Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-08-10

| OusI Oh ulc OOOO COneD 0o teS-
dmopy> OF men and, womenSwkelw ers
once. a. VITA beasts Of pas6SoeS roam.
ias over .the'movnfains Of. "a, caeryans
dssth and terror evefzwh@ss but VINO.
b. the grace Of God. have 0een com.
pleteAy changed Tbsf voice was once
ne voice Of hate; now a = ths.voics Of
love. Their eyes were once bloodshot
and their hands sharp clawed, ana shdr
teeth 40 cruel % the crooked bsak Of q
hawk. ready to make tn fatal plunge
Into the heart Of dove q lamb or fawn.
Now their eyes are syes Of gentle
ness; their feet are like the great paws
a he noble st. Bernard dogs Of st..
OolAasd pass which ne monRs send
foSeA and Which slmb over the Alps to
hunt FOR the lost and ne dying travel.
efs. These men and women, once cor.
ript are now PARTED. Once wild
beasts Of passion. NOW gentle a. lambs,
thav follow ct the feet Of the Good
Shepherd, and they come to 10 and say,
~ the grace Of God could change w
and save ~ the greece Of God can spir.
itually change you IL you will let IT,"
Not from the jungle Of sin to the Jun.
gle Of sin did they 60, but from the far
country Of ain they came back as re-.
deemed sons and daughters to their
fathers house. Not from man to beast.
but from evil monsters to Gods saint.
ship. has been their redemption, trans.
formation. Emancipation and spiritu-
alization.
II some Of us could not feel that God
saves the vilest and the lowest and the
chief Of sinners, we could not feel that
The Call Of the Good" was for u.s.
There Is a natural law that water
cannot rise higher than its source.
60 down into the valley and find the
brooks leaplng over the rocks. I see
the creeks and the rivers, with their
great serpcntnc coils, bending and
winding through the meadow lands. I
see waters tumbling over miller's
wheel and, like circus rider from the
top OF Bushkill or Minnchaha falls,
leaping through their hoops Of gold.
which the sunbeams In the forms of
rainbows have lifted for them TO play
with. know the water in the valley
can do all this because the source Of
that water Is higher than meadow
lands Those waters come from reser-
voirs Of clouds which have emptietl
themselves upon yonder mountain side.
But In our own strength we have no
highlands. II left to ourselves we are
nothing but a bare. bleak Sahara des-
ert filed not with life, but with death.
But II the spiritual waters can rush
down from the mountain sides and
woman. Then with a bound she ran
and placed her head in the white won.
ans lap and in the Indian dialect Sob
bed: Mother! My mother! My lost
and found mother" All. yes. 1t was the
voice OF the cradle that called her to
her mothers side. And so today you
and ! hear strange voices that are
sounding The Cali Of the Good" They
are the voices Of prayer, Of love, OF
tenderness With which our mothers and
our fathers gave us to God when we
were very little children. Friends, can
not you hear these voices? Just nut
your hand to the back Of your ear and
In Gods name listen. Yes. those voices,
those loving voices. those voices of pa.
rental prayer. Of early childhood, ut
tered perhaps over our cradles, are now
calling US to the higher life.
The Call Of the Livins.
But we do not have to listen to 1.-THE
Call Of the Good" In echoes alone. We
do not have to hear this call to the
better life simply in the voices of dead
ancestors and in parental pleadings
and the wooings Of childhood hours.
We can hear It also In the good deeds
Of the consecrated men and women
who are conspicuous everywhere
around us. All, how many We can
hear If we are only willing to open
our ears and listen to them!
Nobilities and sacrifices Of human
life for the good Of their fellow men
are everywhere sounding. I enter the
physicians Office. and what do I find?
Mean. contemplate selfish and blood
thirsty vampires" says some cynic.
THE doctors. as class, will not only
drain you Of your blood. but they will
rob you Of every dollar they can" oh.
cleanse and purify, and turn into spir-
itual oases the bleak. bare. sinful des-
ert lives Of some Of the men and WON.
en- we have known. the spiritual waters
rushing down from Gods heights can
easily purify and cleanse and change
us into spiritual GASES. Yes, our bleak,
bare. sinful llves--beak and bare as
the most repulsive of all Sahara des-
erts-can be completely changed. Truly
The Call Of the Good" comes nightly
and overwhelmingly TO us from the
redeemed lives Of the Davids. and the
Peters, and the Ma9dalenes and the
Zacchaeuses we see about us on every
hand
A Gail 70 Sinners.
THE Call Of the Good" in Its high
est development means The Call to
Come to Christ" am not now ex-
tending this invitation to the saints.
but to the sinners not to the angels
living In the white mansions Of the
new Jerusalem or singing in the celes-
tial choir lofts. hut to the wild beasts
OF the human race-to those who have |
wandered farther and farther away
until they think that even Christ him. |
self has ceased to love them or to care
for them. l offer II not so much In |
the homes of purity rs upon the wild
mountain sides of sin. In the thlcketa |
OF evil and in tho cold blzza rds ~ do. |