Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-07-10
Calnage
sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talrnaee, D. D.

evil companionships and shows that
real courage does not rashly court dan
ger, either moral or physical. but rath-
er avoids #. The text is "Ecclesiastes
xii. 5. "They shall be afraid Of that
which is high"
What is the Biblical picture Of my
text: Mere physical decadence and
mental decrepitude? Do we find here,
as dear friend of mine some time ago
tried to prove to me, simply a half
blind, deaf, toothless, stiff jointed,
rheumatic. palsied, helpless old man,
being wheeled around in an invalid
chair or hobbling about on a crutch or
grunting and groanlng on a bed of
chronic invalldism? Is he a nervous
wreck, a white haired, timorous old
patriarch. afraid of his own shadow?
Is he a cowardly person. who, realizing
his own physical infrmities with dis
eased mind, is conjuring up a lot of
imaginative dangers if there are no
real dangers at hand? / think not. /
believe that the writer is here pictur-
ing old age, but it Is the noble, brave
and self reliant old age which your
father and mine had when they drew
near the end of their earthly career.
It is not the pitiable old age of senile
cowardliness. 1t IS the farsighted, in
spring old age of caretaking cautious
ness which generally comes from the
bitter experience of misfortunes. To
be cautious is not necessarily to be
cowardly. To be reckless is not nee
essarily to be brave The reason some
young folks are reckless is because
they do not realize the dangers at
hand. against which as sensible men
and women they should carefully pro-
tect themselves.
Let me illustrate. You call me up on
the telephone; say: Hello! Is that you?
Will you take a drive this afternoon?
All right I will be up with the car
rage in twenty minutes" When you
drive up with the carriage see that
you have a beautiful, high stepping,
mettlesome thoroughbred. When l en-
ter the runaboqt / see you hold the
reins tight You speak gently and
soothingly to your horse. By the tone
of your voiceand by the way you han
die the lines l know you are a good
driver, andI feel perfectly safe. But
supposinA i enter your carriage and
see you 1erk the lines. Then you let
them Ae loose; then you halloo at the
horss6r cut him with the whip. What
do doa. Why, L simply get out of that
caffiage md walk home, not because ]
Il q coward. but because 1 know that
40 not know how to drive a mettle-
tpie horse. l know what that means.
once rode behind a fractions colt,
With just such an inexperienced driver
rs You are, and was nearly killed
i have more respect for my neck and
my life than to trust them in such
incompetent hands again. When l
was young man did not care what
kind Of horse l rode behind or what
/, kind of a driver had hold Of the lines,
but from bister experience now know
about such dangers and give them
very wide berth. Such, 1 think, is the
distinction of my text We see the
old man not cowardly, but cautious;
we see him afraid of that which is high
because past experience has written
over such places "Bewarer This is a
danger sign, Beware
BE Cautious.
But do we have to wait until old age
before we become wisely cautious? Not
only is it the duty of all men to be
careful and run no needless risks, but
it is certainly the duty of young meI
to learn from old men the lesson Of
loving cautiousness." There is 81
much-aye, so very much-dependins
on most of US younger men, Many O.
us have families of little children wht
are looking to us for their daily bread
We are also responsible for our useful
ness which can bless all mankind
! about u.s. Thus, instead of telling N.
hearers to be needlessly reckless,
would tell those in youth and those il
the prime of strong. middle life to b
1 "lovingly cautious" Be cautious 70
{ your own sakes. Especially be eau
tious for your dear ones and for tn
good which you may do for Christ an'
for the great outside world. No ma
has a right to run any useless risk
whereby his physical life might quick
" be ended If duty calls you as .
nurse or surgeon. TO enter the conta
gious ward of hospital, then ther
you should go. If duty bids you shoul
der a rifle and charge the enemy upol
a bloody battlefield for your country
preservation, then there you should g
and fight. But, If duty does not com
mand you to endanger your physics
life, then you have no right to run an,
reckless risks.
Useless recklessness is not the sig
OF a sublime bravery, but of arrogan
and insipid stupidity. General WI
liam T. Sherman on his famous marc
from Atlanta TO the sea powerful
taught this truth. For days and week
and weary months Joseph E John
yton and he had been playing hide an
Geek behind their opposing breast
works. First would come the brillian
banking movement then the brav
charge. then the quick retreat and IN