Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-03-18
Caln1age
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmate' DE-


Frank De Witt Talmate, ID.
los Angeles. Cal, March 12.-ln al
most every home throughout the ianu
the topic chosen by the preacher III
tbie sermon is a more or less familiar
one. The text is Proverbs X, l, "A iooi-
ish son is the heaviness Of his mother'
Death is an enemy. The Bible DIS
tinctly declares it. remember some
wears ago, when visiting one OF tne
New Zealand cities, this thought was
impressed upon me as never before a
voung man. a musical genius, had iate-
lv come from London and captured tnat
whole city by his organ playing. be
was 10 play that Sunday In the churcn
where we were worshiping the nign'
before. coming home from pracucins
upon the keys, he sat down TO eat din-
nor with his wife and two children.
Suddenly he began to gasp. A ISL
! hone had caught in his throat. IN d
few minutes he was dead. Ihe whoie
c,tv was shocked at the awful uag-
adv The church was draped in biacK'
The organ was covered with Grape
Among the sobs of the dead man
friends his pastor preached euiosy
upon this young mans life from 20,
rinthians XIV. 20, "The last enemy tha'
shall be destroyed is death As Tue
nreacher uttered those solemn WORDS
they sank into his hearers consciehce'
an automatic truth.
Oh. yes, death Is an enemy. Dea'l
at times seems to be cruei anu
merciless enemy. 1t breaks asunuel
the marital bands. 1t lifts the little
hobv out of the crib and shuts her Tor
over from our eyes by the closing o
the coffin lid 1t strikes down the Stron'
man who is proclalming Gods WORD IL
the pulpit. 1t empties the office OF th
] nhvsjcian who Is bending over the pa
tient II sometimes sends the pleadih
LAWYER to the grave even before I'll
murderer whom he has defended exp
ates his crime upon the gallows.
1 A Living Sorrow.
}, Rut when listening to that sermon
o the faroff country Of New Zeaianu
/; soliloquized thus: THAT widow Is L
dav having her heart crushed oy III
hearse's wheels even as the lnuia
iugaernaut used to mangle the poui'
Of the Hindoo devotees. But hNln
sorrow can be more formidable and
more awful enemy than sorrow
tho grave. The fiendish acts OF dlss
lute a debauched, a drunken, cru
or an unfaithful husband can Weit
more heavily upon the wife's hea
than the corpse of dead husDah
And bv the same reasoning the eN
deads Of an undutlful or unfalthl
son fall upon the parental heart W.
q more crushing weight than the 81
that falls upon the coffin lid OF ue'
child Thus today, from a pareh'
standpoint, would preach upon |
ks agonizing sufferings of father ana
mother when their children go astr
and do wrong. l include here the
, thers sufferings, as we'll as the mo
er,s The full wording Of the verse
Vi nv text embraces both parents
wise son maketh a glad father. III
sentence interpreted from the negatl
standpoint, means, "a bad boy HaA'
sad father, and a foolish son Is
heaviness Of his mother"
. WHY sad? Why heavyf Flrst
cause the true father and mother
never separate their joys ana Sorro
from the joys and sorrows or u
child. Though a man may live al
his right arm has been amputateu,
hand and the arm cease to live as 81
as the surgeons knife has cut the
tories and the bones which unite III
m the shoulder. But here nat
seems TO reverse the conditions OF
Though a child may live indepenu
~ his parent, a true parent can ne
live Independent of his children IT
tho narental standpoint the parel
ufe and the child life are not
homo Of one bone and flesh OF
flesh. but their exlstences are u
grated upon each other.
Inv of Love IL Unequal
From the standpoint of child
NAV not believe this. You ask: IS
the love between parent and chil
mutual love? Why, then, should
its separation affect the one ecu
with the other? oh, no! Inc iaV
love is unequal. The one VINO MI
sacrifices has stronger ahectloh
the one for whom the sacrinces
made. I 90 into the sculptor's st'
and I say: "Thorwaldsen, why
tbou bending so lovingly over yo
niece of cold marbleF Has tne
q beartY" "Oh, no." answers the
,sb sculptor. 81 do not love THIS
because it has a heart. l love Il
. cause I have put my heart into
nv effort to bring out the beau
6oures which there L see SUM"
or beckoning to me from tue
stone" Why does the artist low
canvas and the composer his orat
Because their life's work has gone
The creations of those masterpiece
ort or Of music. Why did ChristC
Wren's life seem to be anchored
paurs cathedral and Isaac Ne"
ufo n his laboratory? BecauS
.hoso nlaces those men spent mo
their earthly existence IN oru' a.
work out the problems Of their Il, IL
Love inspired by sacrifice. III
true Then how can true fatne
nee' mother hell loving their chllt
How can they ever separate the
,steuce from the joys and sorrow
successes and failures of their chill
Oh. how many sacrifices they
tan UQQrg or sac