Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1902-05-02

l met young woman this winter in the
South who told me that she was the pos.
SCISSOR of a $4,000 violin, and with shin.
ing face she said, "You should hear the
music of that instrument" and yet in the
hands of very many people it would have
been just a producer of unharmonious
sounds, while il the hands of this gifted
young woman it was truly marvellous, and
all because the music was in her. and the
violin was the best movement Of the ex
preston of that music.
When Ole Bull, the great violinist, played
in Princeton, one of the professors asked
him if the secret of his success was in the
violin or in the bow or in himself, and he
said, "The violin and the bow amount to
but little. I never play until l feel that
there Is music in me that must be eX'
pressed, and then any instrument [ touch
becomes remarkable" Many of us are I'm.
fitted for life because we have become too
artificial have had wrong ideals and have
tried to be what we never can be.
A friend recently sent me that wonder.
full little book, "The Simple Life" by
Charles Wagner, which every one would
book l am indebted for some of the ex.
pressions used above, but in one of the
chapters he tells us in speaking of the
home life, In the time of the Second EN-.
pire, in one of our peasantest sub-prefec.
lures of the provinces, little way from
some baths frequented by the Emperor,
there was mayor, a very worthy man,
and intelligent, too, whose head was sud.
denly turned by the thought that his SOW
ereign might one day descend upon his
home. Up to this time he had lived in
of the slightest family traditions But
when once the allabsorbing idea of receiv-
ing the Emperor had taken possession OF
his brain he became another man. In this
new light what had before seemed suffi-
cient for his needs, even enjoyable, all this
simplicity that his ancestors had loved, APP
peared poor, ugly, ridiculous. Out of the
question to ask an Emperor to climb this
wooden staircase, sit in these old arm
chairs, walk over such superanuated car
pets. So the mayor called architect and
masons, pickaxes attacked walls and de.
molished partitions, and drawing-room
the rest of the house in size and splan.
dor. He and his family retired into close
quarters, where people and furniture in
commoded each other generally. Then,
having emptied his purse and upset his
household by this stroke of genius, he
awaited the royal guest. Alas, he soon
saw the end of the empire arrive. but the
Emperor never. The folly Of this poor
man is not so rare. AS scottish as he are
all those who sacrifice their home life to
the demands of the world"
II.
What was the difficulty with Elijah?
First his physical strength had been over
taxed. He had been iaboring under the
highest tension, his nerves were unstrung,
and he was just in the position where
Satan could tempt him the worst. There
are many like him to-day. They are in
despair, and they need not so much a spir
itual physician as the presence of doctor
who can tell them that their bodies must
have rest, their nerves must be built up,
and they themselves must remember that
their bodies are the temples of the Holy
Ghost, and that they may sin against God
just as truly when they break commands
touching the body as when they commit
sins touching the soul Elijah needed rest,
and instead of taking it he prayed that he
might die.
Second, ne looked away from God to his
circumstances. Up to that time he en-
dured as seeing Him who was invisible.
then like Peter when he saw the wind that
was boisterous he began to sink. do not
think that any minister could preach to-
day if he realized the iniquity that sur
tOuuuCQ It'll, tuc HypOCIlSy Iduy
hearts, the awful sins in many lives; he
would grow faint and sick at heart, and
all because he looked down, while it is
possible, on the other hand. for anybody
to preach in the midst of all this desola
ton if he keeps his eyes turned up, and
the difficulty with you is not that your
power is dead, but that your eyes are fast
ened upon the ground instead of turned
upward to heaven, and the cause of your
distress is not that your mother has gone
away from your home, but that you are
standing like Mary looking in at the tomb
when you ought to be standing with up
turned face looking by faith into the very
midst of the angel company in heaven
What if the difficulties are great, let vi
look to God in it all.
The other day in my mail came little
piece of poetry from a friend in England
which has been singing its way like bird
Of paradise through my soul all the week.
when the way seems dark and dreary,
Think of Him.
Lest thy heart grow faint and weary,
Think of Him.
For He knoweth all the way,
Aud His strength will be thy stay;
He can cheer the darkest day,
Think of Him.
When some sorrow sorely presses,
Think of Him.
For through trials oft He besses,
Think of Him.
He alone can understand,
Leave it all in His dear hand;
In His love for thee He planned,
Think Of Him.
when some anxious care perplexes,
Think Of Him
Lest thy Utmost soul it vexes,
Think Of Him.
Bring thy care and thou shalt see,
He will bear it all for thee;
He would have thee peaceful be,
Think of Him"
But there was still another difficulty
with Elijah First, he was alone. In
verse 3 we read that he left his servant
at Beersheba, and he himself went into
the wilderness. 1t is great mistake to
be alone when trouble comes. Bear We
one another's burdens, and so fulfill the
law of Cod" gives us picture of human
fellowship, while the verse, Take my
yoke upon you and learn of Me-" gives us
an idea of that fellowship which we may
have with Him. 49,
John McNeill, the great Scotch preacher,
has fine illustration of this point in his
sermon based upon Samuel, the 9th
chapter and the first verse, "And David
said in his heart, I shall now perish one
day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing
better for me than that 1 should speedily
escape into the land of the Philistines,
and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me
any more in am coast of Israel; so shall l
escape out of his hand" David said in!
his heart" and John Mcneil says 1t
would have been we'll if instead Of saying
it in his heart he would have said It out
loud. It is the thing we say in our heart
that grows to such great proportion and and
leads us to believe that we are on the
verge of despair. Without question the
passage is true, and Mr. Mcneil suggests
three cures. .