Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-06-18

as we'll as to learn how to depend upon
oursclv -. We must learn 10 trust
ourselves To the Heavenly Fathers
strength and care. as the eaglet trusts
the mother bird. Ii is Il lesson of de
pcndcnl'c as well as of effort had a
lesson of this kind when. with my
Arab guides. some years ago. | climbed
the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops.
Each stone of that pyramid Is about
five feet high and two feet wide. You
give your outstretchcd hands TO your
dusky guides They pull and push you
up. Your head Is dizzy with the awful
abyss you can see beneath, but still
they keep on pulling and pushing you
up. You help them as much as you
can. Without your help they could do
nothing. but if you did not have their
help you would be doomed. Like that
of the English tourist who. few
years ago. tried to climb the pyramid
alone. your body would soon be n man
gled corpse below. AS we must learn
from the text the duty of depending
upon ourselves. so we must also learn
the duty Of absolute dependence upon
God
But tlssrc is still another great les
son from the figure of an old parent
eagle stirring up her nest. After the
young birds have once been pushed
off the cyric and learned their own
limitations. and also learned to trust
the parent. then they are ready to be
taught 10y the parent birds by object
lessons. When the caglet once learns
that If ii does not obey the parent
bird il will he punished. then it will
not only willingly. but after awhile
gladly. obey what the mother and
father bird teach IL to do. First comes
fear. then trust. then the attempt to
initiate and To do as the parent bird
does
1t has never been my privilege to see
an old eagle teaching her young how to
fly. but Sir Humphry Davy. the great
English chemist. once saw this inter
estinS spectacle. He gives full de-
scription of The scene. First. the eagles
followed out exactly the picture of my
text. The young birds. with fear and
trembling. chung to the rocks where
they were Matched. but the old birds
said To themselves: This went do; this
won't do. These young birds must be
taught Ia fly" So the parent birds first
tried To coax the young To leave the
nest. Then. when coaXing accomplish
cd nothing. they struck right and left
with their beaks. With their powerful
talons they scattered the nest. Then
they gave the young II big push. and of
the ficdgclings went. Then the young
were carried back To the nest by the
broad wings of the parent bird. The
mother and father birds seemed to stop
awhile Ia have little talk. They
seemed to say: Now. children, you
must obey me. whether you will or no.
And. as you must obey me want you
10 do il willingly. | want you to fol-
low my every movement. See how
raise my wings. so. beat them in the
air just so. And now begin To circle
round and round. Come. boys: come.
girls. That is right. Now, try again.
Are you ready: Here we go up and up
AMI up. See how easy IL is"
Let me describe this object lesson in
almost the same language with which
Sir lIumphry Davy described il when
he saw the two old eagles. 10y their ac-
tons. teaching their young how 10 fly
above the crags of Ben Nevis: After
the old birds had coaXed the eaglets Off
the eyrie they made small circles. which
the young caglets tried to initiate.
Then the parent birds made larger and
larger circles i'm Il gradually ascending
spiral until the birds. old ana young.
were finally lost To view I'm the great
heaven of blue" All. yes. the old
eagles teach the young eagles 10 fly.
first. 10y the sharp blow of the bcak
by the rescue and the bringing back to
the nest: third. by the object lessons.
which say: Come. children. do as
am doing now. Come. lift your wings
as my wings flap. and go up and
up" God teaches us how to fly by
pushing us of into the great abyss of
trouble He rescucs us by the infinite
power of the atoning cross He then
teaches us how to 20 up and up and up
by the object lessons of Christ's earth.
~ life
Christ's Life an object Lesson.
Have you and ever stopped 10 fully
consider how Christ's earthly life was
meant To he an object lesson for sinful
men. as the tapping wings of the old
eagles are meant To he visible object
lessons To teach the young eagles how
10 fly: God did not tell us how to be
good merely in the abstract. but he
tells us To- he good as Jesus Christ was
good because Christ was born bone OF
our bone and flesh OF our flesh and
suffered as we suffer and was tempted
as we are tempted. Thus Christ's life
is an object lesson TO us i'm all our
trial We must do as he would do IL
he We're In our place.
He knows the bitter. weary way.
The endless strivings. day 10y day.
The souls that weep. the souls that pray.
lie knows. He knows.
But there is still another lesson to
L. m