The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-01
 DIR. TAI LMAGE'S SERMON.


tie warmth of the atmosphere the buds commence to turn into flowers I think to
 myself. Oh, what beautiful season is
 spring.! Then. when summer comes and covers the trees with thick foliage, when
 the birds are so happy in singing their
 pretty songs, I say to myself, Oh, sum
 mer Is a fine thing! linen when autumn
 comes and I see the same trees loaded
 with the most tempting fruits, l cry out.
 Oh, how magnificent is autumn And
 finally, when the rude, hard winter makes its appearance and there are neither
 leaves nor fruits on the trees, then
 through their naked branches I look up-
 ward and perceive better than I could
 ever do before the stars that glitter in
 the sky" Aye, like the aged Christian
 and like Paul of my text, amid all things
 we should learn to give thanks unto God.
 Give thanks unto God for all things.
 Yes, we ought to be ready to do that.
 But in order to bring our spiritual lesson
 little nearer home let us make an in- | ventory of some of the blessings which naturally have come to those of us who have just returned home from our sum- mer vacations. Many of us during the past summer have been away to the noun tains or down to the seashore, seeking rest and physical and mental strength and recreatio We are now back to the old treadmills of city life. Some of us when boarding the train for home did so with a sigh Well" we said, fun is over for one year. Now for another twelve
 months of hard grind We sighed thus, as though all the pleasures of life were found in vacations. Are they? Let us see. Let us study for little while the blessed resuscitation which should come to every
 healthy man and healty woman from a summer vacation. Let us make short summary of the blessings of our city lives and see how much there is In them Tor which we ought to thank God.
 We should in the first place thank God for our homes. I do not here use the word home in the broad. but in the mar
 row. sense. It may be but humble cot tage with poor, worn furniture; but 1t Is home and every article In 1t has It's tender associations. Perhaps 1t Is more affluent. Then there Is the more cause for gratitude to God. Then we should
 humbly thank God for our beds and car
 pets and pictures upon the walls, our
 dining room tables and kitchens and for the four walls of our own libraries. want you to thank God today for your city house which few weeks ago you l looked upon as prison, but now, witt l its rooms and its closets and its familiar | entrance, you consider the most blessed 1 place in all the world.
 Blessings of Home.
 It is strange 1act that, Tn Order 10 ap- preciate our city homes as well as oui | other blessings, most of us have to be deprived of them for awhile. We are I a great deal like that quaint laborer who
 was hod-carrier. A friend was commits
 erating with him because he had to carry
 his heavy load of bricks up the ladder l to the top of high wall. "Oh." he said "I do not mind the going up so much. for when I reach the top l always feel SC 1 contented when I put my load down. l Most of us once in awhile have to carry ! a heavy load in order to be happy when 1 we do not have any loads to carry. We
 must be separated for time from oul 1 blessings in order to appreciate them when they come back to us. We are like some people living in southern California | one of the most glorious climates in all 1 the world. Here people sometimes grow 1 absolutely tired of the sunshine. "Oh, 1, said man to me some time ago, T wish 1 I could get rid of the sun. I am so tired | of looking at it. It is beautiful day after I day for week in and weak out and fol month in and month out. would that I could see just one old-fash- toned New England storm or Illinois bliz gard" Yes" I answered my friend you wish you could see a Chicago blis