Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-09-25

ates? Therefore, o man, is not the
Creator of the mountains mighty, an
omnipotent God, because he has Gre
ated meY Yes, yes" we answer,
1.-The God Of the hills must be an omnip-
otent God, for none but omnipotence
could have laid their foundations and
erected their heights
Great is the omnipotent power Of
God. No one man and no one race Of
men could live long enough to do what
is necessary to do for the creation of
the hills. We look with amazement
upon the great cathedral called st.
Peters of Rome. This cathedral was
supposed to have been begun by
Michael Angelo in 1884. Every gen.
Grafton since then has had part in its
construction. But, though st. Peters
of Rome was building for 500 years,
the seven hills upon which Rome was
originally built have been building
for a longer time than that. Away
back in the past millenniums God be-
gan to collect the materials for the
foundation of the hills. He spoke the
word and manufactured a gaseous sub
stance-poor stuff, some people might
think-out Of which to build the
strength Of the hills, yet that was the
first substance God created out OF
which to make the mountains. In all
probability this earth in the beginning
was nothing but a nebulous gas. After
awhile God cooled this gas, transform
ing it from gaseous to liquid form. AS
a thousand years in his sight are but
as yesterday or a watch in the night,
God through long ages kept up the
cooling process. He cooled this liquid
substance until there was a-thin crust
over its surface, as floating film
might form on the surface of the cof-
fee cooling on the breakfast table. He
kept on cooling the planet until wrin-
kles and creases began to appear, like
ridges on an orange skin after the
juices have been squeezed out of it.
Then the waters ran down into the val
legs or the ocean beds and the dry
land appeared. Then the strength of
the hills revealed themselves in mighty
mountain ranges, which ran up and
down the continents, giving strength
to the land as the vertebra does to the
human frame.
The work went on for ages upon
! ages. The divine workman's tools
were fire and storm and hail and pencil
of ice and volcanic eruption. \ mighty
workman is God. Mighty are the ele
ments and the times which he used as
the means for his creation Of the hills.
| We must honor the divine strength of
| the Creator Of the hills. That strength
alone was sufficient to pile up the Mat
terhorn and Mount Chimborazo and
Mount Gualtahera and Mount Nevada
de Sorata and Mount Everest. ON
| nipotent as we'll as eternal is our Lord.
He alone hath created the hills and
| created US. Who is HE that formeth
the mountains and treadeth upon the
| high places Of the earth? The Lord,
the God of hosts, is his name"
The Beauty of the Mountains.
But as l go wandering over the east
ern valleys with this herdsman of my
text l say to him: "Amos, why do you
praise the hills? Of course it is right
and proper for one of your poetic tenn
permanent to admire the gigantic cliffs
and the rocks. In the evening hour it
is beautiful to see the white clouds
waving their garments in the faces of
| these grim monsters, but, Amos, you
| are not a Nimrod nor an Esau. You do
not leave your fiocks and as mighty
| hunter pursue the wild goats that leap
| from crag to crag. You care nothing
about Staying the hungry lion. unless
he comes down to steal one of your
lambs. Why do you not praise the val
leys and the green fields and harvests
and the orchards 2" Then l see the old
prophet turn and look at me with a
quiet smile as he answers: Friend,
am praising the green fields and the
vineyards and the orchards when an
praising the mountains. Do you MOI
know that the beauty and fertility OF
the valleys are dependent upon the
strength Of the hills? The stork builds
her nest in the fir tree, the grass grows
for the cattle, the grapes hang heavy
upon the vines and the harvest fields
!. are filed with grain merely because
the mountains shed their waters int
. the valleys" Then 1 say, amos
J when thou art praising the God of tn,
. hills thou art rendering thanks unit,
the divine Creator, who feeds ant
, clothes and houses u.s." Then the oil
prophet answers: Yes, my son. TIL
! Lord of the hills is the God who is tn
. practical provider for the everyda,
wants Of his children"
But though the God Of the hills feed
! and clothes US in the valleys, as b
) feeds the birds of the air and tn
lilies of the field, how few Of us eve
stop to think of his kindness and good
ness and care. Indeed we have beel
accustomed to be fed and clothed b.
him so long that few Of us ever stol
to give him thanks. We think tn
blessings have come from the soil ant
are the works of our hands and no
from his hills. We feel a great dea
toward God as little boy felt towart