Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-07-01

us and crush us; there they seemed
to be. whole cities in ruins, as though
ten thousand Nesuviuses had belched
forth their fires and demolished them
and then the demons had exhumed
these broken walls and destroyed
houses. just to show what awful car
mage pandemonium had wrought Here
..e seemed TO be huge mountains cut
II twain with the other halves thrown
away into space: there they looked
like worlds just started and then left
in a formative state. as though the
Divine Creator had gone off and forgot
ten all about them. Here they seemed
to be unscalable heights erected as
walls about huge prison for lost
souls. while there. again, as in Sen
tinel rock, they seemed to be signal
stations lifting themselves high above
the clouds to put us In touch with other
worlds and with God. Thus these walls
of rock, these fortresses of rock, these
mighty Obelisks and pyramids Of rock.
God had registered the histories of the
ages. seemed to be object lessons. 1t
was as though the Creator had opened
his treasure vaults just little that we
might peer I'm and see his unlimited re-
sources
AS the evening hours settled into the
night the last thought inspired by such
sublime surroundings more and more
took possession of my soul. There as
lay upon my pillow under the shad-
ow of Sentinel rock and gaZed at Ell
Captain and Washington column and
Half Dome and Grizzly peak. and while
listening to the evening lullaby of the
Yosemite falls, l said to myself: IF
God wills. will try to tell to my peo-
pie the wonders of Yosemite valley.
will try to show them that the strength
of the hills there revealed Is the SYM
Dol Of the divine strength" The psalm
lists words. spoken thousands of years
ago. were my words in the darkness
of that night. and they are my words
now. THE strength of the hills" or. as
the revised version puts it. 1.-The heights
of the hills are his also"
Great is Yosemite valley. Great in
its heights. great its depths. great its
lengths and its breadths. But, great
as is Yosemite valley, you must re-
member that the same heights and
depths and lengths and breadths of
rocks are directly under your feet and
mine. although we cannot see them.
They are here to hold us up just as
much as the foundation stones of our
church are underneath our feet to bear
the church up. They are here just as
much as solid cornerstone had to be
ument in our national capital or as the
foundation stones We're placed under
the abutments of the Brooklyn bridge
or the solid rock is under Eiffel tower
In Paris.
AS climbed the awful. dizzy
by the edge of an appalling precipice
to Glacier point. this one thought was
uppermOst in my mind. BENDING and
winding we go. Up and up the sure
footed beasts carry us, higher and still
higher. Then the rocks by the side Of
the precipice grow deeper and deeper
at each step. At last we are at the
top. after long five mile pull. Then.
by holding on To a railing. you can look
straight down $3.50 feet At this al
titude of nearly two-thirds of a mile l
looked straight down and saw the Mer-
ced river. 1t was not n silver thread
bending and winding among the many
trees i'm the valley: II was a green
snake. beautiful. but green. Its surface
reflected every shade of green. from
pool. to the lightest shades of aqua.
marine and chrysophrase. Yosemite
falls white garments alone have a fall
of 2.taW feet. or nearly one-half of u
mile. Then. while kept looking down
into that awful precipice-looking
down IL palisade SO deep that | seemed
to be looking into space itself-a still,
small voice seemed To talk to me.
When God called TO Samuel. he called
at night. To me. standing there upon
the pulpit OF Glacier point. ii seemed
that he called in the daytime That
voice was so real to my imagination
that turned TO my wife and asked.
Were you speaking:" No; did you
hear any one talking:" she replied.
Yes" l answered: Il thought l heard
a voice and that 1t must be the voice
Of the Lord"
Then the mysterious voice seemed to
address me i'm these words: when you
go back to your pulpit you will walk
the stone streets Of "a great city You
will climb these. the beautiful noun
tains from the tops OF which you can
see the sun setting among the heaving
waves of the western Pacific. To the
east you can see the sunbeams Of the
early morning burning themselves into
the golden nuggets of many orange or
chards. You can hear the moving ma
chimes fighting their way through the
harvest feds at your feet. But re-
member underneath you is the same
rock. the same depths of rock. the
same immensities of rock you now see
from Glacier point in Yosemite valley.
Remember. o man. that l put those