St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-05-03

| 'hey dle tHfaSnlng instruments thu
Zoo just suits to your case There
not dollar of bad debts on your ledge
or disappointment about goods tn;
you expected to go up, but that ha,
gone down, or a swindle of your bus
ness partner Or a trick on the part {
| those who are in the same kind of me
chandise that you are, but God intent
ed to overrule for your immortal hell
"Oh," you say, "there is no need of tall
ing that way to me. l don't like to b
cheated and outraged" Neither doe
the corn like the corn thrasher, bu
after it has been thrashed and wiz
moved it has great deal better opi1
ion OF winnowing mills and corn THRASH
ers.
WELL" you say, "if I could choos
my troubles, would be willing to b
troubled" All, my brother, then j
would not be trouble. You woul
choose something that would not hurt
and unless it hurt it does not get sane
titled. Your trial perhaps may be child
lessness. You are fond of children
You say: "Why does God send children
to that other household where they ar
unwelcome and are beaten ant
banged about when 1 would have take1
them in the arms of my affection?'
You say: "Any other trial but this
Your trial perhaps may be dis6guree
countenance or a face that is easily
carlcatured, and you say: II could en-
dure anything if only was good look
ing" And your trial perhaps is VIC
lent temper, and you have to drive il
like six unbroken horses amid the gun
powder explosions of great holiday
and ever and anon it runs away with
you. Your trial is the asthma. You
say: IF it were rheumatism, or neu-
ralgia, or erysipelas, but it is this asth-
ma, and it is such an exhausting thing
to breathe" Your trouble is hus-
band, sharp, snappy and cross about
the house and raising small riot be-
cause button is off. How could you
know the button is off? Your trial is a
wife ever in contest with the servants,
~AAN
very careful about her appearance in
your presence one, now she is careless,
because. she says, her fortune is made!
Your trial is a hard school lesson you
cannot learn, and you have bitten your
finger nails until they are sight to be-
hold
Again, my subject teaches that God
keeps trials on us until we let go. The
former shouts "Whoa!" to his horses
as soon as the grain is dropped from
The stalk. The farmer comes with his
.ork and losses up the straw, and he
sees the straw has let go the grain
md the grain is thoroughly thrashed.
80 God. Shifting rod and turning wheel
both cease as soon as we let go. We
lold on to this world, with its pleasures
md riches and emoluments, and our
are SO firmly set that it seems
IS if we could hold on forever. God
ONES along with some thrashing
rouble and beats US loose. We start
d under the delusion that this was a
'reat world. We learned out of our ge-
graphy that it was so many thousand
niles in diameter and so many miles in
and we said: "Oh, my,
that world!" Trouble came in after
fe, and this trouble sliced off one part |
the world, and it has got to be
mailer world and in some estimations
very insignificant world, and it is de-
reciating all the time as a spiritual
.operty. Ten per cent. off, so per cent.
fl. and there are those who would not
i've ten cents for this world-the en-
re world-as soul possession.
We thought that friendship was .
rand thing. In school we used to
rite compositions about friendship,
nd perhaps we made our graduating
'eech on commencement day on
iendship. Oh, it was charming
ling! But does it mean as much to
On as it used to? You have gone on
life, and one friend has betrayed
III, and another friend has misinter-
eted you, and another friend has
elected you, and friendship comes
wv sometimes to mean to you mere
another ak to grind! So with
oney. We thought if man had a
he was safe for all the
ture, but we have learned that
ortgage may be defeated by an I'M
lown previous membranes; that
5ning your name on the back of a
tie may be your business death war
Mt; that new tariff may change
e current of trade; that man may
rich to-day and poor tomorrow.
Id God, by all these misfortunes, is :
wing to loosen our our grip, but we
IL hold on. God smites with staff,
t we hold on. And he strikes us !.
tn rod, but we hold on. And he
Ids over us the iron wheel of mis-
rtune, but we hold on. There are
N who keep their grip on this world
til the last moment, who suggest to !.
the condition and conduct of the
or Indian in the boat in the Niagara :
pids, coming on toward the fall. :
sing that he could not escape, a mo- :
mt or two before he got to the verge L
the plunge he lifted wine bottle II
drank it off and then tossed the Q
tile into the air. So there are men g
@ clutch the world, and they 60
vn through the rapids of tempta- P
n and sin, and they hold on to the I
y last moment to life, drinking to q
'ir eternal doom as they go over o
/ go down. Oh, let go! Let 90, 81
= best fortunes are in Heaven. a
ere are no absconding cashiers from c.
t bank, no failing in promises to p
:. Set your affections on things "
we, not on things on the earth. Let 81
Depend upon it that God will keep II
IN you the staff or the rod or the OF
n wheel until you do let go. n
mother thing my text teaches us is ~
t Christian sorrow is going to have a.