Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1902-12-25
81 love in solitude to shed
The nenitential tear:
ADI all He ,,ron,iepc IN nlnnI


When none but God can hear
There is something about the word
SHADOW that always interests, for there
never has been shadow without the
light; thus the secret place must be
place of brightness. 1t is place where
God is, for the nearest of all things TO me
as | Journey in the sunlight Is my shadow,
and he who walks in my shadow or rests
in it must be very near to me; so that
when | am in the shadow of God | can
reach forth my hand and touch Him; ]
can lift up mine eyes and see Him face
to face. ! know there is a sense IN which
God Is always near Ms lie Is IN all things,
and He is everywhere. But there is some.
thing about the secret of His presence"
to which every one Is a stranger until
he has dwclt there.
In the 18th Psalm the psalmist seems
in the first part to be writing OF the
presence of God in general sort OF way.
As another mas said. Gle had been beat
ing out the golden ore of thought through
successive paragraphs OF marvellous power
and beauty, when suddenly in the fifty
first verse he seems to have become con
scious that He OF whom he had been
speaking had drawn near and was bending
over him. 1 he sense of the presence OF
God was borne III upon his inner con.
sciousncSs, and lifting up a face on which
reverence and ecstacy met and mingled,
he cried: Thou art near, o Lord! II
we could only attain unto this how strong,
how happy, how useful we should be. 1t is
possible as we'll for those of us who are
in the very midst of perpleXing cares as
for the priest or the saint; for since the
Master bids lis all to abide i'll Him, and
does not limit either His meaning or the
number OF people who may obey, | am
absolutely certain that it rests with me
and with you to determine whether we
shall take advantage Of our high prvil'
eye.
The typical reference must be to the
holy place of the tabernacle, which the
prcsts were privileged to enter; but Peter
assures Us that we have become in this
new dispensation "a holy priesthood.
Sc that it is possible for us to enter on
that ground Ii this Interpretation Is al
lowed, then it Is something, too Won
der4uI almost to describe, to which we
are hidden, for in the tabernacle Just be
yond the veil was the glory cloud, and
all the magnicence that could be wrought
in gold and silver. purple and fine linen.
But | am persuaded that even that was
As nothing when compared to that which
awaits us when we enter the secret place
of God. The writer to the Hebrews tells
us Just how we may enter. Having,
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into
the hottest by the blood of Jesus, by
new and living way, which He hath conse,
Grated for us, through the veil, that is
to say, His flesh" how easy it all seems
when we look at it in this way! A
Christian is all wrong according to the
text if he thinks that all the life here be
low must be turmoil and strife, for there
10 an abiding even here, and a sweet,
undisturbed communion even in the midst
of the tempest A dwelling place is
home, not a temporary shelter to which
one may run for momentary relief, as the
birds fly to the boughs of the trees
in the midst of the storm and then leave
again when the storm has passed. 1t is
the idea of home What can be more
restful and comfortable! The Hebrew for
the expression shall abide" is "shall
pass the night" Is it not a won.
derful thing that the experiences that
have seemed to us to be Heaven be.
the shadows sweeping the hillside, may be
with us all the time? What place is so
restful as your home? i know there is
rest that comes to one the moment he
accepts The pardon that is offered by the
Redeemer and the burden of sin is gone.
Come unto Me, and l will give you rest"
This is His promise, and He never has
failed; but Immediately following that ex.
preston is this Take My yoke upon
you, and learn of Me, for | am meek and
lowly in heart, and We shall find rest unto
your souls"
] suppose one might secure the former
and never come to the latter. Is not that
the rest that comes to us when VIC are
near enough to learn of Him, which is
only another way of speaking of the "se
cret place."
What place is so comfortable as the
home? There we are free from the an.
noyances of the world there we have
that which seems to soothe and to quiet
Could there be anything more expressive
than the words we find in the fourth
verse of the 9lst Psalm: 'He shall cover
thee with His feathers" 1t would DO al