Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-03-16
CalnnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. u.

mos, every hofas throughout the land
the topic chosen by the preacher In
This sermon ~ n more or less familiar
one. The text ia Proverbs 4. I, "a fool
ish son is the heay,ncss Of his mother"
Death is an enemy. Tho Bible dis.
tinctly declares it. remember some
years ago. when visiting one of the
Now Zealand cities. this thought was
Impressed upon me- as never before. \
Young man, n musical genius, had late
~ come from London and captured that
whole city by his organ playing He
was TO plny that sunday in the church |
where We were worshipng The night
before. coming home from practicing
upon the keys, hr sat down To eat din
ner with his wife and tw" children.
Suddenly he began To gasp. fish
bone had caught in his throat In
few minutes he WAS dead. The whole
city was shocked at the awful trag-
edy. The church was drap"d in black.
The organ WAS covered with Grape.
Among the sohs of the dead mans
upon this young mans life from TO-
rinfhians XIV. 20. The last enemy that
shall ne destroyed is death AZ the
preacher uttered those solemn words
they sank into his hearers con>ciences.
an automatic truth.
Oh YES, death Is an enemy Death
at times seems t. he II cruel and
I,r., -
,he marital bands II lifts the little
baby ont Of the crib and shuts her for.
ever from our eyes by the closing Of
the CONN Id It strikes down the strong
man who is proclaiIning Gods word in
the pulpit II emsties TIE Office Of the
physician who IL be..3,,g over tho pa
,ient it sometimes sends the pleading
lawyer to the grave even before the
murderer whom he has defended cXpi-
atcs his crime upon the galioWs.
Living sorrow.
But wher listening to that sermon IN
tho faroff country Of Now Zealand I
soliloC.Aed thus: THAT widow is to-
day having her heart crushed by the
hcarse's Whec'5 even rs III" Indian
incg7rna,it used 10 maEclc the bodies
Of the IIindoo devo,ees. But living
sorrow can 10 more form 'dahlc and II
more awful enemy than n sorrow Of
the grave The ficndisl, acts of disso-
iute. a debauched. a dru.ken. Il crlai
or an unf 'ithfui husband can weigh
moro :aA i.y upon the wifc's heart
than -. c,rr7, Of dead husband.
And b. III, So i,e reasoning til" evil
deeds Of an undutifLl or unfaithful
son fall upon the parental heart with
more crushing weight than the sod
child Thus today, from parental
standpoint. | would preach upon tie
aConizinE suff :Ta>s Of Il father and a
mother W., tho rhildre.: 80 aStray
and do wrong / include here the fa
Tiers sufforngs. as we'll rs the moth
ers. The full wording Of thu verse OF
my text embraces both parents. "A
wise So maietL n CAD father. That
sentenc. !. 'nrp-ei ell from the negative
standpI,, 1t. reanS, "A bad hoy maketl
a sad '-ther. and foolish son is tho
heavinc>s of hi, mother"
WIZ sad Why heavy: First be-
cause the true father and mother cal
ncyar separate thnr joys and sorrow
from the Joys and sorrows of thc
child. -, "igh Il men may live aftc
his RICH. ar,.: has been amputated. tn
hnnd ana the arm cease to live as sool
rs the s,.,cor's knife has ruit the ar
,eres an. the bones which unite then
"a the shoulder. Rnt he,c natnr
seems to reversA the conditions OF life
Though n child may i've independent
Of his parent. n tr.'c pnrcnt can neve
live indepe cd.nt OF his children. Fror
tn" parenini standpoint the parenta
life and the child life are not orr
bone OF one bone AMI feSn Of on
flesh. hut their existpnces are trui
grated upon each other.
Inv Of Love II Unequal.
From the standpoint Of "A child yo
may not believe this Yon ask Is ne
the love between parent and child
mutual love: Why. then. should NJ
IS separation affect the one equal
with the other? oh. no. The law {
love IS unequal The ono who make
sacrifices has stronger affection tina
the one, FOR whom the sacrifices al
made. ! so into the sculptor's studi
and say: "Thorwaldscn. why a
thnu lending so lovingly over yond'
piece Of cold marble? Has the stoI
hearth" ooh. no. answers the Ia
ish sculptor II do not love this stoi
because IT, has n heart. love il b
cause | have put my heart into 1t
my effort to bring ont the beautif
figures which there | see slumberiI
or beckonipg TO me from the 60
stone" Why does tho artist love b
canvas and the composer his orator.
Because their life's work has gone in
the creations Of those masterpieces
art or Of music why did ChristOph
Wren's life seem to be anchored to
Pauls cathedral and Isaac Newton
life 10 his laboratory? Because
these places those men spent most
their earthly existence in order
work ont the problems of their lives
Love inspired by sacrifice That
true. Then how can n true father
mother help loving their children
How can they ever separate their
istence from the joys and sorrows.
successes and failures of their chlldre
Oh, how many sacrifices they ha
made. Was IT ten years Of sacriht
More than that--twcnty years. thi