Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-07-23

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man being upon the land ready TO an.
swer signals Of distress raised by his
fallen brethren. ms the sailors upon the
sea try TO help those who are in dis.
tress? DO not the whrlwnds Of disas-
ter shrek and howl md sweep UP the
streets ~ great city as well as among
the archipelngocs Of a Mediterranean?
When. some years ago. a dark funnel
shaped cloud swiftly approached st.
Louis and In an instant broke and de-
stroyed whole streets and buried many
n corpse under the debris, did 1t wreck
any more lives than do the cyclones
of sin which are daily destroying the
hundreds md thousands of young men
and women? Every city has It's two
sides-its light side and dark side; Its
pure side and It's morally diseased side;
its Christian side and its Internal side;
its happy side and its despairful side.
Shall we who profess to love God and
are living in health and strength have
nothing to do with those who are fly.
ing the signals Of distress?
A Providentinl Rescue.
BE not afraid, my brother that you
will never have an opportunity to save
men and women upon the land who are
flying signals of distress II you will
once consecrate your lives to his serv-
ice God will reveal them to you. the
same as he led old Captain Pendleton,
many years ago, to save the passengers
and the crew Of n sinking ship. The
old captain was n neighbor Of my ia.
theirs and friend Of my childhood.
lie had upon his wall picture com.
memorative Of this rescue. He again
and again told mo this wonderful
story. He had been to the far east.
After a voyage of many months he was
nearing New York harbor He was
only two or three days from home.
Suddenly. rs he lay in his cabin. n
strong and even imperative command
came to him from on high. He seemed
to hear divine voice saying: go back
Go back, About ship and go back!"
He was not IN the least man given tc
vaEaries. He shook himself and went
upon the deck. The stars were shining
above. Tho sea was calm. The wind
was brisk, and the sails were well fill
ed. He went down to his cabin and
again tried to sleep. Again came that
strange command: go back Go back
About ship and 60 back" So forciby
did this second command come that
Captain Pendleton gave the command
to about ship. The mates and sailors
thought he was going crazy. He said
nothing, but sailed on for two hours,
think. when, 10. a sinking ship hove In
sight, and he was able to rescue many
lives. That picture upon the wall was
presented to the old captain by the res
cued men and women. So God. II we
consecrate our lives to his service. vii
lead us In strange and devious ways
He will so guido us that we may be
able to save immortal men and women
from sin upon the land as old Captain
Pendleton rescued those men and wo
men from a watery grave.
The human vessel. in order to reach
the harbor for which Christ intended
him to sail, must he able in one sense
to make thu voyage of life alone.
mean by that that he must steer his own
course irrespective Of what other hr-
man vessels may do. A great harbor like
New York's always teens with life
The many trees which cover the noun
tain sides do not seem to the imagina-
tive eye TO be denser than the forests
of masts which are crOwdng about
the docks. When the great steamer is
being pulled out Of her wharf the little
tugs Shrek and puff and grunt. The
multitudes who have come to bid their
friends goodby wave their handker-
chiefs. The river boats salute the huge
ship as she slowly moves down the bay.
But after awhile the surrounding ships
become less and less in numbers
Then if you are sailing upon the Pa
cifc, or even upon the Atlantic, you
may 60 days and weeks and not sight
another craft. If you are on sailing
ship you will get head winds as we'll
as those from tho stern. Then YOU, as
a sailing master, will have to tack and
beat up against those head winds You
will have but one purpose always
working ahead toward the harbor. al
ways pressing toward the one dcstina-
ton to which you wish to GO Tho
voyage Of the Christians life is very
similar TO sailing ships journey
across the seas.
The Lone Navigator's Friend.
Similarly in reference to It's solitari.
ness. When we start out we have
plenty OF friends. But il we deter
mine to do right, If we are set in our
purpose to follow the course which
Christ has laid out for us. we shall
find that our friends will often leave
us. one by one. We shall be as much
alone rs for many years Christopher
Columbus was alone In his attempts to
prove the circumnavigation OF the
globe; rs William Harvey, the great
London physician, Psychologist and
anatomist, was alone in believing in
the circulation of the blood: as George
Whitcfcld was alone, when, as n pull
piteer. he was looked upon as n mounte-
bank and an ecclesiastical clown; as
Paul was alone when he had to fee for
his life over the Damascus wall, and
as Jesus Christ was alone when,
scoffed and spit upon, he was hurried
up the rocky heights wherc he was to
he crucifed between two thieves