The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-06-06


to do and such Il little time in which
to do it. Be busy. Be busy" The hui
man foot may have often crushed an
ant in the pathway, but l doubt if 1t
ever killed an ant taking an afternoon
nap When an ant Is slain in the coun-
try road she Is always hurrying some
where or trying to get back to her
hive after she has accomplished the
purpose Of her Journey. She Is work
Ing She Is continually working. She
Is always working.
No Place For Id1eness.
Idleness has no place in Gods econ
omy. Life is work; life means a con-
tinual struggle for physical as well as
moral and spiritual existence. God
would not send the SHOWS of winter,
the drafts Of summer, the winds, the
frosts and the hunger unless he meant
made helplessness during infancy and
childhood unless he meant Il parent to
work; God would not send sickness
and helpless old age unless he desired
I all people to work during the strength
and vigor Of manhood and WOmanhOod.
If any would not work, neither should
he eat" is the Pauline invective against
sloth. Go to the ant, thou slugguru,
consider her ways and be wise.' All
happiness and health, all mental, So
cial, spiritual and financial progress
depend upon persevering toll. The soon
err our growing boys and girls realize
that they must work for a livelihood
the better it will be for them and the
better 1t will be for us who are caring
for them during the years Of their de
velopment.
Unremitting TOLL an essential for hui
man life. is the first lesson the ant hill
teaches us today. But the ability to
make the right use Of toll, to conserve
energy so that the maximum of results
are produced from the minimum Of Ia
Dor, to perform work SO thoroughly and
intelligently that it is not useless and
has to be done over, IS the second
teaching Of my text. go to the ant,
thou sluggard, consider her ways and
be WISE" does not allude any more to
the ceaseless activity of the ant than it
does to her marvellous foresight, with
which she plans out her work and ac
complishes her results.
The ant uses her brain as we'll as her
mandibles or legs. She uses her eyes
to see where she is going as we'll as
her feet to walk. Study the ant Us an
architect or builder. Some Of lis
have stood in awe before the architec
tural wonders of the cathedrals and
| the palaces of the east. We have seen
walls and columns and domes and
minarets and spires that are "frozen
music in stone" We have climbed the
heights Of Milan cathedral whose tow
ers aud walls are peopled with almost
as great numbers Of apostles and
saints and martyrs and priests carved
in solid stone as there are wOrShipers
who ever gather at one time before its
sacred shrines. We Have seen st, Pc
ter's of Rome connected with the Won
dcrful Vatican and st. Marks, more
poetic than the Venetian canals. We
have seen the marvellous conceptions Of
a Christopher Wren and the wonderful
structure at Cologne, only few years
ago dedicated after having consumed
centuries in building These transcend
ent buildings have lifted themselves up
even as did the temple Of King Solo
mon. Why? Every beam, every stone,
had its appointed place. Each part, as
small mite, fitted into a great unite!
whole. But as l stand today before a
Westminster abbey or ST. Paul Of
London l emphatically assert that
| these structures compared to the
strength and Intelligence Of the build.
ers are not as wonderful as an ordina-
ry, everyday, commonplace ant hive we
may see in the country road.
| Building a Cathedral.
TO build the Cathedral of st. John
the Divine in New York city blasting
powder had to be used. The founua-
lions had to be eXcavated out Of solid
rock. True But the ants often build
their hives by excavating the solid
rock. The walls Of Canterbury cathe-
dral must be absolutely straight. True.
But no mason's plumb line ever erected
straighter walls than the walls Of an
ant hills chambers. The rooms of the
Vatican must be arranged In orderly
fashion. All the chambers Of an ant
hill open into long corridors. Each
room has its connecting Railways A
we'll regulated cathedral must have its
proper system Of drainage. The ant
hive is 50 built that it will shed all Wa
ter. No rainstorm can deluge it's eel
lars. No water overfowing the river
bank can destroy its foundations. The
ancient Romans always built their
cities upon the hilltops for protection
The ants build their hives on high
places, where storm and water cannot
submerge them.
The ants wisdom should be emulat
ed as much as her activity. The Ara
bians held the ants wisdom in such re
spect that after the birth Of male
child they would place one Of these in
sects in the baby's hand while they
made the earnest prayer, 20 God, may
the boy turn out as clever and as wise
as the anti" The human being who
does not work with intelligent fore