Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-08-13
Calnnage
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt TalmaGc. d. ID.


and novel and strange Interpretation
is given TO the mystery of the sea. The
text is Revelations xxi. ]. And there
was no more sea-"
Who was the writer: Where were
his feet planted when he saw the spec
taclcs which he describes in his divine
ly inspired Apocalypse? These two
conditions must be clearly understood
before one can in any true way grasp
the meaning of the words of my text.
Indeed. To properly appreciate the
words or the actions of any man we
must first put ourselves In that mans
place.
We all understand this condition in
everyday life. Why. then. cannot we
put ourselves In the biblical writer's
places when we try 10 interpret the
holy book: During the darkest days
of the civil war Congressman Dixon of
New York state entered the White
House with long list of grievances.
which he and some of his colleagues
had drawn up against the government.
Abraham Lincoln heard him patiently
until he was through. Then he said:
"Dixon. believe you and your friends
were truly honest men when you drew
up those criticisms against my admin
istratiop. But the trouble is you fell
lows do not put yourselves I'm my place.
IL you did. you would do just about
what I am doing. tell you how l
will fix those matters. You go home
and think up all the things you would
like me To do. and then come back to-
morrow and tell me the result. and l
will do just what you want me to do
Congressman Dixon said: Il went
back To my hotel that evening with my
head high up among the clouds. Why
said | To myself. Lincoln said lie will
do anything | want him 10 do: that
makes me tonight practically president
of the United States.'" But after sup
per that night Congressman Dixon
went Ia his room. lie laid the white
sheets Of paper upon his desk and be-
gan TO plan what he wanted Lincoln
to do The more however. he thought.
the more difficult II was for him To find
anything to write Why: Because the
more he put himself i'm the presidents
place the more he felt he would do
just as Lincoln was doing and had
done. ''rhe next day came. did not
go to the White House." said Congress-
man Dixon. neither did l go the next
day or the next. About three weeks
later l attended a public reception ut
the White House. AS soon as l en-
tered the room the president saw me
and he called out. Hello. Dixon! Why
did you not keep your appointment
with me the day after our conversa-
tionT Because | was ashamed to do
So All, yes said Lincoln. 1 thought
you would not come back. The actions
and words of a man appear entirely
different when you put yourself in that
mans place than when you criticise
them from an outsiders standpoint"
Put Yourself In His Place.
Today. in order to rightly interpret
the words of my text, we must first
put ourselves in st. Johns place. In
the first instance. we notice. he is an
old man. His life's work was nearly
done. \ man at eighty looks at cOndi-
tiOns in heaven and on earth differently
from the way a young man ut twenty
looks ut them. The struggles of life
were to St John very real and intense.
For years he had been a resident of
Ephesus. In Asia Minor. He had been
a mighty factor in the spreading of
the gospel through all those regions.
He had suffered for Christ: he had al
most been martyred. The second fact
we must notice is that 81. John is an
exile. Like Napoleon ut ST. Helena, he
knew that in all probability he could
never again go back to his earthly
work. Under the DOmitian persecu-
ton. he was sent to this lonely. rock
bound island of the Mediterranean.
Therefore the sea meant more To him
than it might mean to some of us. 1t
meant. rs I shall try TO show, first, the
''sea of mystery" secondly. the ''sea
of hate" thirdly. the ''sca of scpara-
tion:" and fourthly. the ''sca Of spirit
ual struggle" by putting ourselves I'm
st. Johns place as eXilcs upon the
island of Patmos. | believe we can
symbolic all these facts.
First. the sea is mysterious mon
ster. DO we have to go to n johann
MAN vision TO know that? Has any
man. woman or child ever stood upon
the beach and looked off upon the
mighty deep and not wondered about
what was happening away down i'm
the depths that no fathom line has ever
yet been able to sound? For years and
years Africa was called the dark con-
tincnt No white mans foot had pene-
trated its secret haunts until the last
century. But the dark continent was
never more dark than is the dark
ocean. What Henry NJ. Stanley has
been to darkest Africa In one sense
Sir Wyville Thomson. and after his
death Sir John Murray. have been to
the depths of the sea. The scientists
have unravele1 few Of the seas mys-
teries. They have shown the world that
there are different sen currents flowing
over one another i'm different directions.
as the different currents of the air al
low the aeronaut to journey i'm one d.
rection or another. BY deep sea dredg-