The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1902-03-14
and the beat thing that will ever nap
- ~ them will be their grave.

and the beat tnlng tnoc wa
pen to them will be their grave.
what people want is warmth. Many
Years ago a man was floating down on
tbe ice of the Merrimac, and great en-
forts were made to rescue him. Iwico
he got hold of plank thrown to MN
and twice he slipped away from ~ PC
cause that end of the plank was Gov
cred with ice, and he cried out: "For
Gods sake, give me the wooden emo
IF the plank this time!" and, TINS
done he was hauled to shore. The
trouble is that in our efforts to save
the soul there is too much GOODNESS
and icy formality, and so the lmPer-
lied one slips off and floats down. Glve
It the other end of the plank; warmth
of sympathy, warmth OF kindly asso-
citation. warmth of genial surround
ings. The world declines to give II
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 beat
ing 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
feathers and the chilled feet of the in
FAINT group of the barnyard, so Cnrist
saws to those sick and frosted and DIS
gusted and frozen of the world:
"Come in out of the March winds OF
the worlds criticism, come IN out OF
the sleet of the worlds assault, come
in out of world that does not UNDER
stand you and does not want to Under
stand YOU. I will comfort and Will
soothe, and / will be your warmth as
hen gathereth her chickens unoer
her wing" Oh, the warm heart OF
God is ready for all those to whom the
world has given the cold shoulder.
NV text has it's strongest applica-
ton for people who were born IN
the country, wherever you may now
live, and that is the majority OF you.
You cannot hear my text WITHOUT
having all the rustic scenes OF tho
old farmhouse come back to you.
Good old days they were. You kne"
nothing much of the world, for you
had not seen the world. BY law OF
association you cannot recall the
brooding hen and her chickens with
out seeing also the barn and the
haymow and the wagon shed and the
house and the room where you
played and the freside with the big
backlog before which you sat and
the neigfbors and the burial and the
wedding and the deep snowbanks
and hear the village bell that called
YOU to worship and seeing the horses
which, after pulling you to church,
stood around the old clapboarded
meeting house and those who sat at
either end of the church pew and,
indeed, all the scenes of your first
IA wears, and you think of what you
were then and of what you are now,
and all these thoughts are aroused
by the sight of the old hencoep.
Some of you had better go back ana
start again. In thought return to
that place and hear the cIuck and
see the outspread feathers and come
under the wing and make the Lord
vour norton and shelter and warmth,
preparing for everything that may
come and so avoid being classed
among those described by the clos
ing words of my text, "as hen gath
ereth her chickens under her wings,
and We would not" All, that throws
the responsibility upon us. I'VE
! would not Alas for the would
nots!" If the wandering broods OF
the farm heed not their mothers cafl
and risk the hawk and dare the
freshet and expose themselves to
the frost and storm, surely their
calamities are not the mothers
fault. Eye would mott" God would
but how many would not?
When a good man asked young
woman who had abandoned her home
and who was deploring her wretch
edness why she did not return, the
renlv was: ST dare not go home
NV father is so provoked he would
not receive me home" "Then," sale
the Christian man, 81 will test this
And so he wrote to the father, ant
the reply came back, and in lettel
marked outside Immediate" and in
| side saying: Let her come at once
all is forgiven" So Gods invitation
, for you is marked Immediate" oil
, the outside, and inside is written
, ssHe will abundantly pardon" Oh
, We wanderers from God and happi
: ness and home and Heaven, come un
) der the sheltering wing. A vessel il
the Bristol channel was nearing tn
) rocks called the Steep Holmes. Un
der the tempest the vessel was ur
l manageable, and the only hope wa
80. n +;da would change before sb