The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1903-12-03
FOREST MONARCHS.
Or. Ta!mage Draws Inspiration
From the Woods.
The Trees of the Woodlands Furnish
the Theme For His sermon.
Laws OF Nature Symbolic
of Spiritual Life.

copyright. 1903 by Louis Klopschl
CHICAGO. Nov. 29-ln this sermon
the preacher takes us into the forests
and from the life and death of the wood
land monarchs draws an eloquent les
son that is rich in natural beauty and
full of spiritual helpfulness. The text
Is Ecclesiastes ii, ;, in the place where
the tree falleth there ii shall be-"
Every intelligent student has been
impressed with the incXorable Sc
quenccs of natural causes. If man
should allow his rowhoat to be pushed
out into the middle of the roaring,
rushing river which filings itself over
Niagara falls, uo huu.u power on
earth could save E.u. = iyt The hui
man arm : uN, powerful enough TO
stem that uwir. current. The onSwcep-
ing rush of G,llA J, stronger than the
would be u,r', win. If Il man
staudiu- ur"n the ton uf the Eiffel
summit his body wou,l br whirlcd
round and r,uHJ un.. Il was nj last
dashed into Mar-'rd h,ap of I'M
rccOguiZa /, flesh N..n it struck the
earth below. Why; The attraction OF
Eravitatiun whi,l dragged that body
down could no; he overcome by the
vibrating arm as ii is hy the wings Of
bird, which. launched from such Il
height. could arrest its fall in midair
and fly higher and higher until it dis
appeared into the blue sky OF the heav
ems dome. There is an inevitable Sc
qucnce in natures laws. There Is
natural sequence in spiritual laws. II
man plants the right seed for spir-
itual harvest, he will reap a spiritual
harvest. If he plants sinful seeds. he
shall reap sinful harvest Further
more. by the same kind Of reasoning,
after mans earthly lifc's work Is
done. whether ii bo well or badly done.
II is done forever. 1t is like tree
which has fallen To the north or to the
south. I'm the place where the tree
falloth there il shall be-"
am going to use for my pulpit the
trunk of a fallen tree upon which we
have rested in our wandcrings through
the woods. | do not care whether this
tree lies upon the steep mountain side
covered with moss and creeping ivy,
whether il spans some brook or wheth-
er il lies at the foot OF a great precipice
over which ii has tumbled. The only
thing do care about is that this trunk
should have fallen OF it's own accord.
By that l mean II has not been cut
down by a woudman's ak. When we
study the laws of nature as symbols OF
the spiritual life we must study them
in their simplicity. We must study
them as nature was studied by King
Solomon. who evidently spent as much
time roaming over the Judean hills as
he did in the Jerusalem palace.
a tree may live 10 be very old; but,
after all. there must come time when
the trees life shall cease to exist.
Then. after ii totterS and falls. il is nj.
ways dead tree. What has been done
by that tree has been done forever.
some trees have been known to live
loo. 500. 1000 and some are even sup
posed 10 have lived 5000 years. DR..
AdumSou has declared that the baobab
tree of Africa sometimes lives To be
1000 years old. The explorer De Can
dole has estimated that the TaXdium
di>tirAum lives even to a greater age
than that. \ trees age can be cSti-
mated hy saving the trunk in two and
counting the rings that are found in
the wood. every ring representing a
year. But. though the tree may live
5000 years or even longer. there comes
tim" when that tree must fall. Then
q fallen tree i always dead tree. SO
there must come 4 time when q mans
earthly life is done. and it is done for
ever. In the place where the tree
fallath there il shall be-"
is il not startling thought that aft
or mans heart once ceases to beat he
cannot change anything in his past
life: Is il not a startling thought that
4 man who is president Of the United
States, with an army and navy and
fifty millions Of people back Of him. as
Abraham Lincoln had. can within
few hours De a cold corpse and unable
to utter word: one night sitting in
Ford's theater: 4 short time afterward
with Edwin Stanton bending over him
and saying He is gone: we must leave
his work 10 be judged by the cen
turies,' ls II not an Overwhelming fact
that a man with all the mental powers
Of a Gladstone cannot arrange his pa
pers after be is once dead, but had 20
leave them all 70 his literary executor:
Oh, how often We have heard this sen
tenCe in a house where there has lately
been q sad funeral: IF ! could only
bring him back for few moments 10
ask him what he would Ike me to do
about this matter But the fallen tree
Is dead tree What that tree has
done IS done forever and can never be
undOne. What has been left undone is
left undOne forever.
A dying mans last gasp is even more