Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-09-15

( lew Years passed and the angel came
I'D took the sweet soul away. Ihe fun
eral over. the father one evening Mnen
vent zen through into the parlor, unknown to
his wife, and put in the record. leaning
n the open book till the tears began to
III the page, and then turning over a few
naoes into the book that adjolned the rec
pord, he read over and over again those
dear and holy words a Suffer SUI fon l1ttle + en-,
not. for of such is the kingdom OF heaven"
and those other words so inseparably asso-
GATED with them, "Their angels do
always behold the face Of N.Y. Father" 1t
was the Bible, too, out of which the minis
ter had read at the little ones funeral,
had taken on a hallowedness and built it.
eelf into the whole life of the home.
But five years ago the family moved into
New York, and the decay Of their home
life began. Sentiment, association. mem
ory, though sacred and tender, could not
run q race with the evanescent, migratory
often, and every time they moved they
| had left something of their home life be-
| hind them. Age ceased to give anything
| it's value: it was the ease with which it
| could be transported which determined
| that. Their religious life had declined,
and they never opened the Bible of late.
| They had even neglected to record the last
| death that had taken place in the family.
| They had been Weaned from the church
| through frequent removals, and religious
thought and feeling had become strangers
+! to their hearts.
Their consciences had been dulled, and
| what had once seemed impossible to them
was now second nature. They used to
| think they could never allow the Sunday
AI-s- 1--- 1-L 14x~ 49, u
themselves and allowed their children to
read it without the least qualm of con-
science. To stay away from church once
was a few years ago an act of backsliding,
but they had not long been in New York
before whole months passed without their
crossing the sacred threshold, and yet it
gave them no conjunction whatever. lime
was, and not long since, when they were
most punctilious about sending their chill
dren to Sunday-school. The widest wind
and the foulest weather would not pass
with them as an excuse for allowing the
boys and girls to stay at home. There was
no such strictness these last years, but
record a single present mark for any of the
J children on the rolls of the Su~nday-school.
Therefore, sentiment gone, association
and memory having loosened their grasp,
their religious life having become a thing
of the past, and their consciences having
grown sluggish, they had no more use for
Che Old Book. It was too bulky to move;
they would keep the family record, but the
sacred pages and covers which had given
u it its inclosure and setting, they would
throw away. =
Were there ever a sadder story? 1t
makes one weep to think of it. And yet it
is the story Of a thousand homes in this
community, of a hundred thousand homes
in this city. It is what some of you are
or-- - Joor fr;opIo ,,n1oco Won tokc
warning. Let this Bible give you such q
warning tonight. May it ever be a warn
ing to every family Of this church.
As often as the eyes of those worshipine
here shall rest upon it, may it speak. te
them it's solemn message with a voice that
low on your hearthstone, but keep up thu
6reside glow. See that your home is IL
touch with the church. Suffer not your
family altar to become q ruin. Have s
family Bible and use it. Take care thai
mi1dew spots. like those which I frd hear
that are always signs of disuse, are not al
lowed ia mar it. Read the Old Book tx
|. Without it your home life will grow hol
low and unholy, your children will deter
iorate, your own soul shrivel up and die.
Thus this Bible shall stand as a memo
|. rial to a typically deteriorated New Yorl
) home, and as a warning to the familie'
/ VAA0V LOW ~ 4AAOWA6 0OSNXI III
, shall it not also be at the same time
. memorial to something higher and NOR,
inspiring-to the glorious character ant
; ministry of the word of God as an abiding
: and ever expanding power among men
: Here is a fountain that was long sealed
but it has begun to flow, and its stream
= shall water not one home but a thousand
This book so seldom used before snail b
opened with every recurring service within
Y this house of prayer, to be read, expound
e ed and applied to the multiplying hun
8 dreds that shall worship here. This Bibl
j. was disowned, desecrated, cast out as rub
y bish into the street, only to be recovered
honored. set in a high place, elevated to
e public throne from which it will issue
r verdict of condemnation upon this HON
and every home in this city that ha
a turned God from it's door, but will spea
i comfort, hope and strength to those witt
in which the word of God dwells and exel
a cises it's heavenly dominion. While thi
book shall utter its admonition, then, le
!. it also speak forth its word OF e~ncourag
+ ment and triumph, telling all who sha
n henceforth behold it that the word of Go
~ iveth and abideth forever; that howeve
n much men may attack it and seek to d
"a stroy it, it shall come out of every bait
Is q thousand fold stronger than before, an
If light a circle tina: extends far beyond il
9: former perimeter OF influence.
It "A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic as the sun:
IF It gives a light to every age;
"a It giveth, but borrows none"
=