Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-02
CalnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt TaimaGe. D. D.

lives 1eTe uTe u pTOCeDb VI U0VeiOp-
ment and that the divine care and pro-
lection surround all who trust in God
is the themo of the preacher in this scr
mon. The text Is Psalm xl. II. "Thc
Lord thinketh upon me-"
S%piritualistic mediums perpetrate
many frauds. But the greatest Of their
absurdities IL not found In the rappings
and groanings by which they apparent
ly summon the dead to their dark pan.
eled rooms and compel them to speak
to their insane victims. 1t Is found In
the ridiculous photography In which
the dupes Of spiritualistic mediums
have their pictures taken, surrounded,
as they are led to believe, by the spirit
faces Of their loved ones who are near
to yet not of this earth. Have you
ever seen any Of these fictitious pic
lures? Within u few blocks Of my old
eastern home was a little stationery
store which had its show windows fll-
ell with them. Raphael painted his
"Sistine Madonna" surrounded by
clouds Of angel faces. Those de.
ceitful photographs that I saw III that
window showed believers In spiritual
ism surrounded by the faces Of their
departed kindred and dear ones and
friends. There they were in those pic
lures, the living with the dead. side by
side. Could any fraud be more bold,
more cruel and more corrupt than that
which declares that such pictures are
genuine? And yet us I would stop and
study these pictures on my way home
during the winter afternoons I often
said to myself. Absurd those pictures
are in reality. but how true they are
fgurativelyc' A man is never a true
man unless he always has many faces
about him. You may think he Ia alone,
but he Ia not alone. These faces, these
many unseen faces. hover over him in
benedictlon. They smile at him when
he smiles. They go with him to places
Of evil resort and rebuke him while he
is there. They joke with him. They
plead with him. They pray with him.
They rome and sit by his bed when he
Is about to fall asleep. They greet him
the moment when he awakens In the
morning. Some Of these faces are old.
Some are young. Some are Just bud
ding into young womanhood. Some
are middle aged. But these faces are
always about us. They are about you.
They are about me.
They nre about us when we are at
home; they are about us when we are
away from home. We may be travel
ing in n railroad train a thousand miles
away from Our W firesideg. 1t Is
the evening hour. We are tired Of
reading the book. We throw 1t down
and rest our heads upon our hands
and look out of the window and begin
to see many faces. Yes" we say to
ourselves, this Is the evening hour.
Our wives are putting the babies to
bed" People may say we are alone Ia
o railroad train. but we are not. We
are home. tell you we are home.
We feel the baby boy climb up into
our lap and beg lis to tell him q story:
we see Il little girls sitting by the
table studying their lessons. After the
prayers have been said and the bed
room lights turned out and the last
journey to the crib has been taken,
with its drinking water and the good
night kiss. we see our wife 80 and
get the darnlng bag filled with a lot Of
the children's stockings. She sits down
by our side. Then che looks up with a
sweet smile and says. MY dear, let us
have a good talk" AS we talk she
sews the big holes the boys have made
In their stockings when they slid down
the cellar door, which Ia their favorite
tOboggan. There she sits In the rail
road train conversing. While We are
thinking Of our absent lear ones, by
the telepathy Of love WI know they are
thinking Of us. They are constantly
by our side. 1t Is because they are
ever present with us in thought that
we try to be just MS good and pure and
true as II we could kiss their lips and
talk to them In the flesh as we'll MS in
the spirit.
er. a wife. a child. the only mes that
are ever present with IFS, because they
are always thinking Of us as we are OF
them? oh, no. David. the sweet singer
of Israel. says there is another face
which We must place over and above
the human faces lowering about us
That Is the face Of God. He Is think
ing about us. He is planning for us
He il pleading with lis. ! want to I'M
press on your minds the fact that the
Lords face is ever present with us
and that he Is continually thinking
about us.
The Fathrr's Care.
God plans for us as a developing
friend. He ia like a true parent who
has n child given into his care by the
birth angel. The true father does not
look into tho face Of n child and say
"Now I have a child l will shield
him. I will always keep him by my
side az O helpless child" Oh, no. Tha'
10 not the true fathers way. No soon
or Is the little child born into the home
than at onee the parent begins to plar
ahead for that child. He plans fol
him a. q baby. as a hoy. 40 . youti
and az a fully developed 4 H.
starts this planning ahead when III
chooses the name for the christening
The selection of the baby's name IL NJ
easy task. The mother may be Of
poetic temperament. She may desire
to g3vs her o q name euphonious al
some Of the romantic names Of tn
Ia >.A faAo