The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-11-24

/ to be unscalaDle heights erected as
walls about huge prison for lost
souls. while there, again, as In SEN
tinel rock, they seemed to be signal
stations lifting themselves high above
the clouds to put us In touch with other
worlds and with God. Thus these walls
OF rock, these fOrtresses Of rock. these
mighty Obellsks and pyramids OF rock.
these great sheets OF rock upon which
God had registered the histories of the
ages, seemed to be object lessons. II
was as though the Creator had opened
his treasure vaults Just little that we
might peer IN aud see his unlimited re-
sources.
As the evening hours settled into the
night the last thought inspired by such
sublime surroundings more and more
took possession Of my soul. There as
lay upon my pillow under the shad-
ow Of Sentinel rock and gsZed at FL
Captain and Washington column and
Half Dome and Grizzly peak. and while
listening 10 the evening lullaby Of the
Yosemite falls. said 10 myself IF
God wills. will try To tell To my peO-
pie the wonders OF Yosemite valley.
will try 10 show them that the strength
~ the hills there revealed il the sym
boil OF the divine strength" The psalm
lists words. spoken thousands Of years
ago. were my words IN the darkness
of that night and they are my words
now. The strength of the bills" or, as
the revised version puts IT, The heights
Of the hills are his also"
Great is Yosemite valley! Great In
its heights. great its depths. great Its
lengths and its breadths. But. great
as Is Yosemite valley. you must re-
member that the same heights and
depths and lengths and breadths Of
rocks are directly under your feet and
mine. although we cannot see them.
They are here 10 hold Us mp just as
much as the foundation stones OF our
chursh are underneath Our feet 10 bear
the church up. They are here just as
much as a solid cornerstone had TO be
placed at the base OF Washington mon
umcnt IN our national capital or as the
foundation stones were placed under
the abutments Of the Brooklyn bridge
or the solid rock Is under Eiffel tower
IN Paris.
As climbed the awful, dizzy
heights Of one Of the Sierra Nevadas.
by the edge Of an appalling preclpice
TO Glacier point, this one thought was
uppermost I'm my mind. Bending and
winding We go. Up and up the sure
footed beasts carry us. higher and stu
higher Then the rocks by the side Of
the precipice grow deeper and deeper
at each step. At last we are at the
top. after a long Ave mile pull. Then,
by holding on TO a railing, yOu can look
straight down $3.50 feet. At this al
tltude OF nearly two-thirls OF mile
looked straight down and saw the Mer-
ced river. Ii was not silver thread
bending and winding among the many
trees in the valley; II was a green
snake beautiful, but green. Its surface
reflected every shade OF green, from
the darkest green, dark as Emerald
pool, to the lightest shades OF aqua
marine and chrysophrase. Yosemite
falls white garments alone have fall
Of 1900 feet, or nearly one-half OF a
mile. Then, while kept looking down
into that awful precipice-looking
down a palisade so deep that | seemed
to be looking into space itself-s still,
small voice seemed TO talk 10 me.
When God called to Samuel, he called
at night. To me, standing there upon
the pulpit OF Glacier point, IL seemed
that he called in the daytime. That
voice WAS SO real to my imagination
that / turned to my wife and asked,
Were you speaking?" no; did you
hear any one talking:" she replied.
Yes" answered; Il thought heard
voice and that it must he the voice
Of the Lord"
Then the mysterious voice seemed to
address me in these words: "When you
20 back to your pulpit you will walk
the stone streets OF great city. You
will climb these. the beautiful noun
talns from the tops OF which you can
see the sun setting among the heaying
waves OF the western Pacific. To the
east you can see the sunbeams Of the
early morning burning themselves into
the golden nuggets OF many orange or
chards. You can hear the moving ma.
chimes fighting their way through the
harvest fields at your feet But re-
member underneath you is the same
rock. the same depths Of rock, the
same immensities Of rock you now see
from Glacier point in Yosemite valley.
Remember, o man. that | put those
rocks underneath thee that the waters
OF the Pacific might be an aquarium
for thee and that the fields might feed
thee and that thy home might not be
built upon the sinking sands. Even in
the unseen rocks | am ever near thee,
loving. caring, sustaining and protect
ing my children"
Does this voice Of the unseen rocks
speak TO you Of Gods love. as on the
panoramic rocks seen from Glacier
point It seemed to speak TO me Of the
divine love when I stood in old Yosem-
lite?
But the heights OF the hills and the
depths OF the valleys Of Yosemite teach
more Than the ever present. sustaining
care OF Divine Father Those rocks
were to me libraries OF the past cen
turies and Of the mlllenniums. You
and I have read about the famous
libraries OF ancient Alexandria and
Nineveh and Babylon. We have heard
that these ancient books were 90 many
that in Alexandria alone II took SIX
months to destroy part Of them when
those parchments and manuscripts
were used for common fuel to light the
fires OF the 1000 bathrooms Of that
great city. But l want to tell you that
when a man rides through Yosemite
,-otto,- ord olfr,ho ifs dizzV heights he