The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-07-21

your back. lie cares for you, tnoug
you seem at this moment not 10 have
friend in all the wide, wide world. IL
cares for you. know IT, This Easte
day Christ says: Consider the wilt
flowers Of the fields. As / have care'
for the lilies. so am caring for you
Oh. We of little faithw
Christ loves the Easter lilies. There
fore hc respects the work which thes
Easter lilies are doing. As he come
out Of the tomb today he does not benz
over a little daisy or a fOrgetmenO
and say, "Oh, insignificant flower, VIII!
are you not a chrysanthemum amOnl
the flowers or a cedar Of Lebanon
among the trees? Then the birds OF th'
air could come and build their nest
among your great branches. Then th'
great beams Of my cross could hav,
been cut out Of the trunk Of your tree
| Then a house could have been erected
from your wood near 10 my carpenter
shop In Nazareth" Oh, no. Chris
would not speak thus on this Easter
day 10 a daisy. For If he did. the daisy
would look up and say: "Oh. riser
Lord. why art thou rebukng me? II
thou didst want me TO do the work OF
a cedar Of Lebanon, why dldst thou nor
make it possible for me to grow into q
great treeW Is a tortoise TO be con
dcmned because ii has 20 crawl and
has not the wings of a dove? Shall the
blind fish Of the Mammoth cave OF
Kentucky be upbraidcd because thou
hast put out their eyes with centuries
upon centuries Of darkness Shall the
bat be slain because II has no ears with
which 10 hear or trout be excommu
nicated from thy love and care because
IL has no feet with which TO climb the
river bank and walk dryshod upon the
landI
No no. Christ hOnOrs the Wild flower
because II is willing TO do the work Of
a wild flower, as we should be willing
10 DO the work for which we were ere
atod and not for our attempting 10 do
the work which II is impossible for us
10 do And yet as wander in and out
among these Easter lilies how often do
| find men trying to win the divine
commcndation, We'll done, thou good
and faithful servant" when they have
neglected the work which God has
given them 10 DO and have been trying
ten. twenty, thirty years TO do some
work for which they were never fitted
They are not willing TO do simple
work like that Of the wild fowers-the
simple, beautifully colored, sweet
scented wild flowers. They are always
trying for somc position they cannot
attain They are always dissatisfied
with what they are. Here, for instance,
is u young woman She has a good,
ordinary, everyday brain. She Is a
wife and mother But instead Of
staying at home and looking after the
children and sharing her husbands
sorrows and cares she feels she must
be a joan of Arc or n Frances i. vii
lard or a Jenny Lind. She is persuaded
she has talents She has had visions In
reference to her true career" No one
can dissuade her from this idea. So
she runs around hither and thlther and
absolutely fritters away her life in try
ing TO be a cedar of Lebanon when
God wanted her to be a wild flower.
Here is a man who is a good, ordi-
nary everyday simple preacher. If he
would only be satisfied In the position
God had assigned him he would be
nightly blessed. But he wants to be
a cedar Of Lebanon. He wants to be
a SavOnarOla, a Thomas Chalmers or
a John Knox, or he hears some Of the
great evangelists Of the world, and i'm
medately he decides on going over In
10 Macedonia TO help the English, or
the Scotch. or the Welsh, or the Aus
tralians. And what is the resultY He
ruins his life for good because he Is
not willing to be simple wild flower
in Gods service.
Never despise your humble position
In life. because you are like the sim
pie wild flowers. When the second
advent comes and Jesus. as the Divine
Bridegroom, goes down among the
Easter lilies or the Wild flowers the
Lord will not say unto the multitude
of his children: did you occupy a
great position in life7 Were you
noted general. or king, or statesman
Like Hannah More. did you WELD q
brilliant penn Like Nine de Recamler,
did you have a salon filed with the
leading thinkers Of your land" He
will say, however: did you nestle, as
a clover top, among the green grasses,
as commanded your Did you tighten
the sicIroom Of some invalid when. at
my command, the messenger plucked
you? Did you breathe out your fra
GRANGE upon the coffin lid while the
minister uttered the cOmmttal, Ashes
10 ashes. dust TO dustT Did you make
the marriage altar sweetor ond holier
when the young girl plucked you in the
fields and with your bright faces dec
GRATED the village church on the we'd
ding day7 Did you carry the message
Of love between the angry brothers and
sisters and friends who had Quarreledf
! made you wild flowers. | loved you
because YOU were wild flowers. As
Easter lilies, did you love and honor
meT'
Another Easter lesson. After we
have done our best. then. Ike the Wild
flowers. let us trust God that he will
DO what is best for us. After we have
done our best we have no more right 20
worry about our future than the wild
flowers have 10 worry where they are
going TO get n drink or from what
quarter their daily meals are to come
OF where they are to find their sunshine
nr their nights In which TO sleep. ! find
nh the more justification in the use Of
this figure because at times II seems 10
me that flowers. after all, are not mere
.nanimate objects but have certain
Intelligence of their own. They seem
10 me at times to be almost human in