St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-06-13
CHRISTIAN RIPENESS.
Beauties Of Old Age Likened Unto
Ripe Corn in the Ear.
Sermon by the Rev. VIM. e. Thompson Of
the First Methodist Church,
Memphis, Tenn.

full age. like as shock OF corn cometh in in hi
season. job. 5:96.
The age of these words we can
not tell. They were uttered before
the birth of Moses; before the golden
age Of Greece; before the princely son
of Amor rolled from his poetic Tyre
the melodious music of the Messi
abs peaceful reign. They are the
words of man royalty endowed. He
had the gift OF an inspiration and
the grace Of generosity. His wonder.
full poem, full of rhythm and music,
without a rival among all the treas.
ures OF literature which the past has
handed down to the present. Men OF
intellectual refinement, of rich mag
nation. of depth and tenderness of
feeling, have bowed to the wisdom of
job. Men like Herder and Carlyle
have been captivated by the grandeur
of this poem. No cypress said the
eloquent Herder, ''flourishing in I'M
fading green, marks the place Of his
rest. With his unuttered name, he
has consigned to oblivion all that
was earthly, and, leaving his book
for a memorial below, is engaged in
a yet nObler song in that world where
the voice Of sorrow and mourning is
unheard, and where the morning stars
sing together
Under the figure Of ripe shock of
| corn, gathered from the autumn field,
he sets forth the cultured grace and
| the chastened beauty of old age. But
these words have a deeper meaning,
| sWeeter music, richer pathOs and
| a higher inspiration for us than when
they were first uttered. We have the
accumulated wisdom of the ages, the
fragrant memories of the sanity dead
and the imperishable treasure
amassed By the sons Of light. to en-
| nance their value. We know more
of the benignity and blessedness of
age, the crown of virtue. the divinity
of love and the conquering power OF
purity than the ancient poet whose.
| words we have quoted. We stand
in the current of the great thoughts
and rare experiences of the past. The
ever-enlarg:ng chorus of reverent and
lordly souls disappearing into the in
finite, updraWn by the beatif1c vision,
and leaving behind such testimonies,
invests these words with rarer beauty,
as light invests the dew with pearl,
and the fall of the bridal veil with
chromatic hues. The great achieve
ments of the world, the splendid vic
tories of mind, the wondrous harvests
of the soul-all add to the dignity OF
man and his calmness in the hour OF
death.
How silent are the forces that ripen
the soul and crown its ministry with
freshness and light! How blessed
when slime rounds soul into serene
perfection! We have no means of
ascertaining correctly the ripeness of
soul, for the larger part of any life
is screened from mortal vision. Some
souls are like the finest marble, ca
look almost transparent. Others
crystalline. There are clean souls,
are winsome, because embellished
cerned by the intellect, is white and
silvery, but when touched by spirit
ual affection is prismatic and charm
ing as the rainbow. Our blessed Lord
was not only clean, but beautiful.
His life embraced the golden circle
of ideal excellence And all souls in
their advanced stages of growth take
on oTnamentatiOn. The external
beauty is the result cf inward radi-
ance.
Some fruits, when ripe. have a lus-
trous glow. others, fully as ripe, lack
the exquisite color. Souls, like fruits,
ripen in different ways. Some ripen
rapidly; others, slowly, but beautiful
ly; and whenever we are ripe we
shall fall from the tree of life. And
ought we to complain when souls have
ripened in the summer air? Is not
ripeness the final end of all things?
Perfection is REPRESENTATIVES, In
flower, in fruit, or man. By this, we
do not mean the soul has reached
the limit of it's powers. This cannot
be said Of the soul. When countless
years shall have passed away, the
possibilities Of the soul will not be
exhausted. In that mysterious organ
ism are undiscovered continents Of
power The soul will flower and fruit
en- forever. The higher it throws its
branches in the summer air, and
the deeper it sinks its roots into
the genial soil of heaven, the finer
will be- the fruit. But it is essential
to drop the body, as the coverings
of the chrysalis, before it can rise
to this supreme condition. Death
is the removal of an outgrowth after
It has accomplished its work. It is
an essential stage in human progress.
1t Is the gateway to endless life. !
Souls, growing sweeter and more
amiable In their disposition, climb
ing higher and higher In the ether
of pure life, diffusing the holy in
cense of love around them-ever in
harmony with truth and goodness
are said to be ripening, and nearing
that perfection which the union of
the mortal and immortal allows.
How subtle and noiseless are the |
forces that ripen the grain, that weave
the violet, paint the lily and the rose,
and give to birds their plumage and /!
their song? The earth swings |
through space with momentum equal
to the strength of trillions Of horses,
and yet We hear no sound. In the !
regions above us millions of worlds i
are rolling in their orbits, and yet |
there is stiffness. Gravitation, the |
power that maintains order and har-
mony through the bewildering for
ests of immensely, is silent. And in
the overcoming of evil, the conquer
ing of passion, the moulding of char
acter, the coming of beautiful !
thoughts, like angels in dream, there
is silence.
The beautiful imagery of Job seems
to imply that We should make time
a factor in ripening the soul, so that
To h1
should be like the shock of corn that
decks with gold the autumn field. AS
we gaze on those advanced in years,
Ct apd}uo anid tho cconoc of crncot