Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-01-24

freshes us three times n day. the oil
low on which we slumber. We borrow
gladness from our friends; we borrow
all elevated surroundings. The church
borrows all its beauty from the Chris
who founded it. In our songs and ser
mons we borrow from the raptures OF
heaven.
We borrow time; we viii borrow
eternity, and that constant borrowing
implies return. For what we borrow
from God we must pay back In hearty
thanks and Christian service. In I'm
provement OF ourselves and helpful
ness for others. For what we borrow
I'm the shape OF protection from good
government we must pay back I'm pa.
triotic devotion. For what we borrow
from our parents in their good exam,
pie aud their hard work wrought fol
US in our journey from cradle to man
hood or womanhood for all the ages tc
come we ought to be paying back
The halleluiahs OF heaven will be re
turned for crucifixion agony.
Debt n Calamity.
Hayden the painter said his ruin be.
gan the day he began to borrow mon
ey. and he wrote IN his diary, Here
began debt and obligation. out Of which
| have never been and never shall be
extricated as long as I've" DR..
Johnson said: "Do not accustom your
self to consider debt only as an in
convenience. You will find it q calam-
ity." We have right to borrow for
tho ohcnrrfo r,aoocvft;aS oxracti.r e.,
pay back again, but we ought never to
borrow for the luxuries- According to
the Laws of Amasis." in Egypt IL a
man died without paying that which
he had borrowed he was deprived of all
obsequies. If that law were in vogue
in our times, how many postponed and
impossible funeralsl
Furthermore. let us admire these
young men OF Elisha's theological SEM
mary for the fact that they were earn
ing their own way. The most Of those
today who are successful In the pro-
fessions, indicating the sick or advo-
eating the law or preaching the gospel,
fought their own way on and up.
Those are the kind of men who know
what education is worth and know
how TO use 1t. Many of US remember
that in college days the sons of affiuent
fathers, with plenty of money to spend
and horses to drive and Libraries
crowded with books never read and
wardrobes that kept them in perpiexity
as to which of many garments was
for the weather that day.
were worth to the world nothing then
and have been worth TO the world moth
ing since. while the young men In col
lege who had to economic three
months In order to get some book they
needed and who could hardly raise
money for their diploma have since
wrought nightly for God and the
truth. turning the world upside down
because II was wrong side up.
In the summer watering places north,
south. east and west, I'm the great ho-
tells, serving at table and In baggage
room. are theological students who are
in preparation for the ministry. earn
ing in July and August the means by
which they may study the other months
of the year. l hail them; cheer them;
| bless them. They Will be the Her
schels I'm the observatories, the DIR.
Motifs I'm your medical colleges, the
Rufus Choates I'm your courtrooms, the
Bishop McIlyaines I'm your pulpits. Let
them not now be ashamed of the ak
with which they hew the beam for
Elisha's seminary.
Superiority of God.
Those students in the valley OF
palms by the Jordan had q physical
strength and hardihood that would
help them in their mental and spirit.
ual achievements. We who are toiling
for the worlds betterment need Drawn
rs we'll as brain. strong bodies as well
as illumined minds and consecrated
souls. Many OF those who are now do
ing the best work In church and state
got muscle and power OF endurance
from the fact that In early life they
were compelled TO use ak or pillow
or fall or hammer. while many who
were brought up In the luxuries OF life
give out before the battle is won. They
nre keen and sharp of mind, but have
no physical endurance. They have the
ak head, but no handle. The body is
the handle OF the soul.
Let all those who toll for their edu-
cation remember they are especially
favored, and " things go against them
and the AK head should fly the helve
that very Underwent may some time
turn out advantageously, as the acct
dent by the river Jordan, which SEEM
ed to finish the young students capac-
ity to help build the new seminary,
resulted In splendid demonstration
OF the power OF Elisha's God to help
any one who helps himself. No ax that
was ever welded has wrought so well
as that OK. the handle and head OF
which parted.
Notice, also. how God is superior TO
every law that he has made, even. the
strongest law OF nature. the law Of
The stick that Elisha
threw into the Jordan floeted. but the
ak head sank BY memorable law IT
must go down into the depths Of the
Jordan, yet without SO much as a
touch the hard, heavy metal sought
the surface. There 1t is, the floating
ak head. What a rebuke to those who
reject miracles on the ground that they
are contrary TO nature, as though the
law were stronger than the God who
made the law! Again and again In Bible
times was that law revoked Witness
the scene on the banks of the same Jor-
dan. where, in after time, the AK head
sank and rose. Elijah stood there,
wearing cape Of sheepskin, when there
was mighty stir In the air and a
flashing equipage descended. Elijah
stepped into ii, and on wheels of fire.
drawn by horses OF fire, he rose. Fifty
nen for three days searched the noun
tains to see if the body OF Elijah had
not been dropped among the rocks and
picked at by birds OF prey, but the
search was in vain. The law OF crawl
tation had been defeated.
Wonders of Divine Power.
There Christ stood by his disciples
on tho Mount OF Olives after his com
Ing out OF the sepulcher. No ladders
let down for his ascension, but his feet
llft from the hill. and he goes nm until