The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-10-15

was going to do. / must be ready to
go and meet him SOON"
Widow, childless mother, broken-hearted
man, cannot you make your own appli-
cation? In the silence of the empty
home God is calling. He is calling in the
voice of your redeemed loved ones. Can
not you hear him? You must be ready
to go and meet them soon.
But strange to say / find the "silent
places" where we should hear God S voice
in the busy noise and hustle and hum of
a great city. | find them amid the clang-
ing of the electric cars 1 find them in
the rumble of the big factories. / find
them amid the hilarities of social gath
erings as we'll as in the silence of the
death chamber These awful "silent
places should speak to us today in Gods
name; they should rouse us to the I'M
fulfilled opportunities of Christian work
as never before. Let mel illustrate my
thought by a simple experiment of my
life, which shows how a man can be in
the world and yet not of it. Many years
ago, when a college student, | had an OPP
portunity to deliver a few lectures dur
ing my Thanksgiving vacation in New
England. Mother did not want me to go,
but | wished to make beginning In the
practice of public speaking as soon as
possible. | left my Brooklyn home with a
happy heart, but when Thanksgiving eve
came | became more and more homesick.
Oh. how homesick I was! That evening
| was in Boston. | walked up and down
the streets without a friend. I stood in
the depot with the happy fathers with
their big bundles on their arms, heading
for home. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving
/ saw the young married folks, with smile
and good cheer. taking the grandchildren
back to the old homestead i saw some
who were dressed in black. smiling for
the sake of others. But. though there
xuaf la nd 70 -,
erings all around me- l was alone. l was
in silent place" No one cared for me-
No one in all that big city spoke to me
except ON business. l was in a silent
place" AS my mind runs back those
twenty years l say to myself and to you.
How many of us are spiritually living in
silent places?
Neglect of Opportunities.
AAre your neghbors part of you? Do
they gratefully watch you? When you
go through the woods not one leaf turns
toward you unless you make 1T turn
Why? The leaves know you not. When
you go through the streets of great
city you meet men; you meet hundreds of
men; you meet thousands of men. Do
they spiritually see you? Are you spirit
ually in the city and yet not part of 1t?
How many of the men you pass in daily
life look up at you with a smile and
tended to me a saving hand when / was
struggling in the quicksands of a great
temptation. By the noble work of your
life you have been a Christian exam
pie which has inspired me to lead a
Christian life;'' how many of all the men
and women you have known in this city
life can speak thus to you? One? Ten?
One hundred? A thousand? Are you spir-
itually TO your friends what I was in
Boston many years ago? Are you in one
of the silent places?"
Then. my brother. If you have neglected
the spiritual opportunities of life for the
great outside world, how have you dealt
with those Of your old home. Did you
never realize that husband and wife
could live side by side for years and
never know each other in the deeper and
In the holier sense? Did YOU never realize
| that there an be great silent places
between brothers and sisters. between pa
rents and children. between children and
| parents? Silent places there are In
| which peoples souls do not commingif
and knc v each other in holy fellowship