Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1902-03-07

anu lie ABOUT some people. 1llS IS the |
best world ever got into, but it is the
meanest world that some people ever
got into. The worst thing that ever
happened to them was their cradle, and |
the best thing that will ever happen to
them will be their grave.
/ What people want is warmth. Many |
years ago a man was floating down on |
the ice Of the Merrimac, and great eff |
forts were made to rescue him. Twice |
he got hold of plank thrown to him |
and twice he slipped away from it, be- |
cause that end of the plank was cover
ed with ice, and he cried out, For |
Gods sake, give me the wooden end Of |
the plank this timer and, this done, he |
was hauled to shore. The trouble is |
that in our efforts to save the soul
there are too much GOODNESS and icy
formality, and so the imperiled one
slips off and floats down. Give it the !
other end of the plank; warmth of
/ sympathy, warmth of kindly associa- !
/ ton, warmth of genial surroundings I
The world declines to give it and in
many cases has no power to give it, |
and here is where Christ comes in, /
and as on a cold day, the rain beating
and the atmosphere full of sleet, the
hen clucks her chickens under her
wings, -and the warmth of her own
breast puts warmth into the wet feath- !
oEs be chilled feet of the infant
group of the barnyard, so Christ says
to those sick and frosted and disguised
and frozen of the world: "COme in out
Of the March winds of the worlds crit
icism, come in out Of the sleet of the
] worlds assault, come in out Of.R world
/ that does not understand you I'D does
not want to understand you. = will
comfort, and l will soothe, and will
be your warmth, as a hen gathereth
/ her chickens under her wing" Oh,
the warm heart of God is ready for all
/ those to whom the world has given the
/ cold shoulder
Christ Takes the Storm.
! But notice that some one must take
the storm for the chickens All. the
hen takes the storm. have watched
her under the pelting rain. have seen
her in the pinching frosts. Almost
frozen to death or almost strangled in
the waters. and what fight she makes
for the young under wing if dog or
hawk or man come too near! And
so the brooding Christ takes the storm
for US. What food of anguish and
tears that did not dash upon his holy
soul? What beak of torture did not
pierce his vitals? What barking Ger
berus of hell was not let out upon him
from the kennels? Yes, the hen takes
the storm for the chickens, and Christ
takes the storm for us. Once the tenn
pest rose so suddenly the hen could not
get with her young back from the new
ground to the barn. and there she is
under the fence half dead And now
the rain turns to snow, and it is an
awful night, and in the morning the
wilderness about the gills and the beak
down in the mud show that the mother
is dead, and the young ones come out
and cannot understand why the mother
does not scratch for them something to
eat, and they walk over her wings and
call with their tiny voices, but there is
no answering cluck. She took the
storm for others and persisted. Poor
thing! Self sacrificing even unto death!
And does it not make you think of
him who endured all for us? So the
wings under which we come for spir-
ltual safety are blood spattered wings,
are night Swallowed wings, are tempest
torn wings In the Isle of Wight l
saw the grave of Princess Elizabeth,
who died while Il prisoner at Carts
brook castle, her finger on an open BIZ
BILE and pointing to the words, Come
unto me all We that labor and are
heavy laden, and viii give you rest"
Oh come under the wingsl
But now the summer day is almost
past, and the shadows of the house and
barn and wagon shed have heightened.
The farmer, with scythe or hoe on
shoulder is returning from the fields.
The oxen are unyoked. The horses are
crunching the oats at the full bin The
air is bewitched of honeysuckle and
wild brier. The milllman, pail in hand,
is approaching the barnyard. The
fowls, keeping early hours, are collect
ing their young. "CluckW "Cluck!
"Cluck" And soon all the eyes of that
feathered nursery are closed The
bachelors of the winged tribe have as
cended to their perch, but the hens. in
motherhood divinely appointed, take
all the risk of a slumber on the ground,
and all night long tine wings will stay
: outspread, and the little ones will not
, utter sound. Thus at shutdown, loving
J ly, safely, completely, the hen broods her
J young. So, if we are the Lords, theeven-
ing of our life will come The heats of
the day will have passed. There will be
shadows, and we cannot see as far.
The work of life Will be about ended.
The hawks of temptation that lowered
, in the Sky will have gone to the woods
and folded their wings. Sweet silences
> will come. The air will be redolent
with the breath of whole arbors of
promises sweeter than jasmine or even
= ing primrose. The air may be little
chill, but Christ will call us, and we
will know the voice and heed the call,
\ ana we will come under the wings for
, the night, the strong wings, the soft
. wings, the warm wings, and without
n Tear and in full sense of safety, and
: then We will rest from shutdown to sun
rise, "as hen gathereth her chickens
> under her wing"
Dear me! How many souls the Lord
= hath thus broOded! Mothers, after
watching over sick cradles and then
watching afterward over wayward
sons and daughters, at last themselves
! taken care of by a motherly God
. Business men, after a lifetime strug
Cling with the uncertainties of money
! markets and the change of tariffs and
( the underselling of men who because
;, of their dishonesties can afford to un
= dersel' and years of disappointment
and struggle, at last under wings
: where nothing can perturb them any
more than can a bird of prey which il
y ten miles off disturb a chick at mid
= night brooded in barnyard.
: Under the Divine Wings.
My text has its strongest application
10 for people who were born in the coun
n try, wherever you may now live, anC
ST that is the majority of you. You can
n not hear my text without having al
10 the rustic scenes of the old farmhous
If come back to you. Good old days the,
If were. You knew nothing much of tn
l world, for you had not seen the world
Mt By law of association you cannot re
r. call the brOOding hen and her chicken
Id without seeing also the barn and tn
TO haymOw and the wagon shed and tn
We house and the room where you playe,
Of and the fireside with the big backlo
1r before which you sat and the neigh
er bOrs and the burial and the weddin
in and the deem SnOWbanlz and haar II,