The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-10-15

speaking under cathedral tower OF from
pulpit in the village kirk. Yet some
people make boast that for them the
lips of nature are absolutely dumb. In 1t
they can neither hear the love Of man
nor the love Of God calling them to the
better and the nobler and the higher
life.
Deaf to Voice of Nature.
Nine. de Staei was the great French
leader of a Partisan salon. She was
the one woman whom Napoleon 1. feared
more than the marshaled armies OF any
crowned head of Europe. She was the
brilliant daughter of a famous father.
She was exled from Napoleons capital
on account of her sway over the minds
OF the French people. Yet she once de-
clared that when the voice of nature
spoke to her 1t always spoke to deaf
ears. Said she: IF I was In Naples
would not care If ever lifted the
curtain OF my room and looked out OF
my hotel window at the bay so many
people rave about. I would not go ten
feet to sec the grandeus and the sub
Unity of the sun capped Alps. But
would be willing to travel clear around
the world to hear a brilliant man talk
whom I never met before"
Sad, sad, such testimony as that, II
man Is deaf to the voice of God calling
to him in the silent places of nature
he Is deaf to some of the sweetest and
clearest pleadings of the divine love. For
my own part l never see the wild flowers
growing either In valley or upon noun
tain height but they call to me: Friend,
consider the lilies OF the fields. Christ Is
weaving for me my garments. Shall
he not clothe his human children o We
of little faithT' I never see a mother
bird caring for her young but she calls
to me: II en- sparrow. God feeds me-
God will feed you" I never stand be-
fore a great natural wonder like Kllauea
1t and underneath 1t and all around 1t
myriads of voice are calling from the
silent places" of nature as the voice OF
| the Lord called to Moses out Of the
burning bush: Take thy shoes off from
thy feet, for this is holy ground. Thou
| am God. Listen to me and obey me-
l am God. who made all things, the om-
| nipotent and omniscient and omnipresent
| God Cans't thou not trust him who
| holds the sea In the palm of his hand,
who can look upon the earth and make II
tremble. who can touch the hills with
his finger and make them smoker"
| The care and the protection Of the d.
vine Fathers love always speak to me
In the ''silent places of nature. Many
| years ago the voices of nature sounded
| for. me their divine lessons in one
mighty chorus. I stood upon Observation
point and looked off upon the wonderful
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone park. 1t
| Is one of the most marvellous places of
the world. There before you is a valley
smooth as the floor of great cathedral,
lie large enough to gather into 1t one OF
the nations Of the world. From each side
| of this floor rist two precipltous basaltic
walls over a thousand feet in height.
Scared and scanned with battling the
~l1w tt. ~ L..
/ tervalS detached rocks thunder, dulling
the crash of artillery. Here the "Rock Of
Ages" of richest blood-red tinge, gilt
| tiers and sparkles In the evening twilight.
From yonder cliff a fortress seems to
| loom on whose watchtower keen-eyed
| eagles have perched their eyries, from
which ever and anon one rises and, fly
ing in graceful circles with sweep of eye
| reconnofters the land. Yonder soar up
Moran and Bierstadt points, from whose
| heights those artists painted their IA
nous pictures, varied In every hue and
capped with coronets of green foliage.
There the river. with serpentine and
graceful windings. slowly crawls along to
empty her waters into the sea. Then
suddenly like a mad horse she rears her
self and takes the bit into her teeth. With
foaming flank and wild roar she dashes
and makes one awful leap over the dizzy
heights of Yellowstone falls. There
breaking into millions of pearls, she
hides herself behind a curtain of white
at the foot of which glistens rainbow
a fitting passementerie for the robe Of an
angel. And so perfect there is the SYM
metry of the horizon that you cannot
tell whether the waters were lost be-
hind curtains of earthly mist Of curtains
| of heavenly cloud.
A Stupendous Scene.
A stupendous scene, canopied by arch
of heaven and lit by light of sun! No
one spoke. 1t seemed as though the an
| gel who had once stood at the gates Of
paradise had again unsheathed the sword
| of fire and cut deep cash into old
/ Mother Earth deep enough to take out
her very heart. Then as we stood there
my father, with his deep voice, said:
What a magnificent place In which the
nations of the world could gathered
| and assembled before the judgment seat
| of Christi
Yea, yeav we all answered "And
| what a magnificent place." | said, for
| men and women to come and learn about
the mercies of the gospel of Jesus
| Christ, If sinner would not feel the
| presence of a loving God here he would
| not feel 1T anywhere"
| Aye said father, that is true" AS
| we listened to the voice Of God calling
! out of the silence of Yellowstone park,
SO you may hear the divine voice when
ever you go forth to the country hills.
You may hear his voice by the moaning
sea. in the voices of the woods and In the
calm, quiet, overpowering simplicity Of
the blue sky
One of the silent places in which
we can hear the voice of God speaking
to us is in the hushed home after the
| undertaken has come and robbed us OF
the father, or mother, or wife, or hus-
band, or prattling child How still 1t is!
The friends who attended the funeral are
all gone. Still, still-everything is still!
There was a time when we used to talk
about our nerves. We would say: "The
doctors tell me I must be quiet" But
God knows 1t is quiet enough now Why,
the old home is SO quiet that there Is not
the echo of one pair of rompng Feet.
1t Is so still that you can hear your
heart thump and pound in anguish UNI
der your flesh Oh, God, how still 1t Isl!
Still, still, appallingly still!
But, my friends, though the bereft
home Is so still, If you listen carefully
In the silence think you can hear the
voice of God speaking. No. you do not
believe me? veil, then, let me tell you
a beautiful story. Some years ago law
yer friend of mine named Jackson was
talking about a gentleman whom l knew
by reputation. Mr.. Jackson for some
months had been wondering why this
gentleman's nature had changed, From
being a worldly man he was suddenly
transformed and became a Christian and
an active church member. One day in
conversation Mr.. jackson asked him the
| reason. Then he told him this incidents:
About a year ago." said he, Il was
| visiting in Asheville. While / was there
a lady friend of mine one Sunday after