
tion day before the chief work OF our men
| tai and spiritual career. Hope sees the
doors opening the victor's foot in stirrup
for the mounting The day breaks-hrst
| flush Of the horizon. The mission Of hope
will be an everlasting mission, as much OF
| it in the heavenly hereafter as in the
| earthly now. Shall we have gained al as
soon as we enter realms celestial Nothing
more TO learn, no other heights to climb:
no new anthems to raise, monotony of
existence, the same thing over and over
again for endless years? No! More pro-
this. III '"'' "'''N '"NA y" '''' '-'N'
Hope will stand on the hills of heaven
and look for ever Frightening landscapes,
other transformations Of color, new glo-
ries rolling over the sceno, new celebra-
ton Of victories In other worlds, heaven
rising Into grandsr heavens, seas Of CLASP
mingled with FIRE. becoming a more bril-
liant glass ripghng with more flaming
fire. (which hope"
Hope on, and, though you may never
hear Of your sons reformation and others
may think he has left this life hopeless,
| who knows but that in the last moment.
| after he has ceased to speak and before
| his soul launches away, your prayer may
| have been answered and he be one Of the
| first to meet YOU at the shining gate. The
| prodigal in the parable got home and sat
down at the feast, while the elder brother.
who never left the old pace, stood pouting
| at the back door and did not go In at all.
To another class OF persons l intro luce
| the angel OF hope. and they are the inva-
lids. I cannot take the diagnosis Of your
disorder, but let hope cheer YOU with one
| OF two thoughts. Such marvellous cures
are being wrought in our day through med
ication and surgery that your inva!id!sm
may yet be mastered
Persons as i'll as you have got well. Can
Ger and tuberculosis will yet give way be-
fore some new discovery. l see every day
/ saw palhd and leaning heavily on staff
and hardly able to climb stairs.
But If you will not take the hand Of hope
for earthly convalescepce let me point
you to the perfect body YOU are yet to
have IL you love and serve the Lord.
Death will put a prolonged anaesthetlc
upon your present body, and You will
never again feel an ache or pain. and then
in His good time you will have resurrec-
| ton body, about which We know nothing
| expect that 1t will be painless and glorious
beyond all present appreciation, wat
mus. be the health Of that land which
never feels cut OF cold or blast OF hrat,
| and where there is no east wind SOWING
pneumonias ON the air, yonr tieetness
| greater than the foot of deer; your cye,-
| sight clearer than eagle in sky. perfect
| health, in country Where al the inha5-
| itauts are everiastingly we'll
You who have in your body an en-
| cysted bullet ever since the Civil War;
| YOU who have kept alive only by precau-
| tons and self denials and perpetual watch,
inr of pulse and lung; you of the deafened
ear and dim vision and the severe back
ache; you who have not been free from
pain for ten years, how do YOU like, this
| story of physical reconstruction, with all
| weakness and suffering suhtracte1 and
| everything jocund and bounding added,
| Do not have anything to do with the
gloom that Harriet Martineau expressed
in her diving words: II have no reason to
believe in another world. L have had
reason why Harriet Martineau should be
| perpetuated." Would you not rather have
the Christian enthusiasm of Robert. An
nan. who when some one said, Il will be
satisfied if | manage somehow to get into
heaven" replied, pointing to a sunken yes
sci that was being dragged up the River
| Tay: "Would you like to be pulled into
heaven with two tugs like that vessel yoon-
der? I tell you l would like to 60 In with
| all my sails set and co,ors flying,
| Again, let me introduce the element or
| xbo,a oood poOpla who are IN de-
| spair about the worlds moral condition.
| They have gathered up appalling. stats
tics. They tell OF the number of divorces,
| but do not take into consideration that
there are thousand happy homes where
| there is one of marital discord.
They tell you Of the large number IN
our land who are living profligste lives,
| but forget to mention that there are
many millions of men and women who are
| doing the best they can.
They tell you the number of drunkerles
| in this country, but fail to mention the
| thousands Of glorious churches with two
| doors-one door open for ell who will en-
ter for pardon and consolation, and the
| other door opening into the heavens for
| the ascent of souls prepared for transia-
| ton.
From this hour cultivate hope. Do so
by reading all the Scriptural promises OF
| the worlds coming Edenization, and doubt
| if YOU dare the veracity of the Almighty
when He saws He will make the desert
roseate, and the leopard and kid will lie
| down in the same pasture field, and the
! lion, ceasing to be carnivorous, will be-
| come graminivorous, eating straw like an
| OK" and reptilian venom shall change into
harmlessness. 80 that the "weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrlce,s
den, and there shall be nothing to hurt or
| destroy in all Gods holy mountain, for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge OF the
| Lord as the waters cover the sea-. 30
much for the world at large.
Then cultivate hope in regard to your
own health, your own financial prosperity,
your own longevity, by seeing how in
| other people God mercifully reverses things
| and brings to pass the unexpected, re-
membering that Washington lost, more
battles than he gained. but triumphed a:
the last, and, further, by making sure OF
| your eternal safety through Christ Jesus,
palaces and thrones. This life, span
long, ending in durations of bliss that
neither human nor archangelic faculties
| can measure or estimate-redolence Of
springtime that never ends and fountains
tossing in the light of a sun that never
| sets. MAY God thrill us with anticipation
of this immortal glee! Which hope.
/ said in the opening OF this subject
| that my text was only the wave on the
| beach, while the whole verse from which
| it is taken is an ocean, But the ocean
tides are coming in, and the sea is getting
so deep 1 must fall back, wading out as /
waded in, for what mortal can stand be.
fore the mighty surges of the full tide of
eternal gladness? Eye hath not seen nor
ear heard neither hath entered into, the
| heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him."