Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-08-12
Calnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmasc. ID. d.


and 4 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
tacles which he describes in his divine
" 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 fin that mans
place.
We all understand this condition I'm
everyday life. Why, then. cannot we
put ourselves In the biblical writer's
places when we try to 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
tstration. But the trouble is you fell
lows do not put yourselves I'm my place.
III you did, you would do just about
what L am doing. / tell you how l
will fix those matters. You 60 home
and think up all the things you would
like me to do. and then come back to-
morrow and tell Inc 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 1 TO myself. Lincoln said he will
do anything 1 want him to do; that
makes me tonight practically president
Of the United States" But after sup
per that night Congressman Dixon
went to his room. He 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 il was FOR him 10 find
anything to write. Why? Because the
more he put himself in the presidents
place the more he felt he would do
Just as Lincoln was doing and had
done. THE next day came. j 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 attended a public reception at
the White House. As soon as / en-
tered the room the president saw me
and he called out. Hello, Dixon! Why
Gid you not keep your appointment
with me the day after our conversa-
tionT Because I was ashamed 10 do
so.' All, yes.' said Lincoln, L thought
you would not come back. The actions
and words OF Il man appear entirely
different when you put yourself I'm that
mans place than when you criticisc
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 nn
old man His LIES work was nearly
done. A man at eighty looks at condi-
lions I'm heaven and on earth differently
from the way young Nun 1T twenty
looks ut them. The struggles OF life
were 10 st. John very real and intense.
For years he had been u resident OF
Ephesus. in Asia Minor. lie had been
n mighty factor in the spreading OF
The gospel through all those regions.
lie had suffered for Christ; he had al
most been martyrcd. The second fact
we must notice is that ~. John is an
exile. Like Napoleon at st. Helena, he
knew that in all probability lie could
never again so back 10 his earthly
work. Under the pOmitinn 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. Ii
meant. as l shalLtry 10 show, first, the
-'sea OF mystery" secondly, the "sea
of hate" thirdly. the ''sea OF separa-
tion;" md fourthly, the "sea of spirit
nal struggle" BY putting ourselves In
st. Johns place as exiles upon the
Island OF Patmos. I believe we can
symbolic all these facts.
First, the sea is mysterious mon
ster. Do we have TO go 10 johann
nian vision 10 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 in
the depths that no fathom line has ever
yet been able to sound? For years and
years Africa was called the dark con-
tinent No white mans foot had pene-
1rated 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 unraveled n few OF the seas mys-
feries. They have shown the world that
there are different sea currents flowing
over one another in different directions,
as the different currents of the air al
low the aeronaut to journey In one di-
rection or another. BY deep sea dredg-
ing they have brought up from the low
est ocean depths the primeval ooze.
the deposit perhaps OF millions OF
years. They have captured strange
creatures which have never been seen
before by the eyes OF man. The results
or their investigations have been col
lected into one of the greatest OF all
scientific volumes. entitled the Book
OF Oceanography" But, after all,
though some of the oceans mysteries
have been investigated, the most of
those mysteries are as yet unraveled.
They will always remain ms mysteries
unit! suitable apparatus has been in-
vented by means of which divers can
descend and pass at leisure through
the paths Of the sea now untrodden by
The foot OF man. In all probability that
lime Will never come before the day
when the seas have been licked up
Dy the long red tongues OF the flames
which shall wrap themselves about
his old earth; when the archangeI
shall stand with one foot upon the land |
Ind the other foot upon the sea and |
swear that time shall be no longer.
Oh. the mysteries OF the sea! Who |
has ever been able to describe them? |
t was my privilege, some weeks ago,
q see some Of tho xyOnHars % %J,a