Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-04-01
Talmage
Sermon
By Rev.
Fronk De 6Oiff
Tafm aSe. ID. ID.

the songsters of early spring, this ser
mon urges all to cheerful service and
TO set the keynote of their lives to high
and noble themes. The text is Solo
mons Song II, u, 1.-THE time of the
singing Of the birds is come"
do you know what makes the snow
banks disappear in the springtimeg"
asked man OF poetic temperament.
why. yes" answered. sit is due to
the heat or the sun being so much
stronger now than it is in January II
IL due to the fact that. by close con-
tact. Maine and Massachusetts and
New York and Michigan are being
warmed at the suns fireside, even as
one side of a piece of bread is toasted
By being exposed to the kitchen stoves
heat while the other side OF that piece
OF bread remains unscorched." "Oh,
no, answered my poetic friend. 1.-THE
snow disappears not on account of the
suns rays, but because the flames
glowing among the feathers of the
red breasted robins have melted them.
HIVE you not NOTICED, as rule, the
snowfiakes never entirely disappear
until those harbingers of the summer
? flowers have stamped them out of ex-
istence?''
Beautiful thought thatl Beautiful
20 think that the winged forerunner of
the spring, the chfrping robin, should
be carrying around with him a bra
zier flled with burning Goals. as the
ancient kings used TO do when they
Travelled, and everywhere he alights
he changes the white snow bank OF
winter into the white snow bank of
apple blossoms. But whether the snow
disappears on account of the coming
OF the robins or the robins come as the
messengers OF spring, merely because
the snow is disappearing, it Is not in
our province to discuss. We want to
take for granted the one overwhelming
fact that spring is here. And as spring
Is here and the time of the singing OF
the birds for New York and Michigan
and Montana and Dakota has come,
we want to tell why the birds sing and
why we, as Gods children, should also
become his singing disciples. We
would today take our text from the
book OF nature as well as from the
book OF Holy Writ
Tho summer Is coming in beauty arrayed.
And bright bees are humming- through
forest and glade:
Ger hilltop and mountain are merrily
heard
The voice OF the fountain and song OF tho
bird.
Like the Song bird
First. like the song bird, God bids us
sing because he has given TO us mu-
steal threats with which to sing. As
the brown thrush or the redblrd or the
nightingale is able to lift his voice in
treble or fantasia or lullaby or cantata
or serenade, God. by anatomical con-
struction of the throat, has made It
possible for us to sound forth musical
notes In his name. He has not dlscon-
hected our windpipes from the great
bellows OF the lungs. He has not had
ss born with palsied tongue, or with
deaf ears. But as God has placed I'm
the larynx of every singing birds
throat n thin membrane, SO he has
stretched over the end of almost every
human beings windpIpe n fibrous. elias
tic tissue which will vibrate as we at
tempt TO sing or speak. We ought. one
and all. TO be grateful that God has
given TO us anatomically musical
throat with which we can sing his
praises. Thank God today for the pow
ar OF the speaking throat. We are all
ready TO acknowledge our indebted
ness to him for the blessings Of the
eye. III you are not, then read that
wonderful story written by the most
famous OF living English authors. The
book opens with description OF n
noted war artist who is growing blind
Frenziedly he works at his last canvass
then the dark cloud OF total obscura-
lion falls upon him. His friends leave
him one by one for the Egyptian war.
He sits IN his room alone, an object of
pity, until at last, crazed by horror. he
starts for the front and is there merai-
iuiiy shot by an Arabs bullet Sight
On. yes, with every glorious sunrise,
with every architecture of frost upon
window pane, with every masterpiece
OF autumn foliage, with. every walk
over country hill or through city street.
We are all ready to say: 'Thank God
Tor two eyes! Thank God for the win
dows OF the soulv'
a Power OF the Human Voice.
Not only for visual, but for auditory.
organs are we also thankful. II the
sounding board OF one of our eardrums
Is In any way deadened we guard the
other ear more carefully than we do
our Jewel boxes or our securities.
which we place in the safety vaults.
Wenever let our well ear become over
Treated by stove or register. We never
In railroad train let the draft blow
upon 1t through opened windows. At
Inc least sign OF disturbance then
away we rush TO the specialist to have
10 treated and cared for by the best of
aurists. All, yes, we ali appreciate the
ofessings OF the ear. But how many
OF US appreciate the blessings of the
veicef How many Of us have in the
past thanked God that we can sing his
praises as the birds can change eyerv
trso branch into choir loft I'm the
temple OF the woods? How many of
US are ready to thank God for this
wonderful instrument of human voice.
wnich can laugh out our joys and sob |
but our sorrows and make men know |
he thoughts that are lodging for
0~A tuS dOlucS VI our [Oro- |
heads and the loves that are billing
md cooling in the silent retreats of our
searts?
L never realized so much what the |
blessing OF the human voice meant as |
he other day. when q lady and gentle
nan from the east. with their little
laughter. called upon me. The child |
lad beautiful face. She was as love- |
young girl as ever saw. While
70 were talking she would watch us |
loosely and sympathetically smile when
We smiled. But though she smiled she |
ever laughed. At last / turned and
ddressed a sentence directly to her.
With that shadow fitted across the
nother's coUntenance as she said: ''AIy
title daughter cannot answer you. She
dumb. Her tongue has been palsied
ince she was three years old. We have
AIKEN her to the best OF doctors, but
hey all say her case is hopeless"
Merciful heaven / calculated. what
n affiiction to fall on so beautiful q