The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-05
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.


DE WITT TALMAeE. Q. ..
 ent is doing for his child in limited
 sense. He is placing his burdens upon
 Us to develop us. He is not making us
 struggle for the mere pleasure of seeing
 us suffer. He is compelling us to be
 cafetakers that we may grow in strength
 and climb the higher mountain peaks of
 inspiration and power which he has lifted l Tor our thrones, and yet today there are
 but very few who have grace enough to
 thank God for the divine hand which
 has smitten them as well as for the
 divine lip which is ready to speak the
 words of comfort and good cheer.
 Spiritual Growth.
 l Spiritual growth is not developed so cas- I fly near the perfume of flower garden
 as among the thorns and the decorations,
 the agonies and the sufferings of a ravine
 of thickets. The strongest wing, the
 keenest eye, the swiftest foot and the
 sharpest intelligence are not found in l the meadow lands, but in the deserts. There the lizards must run like the lightning or the strong peaked road runner will snap them in twain. There
 the buzzard, with his great wings spread
 abroad as the sails of ship, must be | able to course on hour after hour in
 search of food and with almost omnis- l cent eye watch the tacking wings of | other buzzards miles away to see whether I they have found any meat, or else that buzzard must soon starve and die. There I the coyote must have the wisdom of the I serpent and the stealthiness of the fox, l all the speed of the deer, the ofactory sensitiveness of the hound, or else the ] rabbit and the ground squirrel can never I be his. To live in the desert the spring must be as swift as the panther's; the en- durance must so great that waters a hun 1.~n6 .x.a1a
 to quench the parching thirst Every ear must hear the slightest whisper, every intelligence must be the most far reaching, else the beast, the bird or l the serpent will die. In the deserts of | life God best develops us. not in the
 meadow lands. Not in the easy places do we become the strong true, pure, good and noble men he intended us to be. In the desert places we find the highest | development of moral and spiritual life. | The strongest flowers grow not as hot house plants, but like the trailing arbutus and the croeus, scenting the hilsides near timber lines whose lullaby is the whist I ling wind of the early spring and whose | soft couch Is not the green grass, but a not realize that the harder the wind blows I noql lsuBo Mous SuJlJIIp Jo lunb alIuM | the more easy is 1t for the sea captain to trim his sails and the swifter the ships | speed toward the desired harbor?
 Beneficent Troubles.
 | Troubles are beneficent when packed l upon a mans back in certain quantities They may and do develop the physical
 and mental and spiritual man. But though the soldier goes forth with a brave heart 1 to fight the battles of his country, with a haversack upon his shoulder, he could | not fight, no matter how brave the heart l if he had convicts chain rlveted to l.fc .lyIn at,1 atrt.. AF r~.ts.
 tumbled over upon his breast Thus, while it is the duty of true parent to put certain burdens and cares upon his | child to develop him. it is also the fathers duty to see that his child shall not have 1 too great burdens to bear, which will | break his back and crush his will As l does a true father, so God plans for us. l Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father ehasten- l eth not?' That means as the father re- proves, rebukes and exhorts and develops 1 the child by the heavy hand of trouble so God the Father deals with his own 1 But in Corinthians I also read these words as a qualifying clause: God is I faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will l with the temptation also make a way to 1 escape that ye may be able to bear it." 1 That means that when troubles or temp- | tations come upon us greater than we | can bear then the Lord, who is always
 planning for us, will step in and stand | between us and that temptation Thus
 I find God the developing friend In the next place find God the protector, God | the shielder, God the warden off of too l great dangers when we are not able to | care for ourselves.
 Must Be Helped.
 l Let me illustrate how well nigh in-
 possible 1t Is for some men to help them- l selves unless they are first helped by | others. Last summer 1t was my privilege, 1 with a couple of gentlemen, to go camp | ing through the mountains of Southern l California. For long time 1 had wished
 to penetrate these mountains and go and live for awhile upon some of the Indian reservations. The great san Luis Key l festival' was to take place among a | couple of these tribes. We timed our trip I to witness this festival. so important in l Indian life. There I saw some of the l old Indians almost asignorant and super stitious as their ancestors were centuries ago. An old Indian missionary told me some of the strangest facts about them. 1 Said he: Do you know that many of
 these Indians believe In ghosts and ap- l partitions, just as did their grandparents?. 1 Though they talk but little during the l day, yet they hesitate to go out at night | because they are afraid of the darkness. l They always whistle or sing to keep the spirits from tearing them to pieces. Then | there Is another peculiarity about them. | With all the advancement of civilization I everywhere seen, many of these Indians | have never learned even the commonest | laws of health. They build their abode | houses with no adequate means of venti- 1 laton. When they become sick some of | them will go to bed. Then they will have | erected four posts at the four corners | of the bed in the old Louis XIV style. | I have seen the friends cover these posts | over with blankets and not leave one | loophole for the fresh air to get in. l There the sick man will lie and simply be smothered to death. On account of bad ventilation we find that most of these | Indians die of consumption, although l these mountains furnish the air which | cures the white men of consumption when 1 they come here and live in the open" l These are only a few of many similar | statements made to me about the In- | dian's backwardness.
 | Ignorance of Indians.
 | Amazing is the ignorance of the Indian. |