Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-06-11
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT rAlMAGC, DID,,
Pastor Of JEFFERSON Park Presby.
terrain Church, Chicago

Chicago, June TN this sermon the
preacher sets forth with enthusiasm
the delights OF the Christian ministry
and the opportunities 1t offers to the
graduates of our learned institutions
as the ideal'li Of consecrated useful
ness. The text Is Psalms xvi, 6, THE
lines are fallen unto me In pleasant
places"
Different occupations often imply DIFF
ferent enjoyments. All varieties of
flowers do not thrive equally we'll I'M
der the same colored glasses. The
amusements which would be exhilara-
ton and restful relaxa tion for the ply
sician may be drudgery and irritation
for the merchant. The owls and the
bats turn their days into nights and
their nights into days. The eagles and
the hawks do not circle about in the
heavens unless they can heat their
feathers by the flaming fires of the sun.
The inhabitant Of one home may be
deaf and blind to the pleasures sur
rounding another Preside.
In the backwoods best learned this
interesting lesson. With my family,
was spending summer vacation in
the country. In n rowboat far from
n railroad station. was tracing the
bendings and windlngs Of n little river.
Suddenly, at n turn Of the stream, we
came to small house Nesting under
the protecting branches of the tall
trees. l found there woman living
fca ll1- n ha h,1 Irn,
All day long her husband was off to
work. I said to her: This is an awful
place to live! You must be lonely and
heartsici with no companionship."
"Oh, no." she answered. II am never
alone. l have hundreds of friends who
call and talk to me every day. DO you
see that little nest just at the end Of
my porch? Well, last spring the mother
bird came here as a bride and asked
me If she could build her home there,
and | said Yes Then she talked and
chartered on all the time she was
building it. She brought me her hus-
band and introduced me to him. She
told me when the eggs were laid and
when the eggs were Matched. She is
one of my friends. Then just over
there under that bank muskrat has
his home and is raising his family
He comes out every little while and
blinks at me and talks in the sign Ian
guage. Then there are my friends the
wild flowers and my friends the chick
ems and my friends the fish. which
feed Mt the dock. Then the river IT.
self is friend Of mine. 1t has a Ian
guage Of murmurs and gurgles to
which l listan, and when l get tired
and weary l am soothed by its SYM
PATTY. Oh, no; do not pity me for be-
ing alone. My enjoyments are per-
haps not your enjoyments, but they
are many, very many. l would not
exchange my life for that of any one
know" Happy woman that. Happy
because she was in the place where
she could use the qualities with which
God had endowed her. Happy because,
like bee, she was able TO find every
flower filled with nectar for her lips.
Happy because every tree branch was
to her choir loft in which master
soloist was singing the sweetest song
in all his repertoire.
The Happiest Life.
Well, my friends, as l needlessly
pited that poor woman living in the
backwoods there are hundreds and
thousands of people commiseratng the
supposed unhappy lot Of a gospel min
lister. These sympathetic cOmmisera-
tons have become widespread. There
are hundreds-aye, thousan ds-of young
men who might otherwise have volun-
teered for service In the Christian pull
pits. have been deferred on account
of them, from consecrating themselves
to the gospel ministry. Now | want to
speak specially this morning to the
young men who are graduating from
our colleges and schools, and If they
have adopted this view of the Chris
tan ministry being a joyless, gloomy
life ] want to set them right. l make
n direct appeal to the young men to
enter the gospel pulpit, because it Of
fers the happiest, the most blessed and
the most exhilarating life on earth. l
am going to make this plea with au-
tobiographical authority by showing
the kindnesses and the sympathies
which have surrounded me from the
day of my ordination down to the pres
ent time.
The first objection generally made to
the occupation of minister is that it
Is not money making profession.
That is true but it does offer some
thing far better in the Joy of noble con-
secration. We have all at some time
proved the truth Of Christs words,
that it is better to give than to re-
ceive. When the bower bird of love
builded her home for the first time In
our hearts we Immediately tried to man.
ifest that love in many different ways.
We laid at the feet of our ladylove our
gifts, as the wise men from the east
came to the manger with their presents
Of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
We manifested our love in the little at
tentions we daily bestowed and in the
letters we would write. AS time passed
on we again manifested that love in
the engagement ring which we trem-
blingly placed upon the finger of our
future bride. Has any money we have
since earned ever given us such joy as
that which came in the happiness of
| her smile, in the welcome of her voice
and in the knowledge that we were
winning her affections in return for
our affections? My young friend, did
you ever stop to consider that the