Milford chronicle., 1903-06-12
TALnlAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALGAcE. D.D.,
Pastor CT Jefferson Park Preaby-
taFiau Church, Chicago

LElC9Co t.le To t.lS sermon Inc
preacher s5e8 forsL with enthusiasm
the delights Of the Christian ministry
and the opportunities It offers to the
graduates OF our learned institutions
as the ideal life Of consecrated useful
ness. The text is Psalms xvi, g, "The
lines are fallen unto me in pleasant
places"
Different occupations often imply diff
ferent enjoyments. All varieties of
flowers DO not thrive equally well un-
der the same colored glasses. The
amusenents which would be eXhilara-
ton and restful relaxation 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 % the sun.
The inhabitant Of one home may be
deaf and blind to the pleasures sur
rounding another fireside.
In the hackwoOds I best learned this
interesting lesson. With my family. I
was spending a summer vacation in
the country. In n rowboat, far from
a railroad station. l was tracing the
bendincs and windings Of little river.
Suddenly, ut turn of the stream we
came to n small house Nesting under
the protecting branches of the tall
trees. ! found there a woman living
practically alone She had no children
All day long her husband was of TO
work / said to her: "This is an awful
place to livcl You must be lonely and
heartsicz with no companionship."
"Oh. no." she answered. Il am never
alone I 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 q bride and asked
me if she could build her home there,
and l said Yes Then she talked and
chattered 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 hatched. She is
one of my friends. Then just over
there under that bank Il 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 at the dock Then the river it
self is a friend of mine. 1t has a Ian.
guage of murmurs and gurgles to
which ! listen, and whom l get tired
and weary l am sOOthed by its SYM
pathy. 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
l 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 a bee, she was able to find every
flower filed with nectar for her lips.
Happy because every tree branch was
TO her a choir loft in which master
soloist was singing the sweetest song /
in all his repertoire.
The Eappiest Life.
Well, my friends. as l needlessly I
pitied that poor woman living in the I
backwoods there are hundreds and |
thousands of people commiserating the /
supposed unhappy lot of gospel min
lister. These sympathetic commisera-
tions have become widespread. There /
are hundreds-aye, thOusands-Of young /
men who might otherwise have yolun- /
teered for service in the Christian pull /
pits, have been deferred on account |
Of them, from consecrating themselves
to the gospel ministry. Now l 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
tian ministry being n joyless, gloomy
life l want to set them right. I 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
tile 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 a minister is that it
Is not a 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 Christ's words
that it is better to give than to re-
,eive. When the bower bird of love
lullded bcr home for the first time in
our hearts we Immediately tried to man
fest that love in many different ways.
We laid at the feet Of our ladylove our
gifts. as the wise men from the east
anne to the manger with their presents
If gold and frankincense and myrTh.
We manifested our love in the little at
entlons we,daily bestowed and in the
etters we would write AS time passed |
N we again manifested that love in
he engagement ring which we trem-
llingly placed upon the finger of our
uturp bride Has any money we have