The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-10-02
FARMvILLE, VA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER ,, 1908

must be endured and with such hurri-
canes OF abuse which must be fought
against no human craft trying 10 fol-
low the right course is safe unless
Jesus Christ, as the divine captain, is
guiding II and treading upon its quar-
ter deck. No human ship can ever be
sailed safely over the troubled sea OF
time into a harbOr of a blessed eternity
unless it has the magnetic needle Of
the cross for q compass and the great
harbor Of peace for It's destination. DO
you wonder that | declared every hui
man vessel should be under the domin-
ion Of Jesus Christi
The passing ship IS Ike the Chris
tian's life I'm the close Of its voyage
The harbor Of peace VIII be entered
gladly as soon as the earthly journey
is ended. Have you ever taken a long
trip away from home? Have you been
gone three, five. ten months or a yearf
Have you ever been so far away that
II a cablegram was sent you that one
Of your loved ones was dying you knew
that you could not reach the bedside
Of the sufferer. or even see her face
again after she was deadi Well. ]
have. pray God you may never know
what such separation means.
Then, after long journey Of many
months. have you ever felt i'm head
and heart I'm all parts Of your being.
mental, physical and spiritual. the ex-
ultant joy Of heading toward homef
Oh. then the bliss and yet the long
drawn out impatience as the journey
comes nearer 10 its close The old
ships propeller will not revolve fast
enough. You hang around the chart
which is daily posted I'm the ship S
cabin to tell you how many miles the
ship is sailing. You bother the cap
tain every time you meet him, saying,
Captain, will we be able 10 get in by
Friday nightf" Then if the ship is de-
tanned. as ours was all night long i'm
n fog Just outside Of New York harbor,
oh. how the time does drag. ! never
slept wink that last night on my
Journey around the world. ! walked
up and down the deck. up and down.
l wondered If the telegram had been
flashed TO my folks from Barnegat
lighthouse that the Etruria had been
sighted. | wondered if they would be
down at the docks TO greet me. And,
though It was a stormy day when we
went up the Narrows, ! stood out near
the bow. l was alone, entirely alone,
without klth or kin for travelling
companion; yet when I saw my dear
ones upon the dock, l nudged the man
nearest to me and cried out: "There
they are. There are my folks. There
are father and my sisters. Yes, there
they all are" And the tears Of JOY
rolled down my checks. That is the
way the Christian voyager shall enter
the harbor Of peace. The physical
ship in which he sails may be bruised
and battered by many a storm, but
that will amount TO nothing. Then all
our loved ones will come down 10 meet
US. Oh, how many, many. many dear
ones arc therel They shall all come
down to the banks. | wonder if we
will know them at once. / wonder If
they will cry when we wave back.
The Bible says there are no tears in
heaven. but | do not think that state
ment is literally true. | do not believe
we can see our own dear ones for the
first time without crying just a little.
But, mark you, in that great welcome
they will only be tears Of joy and not
tears Of sorrow.
Thus, my dear friends, as voyagcrs
upon the great sea Of life, today greet
you. / signal you with the warmest
feelings Of Christian joy stirring my
heart. / feel that il is due 10 the provi-
dence Of God that we have been
brought together, and therefore we
have been brought together for Chris
tian purpose. The sea Of life is so wide
that many Of us only meet each other
this once before we sail into the harbor
Of peace. When avessel becomes awreck
and floats about upon the seas as a
derelict IL sometimes takes months and
even years for it TO be found and de-
stroyed. It may take all that time, no
matter how many ships may be hunt
ing for it. Therefore, what I am TO
say TO you must say quickly. Human
vessels voyaging over the sea Of life'
never allow any sinful current TO turn
your PROV from your Christly destina-
tion. Never allow your sails 10 be
stretched for a popular wind. Never
allow your reckoning to be made from
any star but that which once CLEANED
over the Bethlehem manger And
never feel. Christian voyager, that the
storm Of persecution will founder you
If You have Christ in the hinder part
Of the ship. Christian voyaeer If we
should never meet again this side OF
the harbor Of peace, l send you my
Christian salutatlon and love - -"Hal
and farewell"