Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-04-10


before his illness, vivid glimpse Of
the spiendors and glories Of heavenly
life is presented; text Revelation viii,
/ There was silence In heaven about
the space Of half an hour"
The busiest place in the universe is
heaven. 1t is the center from which
all good influences start; it is the goal
at which all good results arrive. The
Bible represents 1t as active will
wheels and wings and orchestras AL
professions mounted or charioted. Blu,
my text describes q space when the
wheels ceased to roll and the trumpets
to sound and the voices to chant. The
riders on the white horses refined In
their charges. The doxologies were
hushed and professions halted. The
hand of arrest was upon all the splen-
doris. stop, heaven!" cried an omnipo-
tent voice, and it stopped. For thirty
minutes everything celestial stood still.
'There was silence in heaven about the
space Of half an hour"
From all we can learn It is the only
time heaven ever stopped. 1t does not
stop as other cities for the night, for
there is no night there. 1t does not
stop for q plague, for the inhabitant
never says, II am sick" 1t does not
Stop for bankruptcies, for its inhab.
atants never foil 1t does not stop for
impossible streets, for there are nc
fallen SHOWS or sweeping frcshets.
What, then, stopped it for thirty min,
ntes? Grctfus and Professor Stuart
ihink II was at the time of the destruc.
zion Of Jerusalem. Mr.. Lord thinks II
was in the year 81. between the close
of the Diocletian persecution and the
beginning of the wars by which Con.
stantine gained the throne. But that
was all guess, though learned and
brilliant guess. 1 do not know when II
was, and l do not care when it was
but of the fact that such an interreg-
nun of sound took place am certain
space Of half an hour"
And, first of all, we learn that God
and all heaven then honored silence.
The longest and widest dominion that
ever existed Is that over which still
ness was queen. For an eternity there
had not been Il sound. World making
was later day occupation. Tor I'M
imaginable ages It was a mute uni.
verse. God was the only being, and
as there was no one to speak to there
was no utterance. But that silence
has all been broken up into worlds.
and it has become n noisy universe.
Worlds in upheaval, worlds in congela.
tion, worlds in conflagration, worlds In
revolution.
The Power of Silence.
If biologists are rlght-and l believe
lhey are-there has not been a moment
Of silence since this world began its
travels, and the crashing and the split
hing and the uproar and the hubbuE
ire ever in progress. But when among
he supernals voice cried, "HushH
md for half an hour heaven was still
silence was honored. The full power
Of silence many OF US have yet tc
learn. We are told that when Christ
was arraigned "he answered not Q
word" That silence was louder thar
any thunder that ever shook the world
Oftentirnes when we are assailed anG
misrepresented the mightiest thing t.
say Is to say nothing and the mighties1
thing to do is to do nothing. Those
people who are always rushing into
print to get themselves set right &C
complish nothing but their own cha
grin. Silence. Do right and leave the
results with Cod Among the grand
est lessons the world has ever learned
nre the lessons Of patience taught b.
those who endured uncomplainingl,
personal or domestic or political inJus
tice. Stronger than any bitter or sar
castle or revengeful answer is the pa
tent silence.
The famous DR.. Morrison of Chelse
achieved as much by his silent patenc
as by his pen and tongue. He had astE
ma that for twenty-five years brough
him out Of his couch at o'clock eac
morning. His four sons and daughter
dead, the remaining child by sunstrok
made insane, the afflicted man ono
bdlu, AZ tlIiS iiiOhiShl tb'iS 10 NV :"
inch of my body that is not filed wit
agony" Yet he was cheerful, triun
plant, silent. Those who were in hi
presence said they felt as though the
were in the gates Of heaven. Oh, tn
power of patient silence! Nschylu
the immortal poet, was condemned
death for writing something that o.
Tended the people. All the pleas in hi
behalf were of no avail until his brotl
er uncovered the arm Of the prisone
and showed that his hand had bee
shot off at Salamis. That silent pie
liberated him. The loudest thing o
earth is silence If It be of the rigf
kind and at the right time. There Wa
quaint old hymn spelled in the ol
style and once sung in the churches:
The race is not forever got
By him who fastest runs
Nor the Battel by those peopell
That shoot with the longest guns
NY friends the tossing sea Of Galilt
seemed most to offend Christ by Il
amount of noise 1t made, for he sa
to it, "Be still" Heaven has bee
browning kings and queens unto &c
for many centuries, yet heaven new
stopped q moment for any such occu
renee. but it stopped thirty minute
for the coronation Of silence. "The
was silence III heaven about the spa
re I,nlf