The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-30


of my Maker for me in his care for this
little Wild flower. If God Is willing to
take the time to color this little leaf and
place 1t in veins and arteries are perfect
In construction as are the veins of my
| own body, If he Is at pains to warm this
leaf into life and feed IL and give 1t drink
surely God is willing 20 care and does
care for me, whom he han made in mis-
| own divine image" Was not Walter
| SCOTS answer right? Can we not find
| the love of God for man demonstrated in
Gods care for the wild flower of Pales-
| tine, which Christ called lilies? Indeed
on this day I go further than this. as
sert that no man can fully realize the
love and tenderness of God unless he
has seen them pictorialized on the leaves
of the wild flowers. The poet preacher,
Henry Ward Beecher, said Il do not
believe that anyone can fully read the
natural world who does not read the
Bible, and | am satisfied that no one can
read the Bible to the best advantage
who does not read the natural world
great deal These things are very much
to each other-what blossom Is to fruit
and what germ is to blossom. One. IL
not the cause of the other, helps TO pro-
duce 1t. And so these two revelations,
the external and the internal, work to-
gether and both work for the same pur-
pose"
Symbols of Gods Care.
Can you not see Gods love and care
for you in the looms which weave to-
gether rose leaf, in the strength of the
honeysuckle, which lifts itself above the
ground, clambering over the sides of a
wall or porch in order to reach the light
of the sun? Can you not find Gods pro-
lection lowering over you in the bristling
thorns of the bush. which guard the wild
flower from the reckless touch of an APP
preaching
Gods care for you by studying the roots
that suck up the strength out of the
ground and the marvellous chemistry
which can gather out of the same black
soil the red for the azalea the purple
for the daffodil, the blue for the hello
trope, the lavender for the hyacinth, the
pink for the carnation and the white for
the lily? Though there are millions and
millions Of wild flowers every spring and
summer, though the fields may be COW
cred with dandelions and daisies and sun
flowers and goldenrod, yet each individ-
ual flower shows Gods tender care.
whether It be the trailing arbutus hiding
in the mountains or the sweet mignon-
cite and the bluebels and the forgetme-
nots and all the frazier floral beauties
which are grown in the greenhouses of
the horticu1turists. If God cares for the
inanimate things of this world. for the
many weeds like the thistle, which the
farmer trys to destroy; if God cares for
the daisies which cannot Speak; for the
moon flowers. which only bloom at night;
for the sensitive plants. so sensitive that
at the least rough shaking of the winds
their petals will fly shut for the pollen,
which is tossed in the air by the summer
breezes. that rose may be married to
rose, aster to aster, mignonette to mgn-
onette, clematis to clematis-surey God
does care for immortal man. for whom
Christ was born and Christ died and
Csrist was resurrected on Easter day.
Yes, God does care for you. though you
have been an invalid for the last twenty
years He does care for you, though a
widow and seemingly facing a life OF
financial struggle, with a large brood of
little ones at your back He cares for
you. though you seem at this moment not
to have a friend in all the WIDE wide
world He cares for you. I know it,
This Easter day Christ saws: Consider
the wild flowers of the fields. As l have
cared for the lilies, so | am caring for
you, oh. we of little faith"
God Loves the Flowers.
Christ loves the Easter lilies. There
fore he respects the work which these
Easter lilies are doing. AS he comes out
of the tomb today he does not bend over
little daisy or a forgetmenot and say,
"Oh, insignificant flower, why are you not
a chrysanthemum among the flowers or
Then the birds of the air could come and
build their nests among your great
branches. Then the great beams of my
cross could have been cut out of the trunk
of your tree. Then mouse could have
been erected from your wood near to my
carpenter shop in Nazareth" Oh no.
Christ would not speak thus on this
Easter day to a daisy. For if he did, the
daisy would look up and say: "Oh, risen
Lord, why are thou rebul1ing me? If
thou didst want me to do the work of a
cedar of Lebanon, why didst thou not
mako It possible for me to grow into
great tree?" Is tortoise to be con-
demned because 1t has to crawl and has
not the wings of a dove? Shall the bin
fish of the Mammoth cave of Kentucky
be upbraided because thou hast put out
their eyes with centuries upon centuries
of darkness? Shall the bat be slain be-
cause 1t has no ears with whicn to hear
or a trout be excommunicat ID from thy
love and care because It has no feet with
which to climb the river bank and walk
dryshod upon the land?
No. no. Christ honors the wild lower
because 1t is willing to 10 The work of
a wild flower, as we should be willing to
do the work for which we were created
and not for our attempting 10 do the
work which 1t is impossible for us to do.
And yet l wander IN and out among
these Easter lilies how often do find
men trying to win the d'ine commends
tIcn, We'll DONE thou 90 and faithful
servant" when they have neglected .he
work which God has given them TO do
and have been trying ten, twerty thirty
years to do some worx fo.- which they
were never fitted. They are not willing to
do simple work like that of the wild flow
ers-the simple, beautifully colored, sweet
scented wild flowers. They are always
trying for some position they cannot at
tain. They are always dissatisfied with
what they are Here, for instance is a
young woman She has a good ordinary
everyday brain. She is a wife and q
mother. But instead of staying at home
and looking after the children and shar-
ing her husbands sorrows and cares she
feels she must be a Joan of Arc or a
Frances e. Willard of Jenny Lind. She
is persuaded she has talents. She has |
had visions in reference to her true ca
reer." No one can dissuade her from this
idea. So she runs around hither and
thither and absolutely fritters away her
life in trying to be cedar of Lebanon |
when God wanted her to be a wild
flower.
Here is a man who Is a good. ordinary. |
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
Lebanan. He wants to be a Savonarola. |
a Thomas Chalmers or John Knox, or |
he hears some of the great evangeists !
of the world, and Immediately he decides
on going over into Macedonia to help the |
English. the Scotch, or the Welsh, or
the Australians. And what is the result?
He ruins his life for good because he is