Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-12-16

Another discovery that surprises US
because we had not passed this way
before is. the fact that if two be in
quarrel or in war with each other the
one who is the most wrong is the hard
est and the slowest to make up. Who
wrote them | know not. but | cut these
two lines out and pasted them in my
scrapbook twenty years ago, for the
words are SO strikingly true:
Forgiveness to the injured does belong,
But they ne'er pardon who have done the wrong.
We talk about the great discoveries
of the age, the electric power, the
steam power the telescope and micro
scopic power. but do not say anything
about the discoveries we all make year
by year and day by day. There are
surprises all the time. 1t is new road
we are travelling. I'VE have not passed
this way before"
Our Only Opportunity.
But closely allied is the other fact
which we limited at in the opening
that we will not pass this way again.
This is our only opportunity for doing
certain things that ought to be done.
to solace, hunger we ought to feed. cold
that we ought to warm, kind words
that we ought to speak, generous deeds
yse ought to perform. All that you and
| do toward making this world better
and happier we must do very soon or
never do at all. Joshua and his troops
never came back over the way they
were marching toward the crossing of
the Jordan. The impress of the sandal
or the bare feet of each soldier showed
in what direction he was going, but
never did the impress of the sandal of
any one of them show that he had re-
turned. We are all facing eternity to
come. There is no retreat. Alertness
and fidelity would not be so important
if we could truthfully say: 81 will be
back here again. The things l neglect
now l will do the next time l come.
will be reincarnated, and 1 will resume
my earthly obligations. Having then
more knowledge than | have now, l
will discharge my earthly duties better
than | can now discharge them. l do
not give solemn farewell to these obli-
cations and opportunities, but q smil-
ing and CHEEKY goodby until l see them
again" No. we cannot say that There
will be no new and corrected edition of
the volume of our earthly life. After
we make exit from the stage at the
close of the fifth act we cannot re-en-
ter. How many millions of people have
lived and died l know not, but of all
the human race who ave gone only
seven persona that I now think of have
returned, the son of the widow at
Zarephath, the young man of Main, the
rulers daughter, Tabitha. Eutychus,
Lazarus and Christ. Among all the
ages to come l do not suppose there
will be one more who will return to
this life, having once left it.
Put Your Trust In God.
At this point l ask you to notice the
fact that my text does not call atten-
ton to the crossing of the Jordan, but
to the way leading thereto. We all
think much Of our crossing of the Jor-
dan when the march of our life is end
ed but put too little emphasis on the
way that leads to the crossing. What
you and l need most to care about is
the direction of the road we are trav-
cling. We need have no fear of the
crossing if we come to it in the right
way. In other words, we need not
care about death if our life has been
what it ought to be. We will die right
if we live right
What an absurdity it would have
been for Joshua and his men to have
asked each other questions like these:
How can we cross the Jordan if we
get there? Will not the water be too
deem to allow rs TO w9de2 VIII we not
all be so saturated that we may lose
our lives by exposure? How many of
US can swim? Had we better not wait
until the annual freshet has subsded?' |
No such folly did they commit. They |
were chiefly anxious about the way |
that they had mot passed before and |
were ignorant of and to keep their eyes /
On the golden covered acacia box, wing |
mounted, which was the ark of the |
covenant.
o hearer, stop bothering about your
exit from sublunary scenes! By the /
grace of God get your heart right and |
then go ahead. If the Lord takes care |
of you clear on to the bank on this |
side of the river, | think you can trust |
him to take you from bank to bank,
from the willows on this side the
stream to the palms on the other side,
from the last kiss of sorrowing ones |
on this side to the welcome, sanity |
cherubic, seraphic, deific on the other
side. Keep your eye on the ark, and, |
whatever betides, you will go through |
all right.
One Easter morning Massena, the |
marshal of France, appeared with 49, |