Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-01-16

you are the light of the world, it NAV
be your privilege by the grace of God
to quicken them into life They are
dormant now, but when the light i'm
planted in your soul shines upon them
they may awake into vigorous life and
bear fruit to the glory of God What
sinful man needs is gospel light, divine
light, spiritual light.
If this deduction is true, | would be
| careful how your spiritual light touches
| that drunkard or that beggar or that
woman with a faded shawl who goes
| down under the gaslight | would be
careful how you speak to that man
who cheats you in business and has
| lied about you. The ancient Romans
| had custom of placing lighted lamp
| in the collins of their dead During
| the pontificate of Paul Ill. when the
coffin was dug up containing the body
of Tullia, the daughter of Cicero, the
| famous orator, such lamp was found
among her bones. 1t was a strange
idea to give the dead a light on their
| path beyond the grave Better far Is
| the Christian hope that the divine
light, kindled during life in their souls,
will shed it's rays on their path to the
heavenly haven.
Guiding Beacon.
Our divine light is a quickening and
| transforming light. 1t is also a guild
| ing light. 1t not only calls into spir-
| itual activity those human seeds buried
| in the quagmires of sin; it guides to
| Christ those wandering souls which,
| like a mariner who has lost his reck-
oning, are drifting toward the rocks of
| destruction. How many a weary soul
tossed in the storm, with hope and
| courage failing, may find strength and
| spirit revive as it sees the divine light
| kindled by the grace of God in your
| soul shining out clear and true, as the
sailor is cheered by the sight of the
Diamond shoal light, which signals year
| in and year out fifteen miles to sea-
ward off Cape Hatteras, or the Cape
Charles light burns upon the water
front of old Virginia, or the Hog island
| shOal lighthouse burns off Rhode Is
| land, or the Braddock point lighthouse
stands. sentinel upon the banks of Lake
| Ontario!
How necessary that the Christians
| light should be always bright and shin
ing! How many souls there may be
looking to it for guidance through the
| storms of life! If it failed to burn,
those souls might lose their way as,
were the Barnegat light snuffed out,
some noble ship freighted with precious
lives might in the darkness go crashing
on the reefs. Near Michigan City
enter a lighthouse established there
many years ago by the United States
| government. l see there an old wom-
an, over eighty years of age, Of the
| name of Miss Harriet E. Colfax. For
forty years she has cared for that
precious light. I say to her: Come
let US take a night off and go see some
friends You have been a faithful
servant to our government long enough.
Take just one night to yourself in forty
years." "Oh, no." she would answer.
81 cannot go. Tonight there might
come up a storm. A ship driven before
the wind might head toward these dan
gerous rocks. The captain, standing
upon the bridge. would peer out into
the darkness, saying: Where am 1?
Michigan City lighthouse must be near
at hand. Harriet Colfax has never
failed me in the past If 1 failed him
tonight, perhaps that captain and all
his crew might find a watery grave.
cannot go tonight. I must attend to
the light. cannot go tonight"
Be Careful of False Lights.
Would you have smile Of Miss Col
fax's answer? AS I, a seaman, sail
over the sea Of life I find 1 have been
watching certain spiritual lights as
Lake Ontario captains watch Michigan
City lighthouse. If these spiritual
lights had failed me | know that /
would have been lost. 1t was my
mothers prayers, my fathers guild
ance; it was certain Christian leaders
hands which led my right. AS I was
dependent upon the spiritual lights Of
others / know that others are watching
your spiritual lights and mine. o
man, 0 woman, be careful and not
give out false lights to your fellow
Christians. Be careful that you do not
say one word which might lead some
, one to leave the right course. It was
just sentence, 81 do not believe in the
: ( eXcltements Of revivals'' uttered nv
the president of Princeton college. that
kept Aaron Burr from becoming a
Christian and man of God instead of
a monster of iniquity. Watch we'll your
lives lest your inconsistency causes
some weak soul to stumble. As Paul
said he would eat no meat while the
world endured if meat caused his
brother to offend, so do you beware
lest your indulgence dim the light
which you should be giving. Ye are
the light of the world. Ye are the
= lighthouses, standing sentinels over the
rocks of sin upon which many d Chris
tan craft will be wrecked if your light
Eoes out. Burn brightly. Burn true.
Ye are a guiding light.
But l find the divine light in man
af+or Gods 0IyIippS in q tom