Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-06-20


OF his own planting.
mexornbie Laws Of the Fields.
The seeds of the flesh by the inexora-
BILE laws of the fields are expected TO
produce more OF harvest than the
original seeds which have been sown.
1t would be folly for the farmer to SOW
500 kernels of corn IL he could only re
ceive In return half dozen ears of
corn; to plant twenty or thirty peas If
he could gather in return but few
pods. or to labor at all If for every
planted seed there would come UP only
one kernel in return. But when the
farmer has small bag OF wheat seed
he says to himself: "Now, If properly
pillow and harrow the ground and plant
those seeds right will be able to gath
er whole field of golden grain. One
of my seeds will be able to reproduce
itself many. many times" Benjamin
Franklin once said that the reproduc-
tive power. the prolificness of yegeta-
bic life. is simply inconceivable and
without limit. We all remember Daniel
De Foes story of tho shipwrecked sail
or. He found half a dozen small wheat
seeds. From those few seeds he was
able to develop all the wheat he want
ed, both for himself and his negro scrv-
ant.
1t would be happy solution TO the
sinner If when he sowed one evil seed
he should get back only one evil re-
suit. But that is not the way the har-
vests of the flesh grow. One evil seed
will become the parent of many evil
seeds, the grandparent of host of evil
seeds and the great-grandparent of a
| lifetime OF evil harvestS. A Sower unto
the flesh always reaps more corruption
than he expected to gather.
A notorious pirate was hanged in
New York city about a century ago.
Just before his execution he testified
that the first time he murdered 4 man
his horror ana remorse were so great
that he could not sleep for weeks. But
after this monster had continued to
wet bis lips with human blood he de-
clared that he could drive his sword
into the heart OF woman or a little
child with no more conjunction than
he would bury his teeth I'm q piece of
bread. He would sleep as peacefully
after numbering n ships crew as when
babe he closed his eyes in his moth
cr'S arms. The first lie is the difficult
lie to tell, not the tenth, not the TWEEN
tieth. not the fiftieth. 1t is the first
glass of whisky which is the hardest
10 drink. not the one which the drunk
| ard takes Just before he enters the rep
tile inhabited dungeons OF delirium ire
mems. 1t is the first seed Of sin which
is hard to sow. not the fiftieth nor the
one hundredth. And each one of the
tares sown i'm able TO reproduce itself
in evil habits millionfold. A sower
always expects TO reap more than be
plants.
And II the evil results OF tare plant
Ing are so awful In reference 10 our
own lives how much more awful must
be the results when we plant those
tares i'm the lives OF others. A woman
who had talked unjustly against her
neighhors once went to a priest for
confession. After she told the priest
the evil she had done her neighbors she
asked him what she should do 10 undo
the wrong. The priest gave her a hand
full Of uettlc seeds and babe her go and
scatter those nettle seeds over n field
and then come back to him. After the
woman had done as she was told she
came back TO the priest. "Now," said
the priest, "Go and gather those nettic
seeds up again." "Oh." said the wo-
man, 81 cannot" Neither" answered
the priest. ''can you ever undo the
wrongs which you have done against
your neighbors." Awful must be the
remorse when n converted man realizes
that by his sinful sowing he has de-
veloped n harvest OF corruption in the
hearts OF his neighbors. IL he has
planted there the evil seeds, some OF
them will come up. The natural and
spiritual laws are the same.
Harvest Comes Sooner or Later.
The seeds of the flesh DO not necessa-
rily produce the harvests OF the flesh
instanter. A long time may intervene
between the time of planting and OF
reaping. Twice during the year the
farmer goes forth 10 SOW. There is the
spring planting. Then the rye. the bar
ley, the oat seed is scattered. Then the
corn seed is placed in the ground. Then
the timothy seed is thrown over the
field, SO that the farm stock can have
hay during the winter months. Hardly
are these seeds placed In the ground
than the spring showers make the little
tender sprouts come up Then the
fields everywhere are carpeted with
green.
But there is a fall planting as we'll
as spring planting. Just before the
summer birds migrate TO the south in
order TO escape the billiards. and the
bowling of the winter storms the farm
err goes forth and scatters his wheat
seed. These seeds lie dormant under
the SHOWS during the long December.
January, February and March months.
II any gravedigger on his way to ex-
hume Yorick's skull should stop and
drive his pick into that wheatfield and
examine those seeds. he might think
they were as dead as the kings Jester.
But when spring comes those wheat
seeds which have lain dormant so long
are reused by the blast OF the springs
resurrection. And wonderful fact
about natures laws is that the deeper
the SHOWS. the longer the winter and
the longer those wheat seeds lie dor
mant the stronger and more viriie Is
the grain when 1t begins TO grow.
SO some OF the tares or the sins OF the
flesh which we have sown in the past
may seem to take very long time in
developing. We may think because
we have sinned and never yet been
punished and have kept on SHINING five
hundred. thousand. ten thousand
times that we never will be punished,
that we never Shall have to gather our
harvests Of corruption. But we Will
As the Lord God Omnipotent livetb
we will! Christ In the parable OF the
tares explicitly states this fact. AS
the householder he babe his servants
let the tares continue to grow by the
side of the wheat, but when the reap
ers come they will first gather the
tares into bundles and destroy them.
Sinner. do not deceive yourself. God is
not Knocked. Do not think because the
day OF retribution has been postponed
that the seeds OF the flesh are dead
when they are merely dormant. AS the
long delayed wheat harvest is the
strongest harvest, so the longer the
I'll.