Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-08-11
pei lessons for the work Of everyday

upon any one. He Is not like the cruel
mnrksman-l will not call him n sports
man--who shoots pigeons from trap.
There the poor doomed bird Is brought
out In u cage. Then by pulling string
the cage tumbles to pieces. Then, be-
fore the dazed and frightened bird
.an stretch his wings, bang goes the
gun, and the birds poor mangled body
falls over u quIvering corpse. God does
not destroy an immortal soul as a
treacherous. murder0us Indian would
stealthily creep mp and tomahawk and
scalp the sleeping immigrants before
they could leap to their feet and grasp
their rifles aud fight for their lives.
God does not deal with man In this
matter as IL he had to build as Robert
Louis Stevenson's grandfather built.
That great engineer. Robert Stevenson.
built the famous lighthouse upon the
dangerous rocks of Little Cumbrac.
He built II between the storms which
often howl about and lombard the
Scottish coasts. When you build on
that coast you must hasten or you will
be swallowed up in the surgings of the
seas. But God says: Man. you can
build your house la the dry season OF
the east You will have plenty Of time
to build II. You must not be slothful
or lazy. Time flies, but II does not hy
so quickly that you Will not have plen-
~ OF time TO do the work which have
given you TO do. II you will only con-
scientiously apply yourself to that
work" The rainy seasons are com.
Ing" he warns us. But the rainy sea-
sons will not come before the dry sea
sons have given you plenty Of time TO
prepare for the onrushing deluge." Is
not this a true Interpretation Of my
text: Is not this true Interpretation
OF the history of our personal lives?
Let us reckon today how long your
dry season" or years Of building, have
lasted. Ten years. twenty years. thirty
years. forty years. fifty years. have
they been. What. For some of you
have they not lasted sixty years? For
the first ten or thirteen years OF your
life you may not have been responsible
IOT WHIT NOu Duh NIIiFt .Ou
certainly have been responsible. The
other day the chaplain OF one OF the
largest state penltcntiaries told my
people that few years ago there was
sentenced to his penitentiary boy
who came there in short trousers to
serve sentence OF many years. II
that boy. because he had committed a
fiendlsh crime. was looked upon as
morally responsible. does not God hold
us morally and spiritually responsible
for what we have builded since we
entered our teens My teens" As
we speak those words how far they are
back in memory for some OF US. Yes.
God does not work snap Judgment
upon any one here today. lie gives US
our work to do. He gives us long
dry season." or years OF preparation,
In which TO do that work What have
you builded In your years OF prepare
ton? What have you done for man,
and what have you done for Godi
We Are All Builders.
But while was bordering upon our
"dry seasons" or years of preparation
which have come to us In rearing our
life work. this thought came upon me
with driving force: During our years
OF preparation ivT the ''rainy season"
we are all builders. We cannot get
away from that fact Every one OF
us IL building. consciously or uncon-
sciously. We are either building upon
the rocks or we are building upon the
sands We must be the wise man Of
the parable or the foolish man OF the
parable. There Is no escape. We have
10 keep doing. and We must keep
growing. growing for good or growing
for evil.
In one Of his sermons Mr.. Sturgeon
telplece. among other marvels. there
was an apple In bottle. This apple
completely filled the inside OF that bot
tie and was four or five times larger
than the bottles neck. As Il little boy
Spurgeon used TO climb up on chair
and study that bottle. He kept saying
to himself. How could great big APP
pie like that get into that neck?" Then
he tried 10 unscrew the bottom OF the
bottle. Then he took IL down and held
II to the light 10 see whether or no the
glass had been broken and glued to-
gether again. No, not one OF these
facts could account for the big apple
In the bottle. But one day he found
out the explanation. While he was
playing In the orchard he saw his
grandmother take another bottle and
place II over very small apple and
then tie the bottle TO the stem and
leave Il there Yes. she left IL there
until the little apple grew into big ap-
pie. and she put that second bottle with
Its apple alongside Of the first bottle
with Its big apple ON the mantelpiece.
When / read that illustration said TO
myself. "Ah. that is the growth Of life"
We grow up without thinking OF the
future, and some day we are suddenly
halted by limitation that has been
around us from early years unknown to
US. BY some act or some neglect. some
sin or some weakness we have entered
into bonds which limit and stunt our
growth. II seemed light thing at the
beginning, only habit or n connection