The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-05-10
CONTINUAL GUIDANCE,
.(selected for rha rimAs.roisnatcl,

CONTINUAL GUIDANCE.
Selected for The Times-D spatch.)
In the daytime also He led them with
a cloud, and all the night. with light
of fire." Psalm lxxvi:14.
1t is a startling statement that the
people were led In the daytime! Surely
when all the heaven is afame with glory.
every man can lead himself!
Who needs a guide In the daytime?
Man has reason. and not only reason, but
experience. Reason says II am, leader,
not led There are others who have
great natural gifts OF wisdom and saga
city. Can theyssnot be left to. them
selves? They learn from one another;
they held one another. The very, mis-
takes OF others, should be q warning to
the onlooker. I-
Here. then awe! Have reason experience,
sagacity human society and,Sa thousand
other ministries. dill operating in the day
time. d hat.hsea, thaye We for any high
er rule, which, n ~ called sfdivtne?3
Very few people go5astray at night.
There is natural fear and there is
fixed limit. How tempting Is the day!
We may not have thought 50 once, but
In reality It is.an infinite temptation.
We can see so far; we can comprehend
so much; It Is In the daytime that men
make fools of themselves by outwltting
others and spending their labor for that
which Is naught. Yet, properly used. st
is the very blessing Of God, the great, the
daily new opportunity Of life.
God led His people With cloud; so
thin, SO vaporous, almost Invisible. but
always there and when moving. always
moving In the right direction. We look
for earthquakes or volcanoes. but what
Is really leading life. in the day
time, Is cloud. 1t requires to be
watched; Its very thinness Is a part of
It's religious influence; 1t may move SO
noiselessly that unless we keep our
whole attention fixed we may miss y1t. all
and be left without guide or sound in
tho great wilderness.
'Ye can discern the face OF the sky;
how is 1t We cannot discern. the signs OF
the times?"
Blessed are they that wait and watch
and hope! We must give up all self
will and defiance and impetuosity and be
quiet. solemn expectant. Lose sef-con-
troll and the battle is lost. 1t Is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
When man says he is perfectly equal
to the occasion; knows all about the
road ahead and desires simply to DO let
alone, watch him! Fools are crowned
and beheaded the same day.
Even the night does not shut out the
light Of God. "Al the night, Tie led
them with a. hight of fire." There must
be darkness, but there Is also God.
cloud would have been OF no use at
night, A FIRE would be out of place in
the blaze of day. God knows what is
best. There is a shaping hand about US
all the time, 1t is not only light at
night but light Of fre warming and
cheering In its mission, In the chill
gloom tho light Is of fire." visible, tang
lble and guiding. How regularly the day
comes, and how certain Is the night. But
with them come also the cloud to protect
and shelter and bless Watch the pillar
of glowing, Illuminating. uplifting fire to
show lis His path for our feet,
IT, then, God In Ills Providence has
made provision for our leadership In the
day, full though 1t may be OF perils and
temptations, and In the night full of sor-
row and perplexty and loneliness, our
course Is clear. We must accept the
divinity that shapes our ends, The fitness
of things Is In itself a religious argu-
ment. II would be marvellous thlng
for any man TO take up an alphabet and
shake the letters out OF q sack so that
they would fall into Paradise Lost"
Yet Paradise Lost Is nothing but an ar
rangement OF the alphabet.
So 1t Is an Infinite marvel that life with
all its activities. iumplses, seliishness'
goodness, badness. tragedy and comedy
should be but SO many unrelated pieces
all shaken down out OF heaven into hui
man history.
1t is not, it cannot be chance We feel,
we know that there is q spirit somewhere
about our path guiding our' avery step,
What IS my proof Of the existence OF
God? My own life! The more know
81 ii. the more wonder and adore.
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