Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-09-20
|Cal,nage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae. D. D.

OS Angeles, Gal, sept. l6.-lnlS
ely sermon, appropriate to the sea-
of the ingnthering Of fruits. brings
is breath of the vineyards. The
is Canticles |, G. But mine own
fyard have I not kept"
es, have seen neglected vine
b. No man can fully understand
hit my text means unless he has
med through one and has seen the
bits scurry through the weeds two
high and has lifted up the long
ruined vines heavy laden with I'M
eloped grapes, imma ture through
of care, and has seen how the
kers have shot out from under the
WINS as vipers sapping away the
tngth of the vines, and yet. as
bearing no fruit. Yes, have
b through such a vineyard. I have
ndered through one, accompanied
an old vine grower have seen
pnthetically lift up vine after vine,
physician mi ht look at the gan
ned limb Of little child, which de-
hpositon has been caused Ivy the
practice of an ignorant doctor. and
ave heard him say: shame. Shame.
8 perfect shame to let this vine
d go to waste. Why, even after this
lect, there are at least sixty pounds
good grapes upon that one vine
ae. Shame, shame. to destroy such
lneyard as this growing upon such
soil" Thus we went through
rs upon acres Of these neglected
rs.
erhaps you would like to know how
came to see this fine vineyard going
taste. had turned my steps home
I'd. My summer vacation in south
California was about ended. The
es Of a busy passionate were calling
back to the city. With compan-
was taking a short cut through
of the very rarely Travelled can
s, when suddenly, as night overlook
we came upon deserted farm. or
ch. 1t was in one of the garden
rs of the world. For nearly twenty
RS its owner had lived there, battling
inst consumption. A few mouths
pre- we arrived the end had come.
his pain racked body was placed
be dust from whence it came. For
e years before he died all his
rgies We're evidently exhausted in
nysical struggle for mere existence.
re were the broad fields stretching
by. practically uncultvated. There
Re the beautiful trees near to his
en- home Just as nature had grown
u. There We're the deserted rooms
bis dwelling, with one of the walls
en- in upon his empty bed. The
KS and weekly periodicals were still
e around. There were even some
his cancelled checks lying upon the
r. There WINS a farm, or ranch, Of
acres. 300 of which We're tillable,
b their orchards and fields and vine
lis, but with no hand to care for
IN. The doves, the quails, the rab-
the bees. We're everywhere holding
carnival. AS we lay for few
hts under those trees we could hear
wildcats snarling calls and the
Is barks and the coyotes yells as
were starting out to hunt their
". 1t was a beautiful. but a sad,
sad place. For this place, like
tor Hugo's Notre Dame, had a
tit. We could see moving every
ERE the frail, sick form Of the late
ler who>on account of his physical
nents. had been compelled to neglect
Sc fields and orchards and vineyards.
A Neglected Vineyard.
here might have been some excuse
the sick man who owned this
lected vineyard of which l have
ken to have neglected his vine
d, but there is no excuse for us
Neglect our spiritual vineyards, as
author Of CantcleS declares the
rch Of God has been doing. Now,
we all. each fall, delight to eat the
}, luscious grapes which are placed
n our dining room tables I thought
morning l would draw my SER
pic illustrations from the vineyard
ustries Of the world. My COMPARE
will not be found in the grape
es which some Of us raise in our
ntry homes, where we build a little
or in our back yards and there
w few vines to grow over It,
Ter which we flee to escape the in
Sc heat of the midnoon sun. But /
draw my illustrations from the
pc industries of southern CGlfor-
and the Holy Land, where grape
wing Is a business upon an en-
yed scale, and where the vines, laid
in long rows by g or by 10
Itch themselves over hundreds and
netimes thousands upon thousands
heres, as the cornflelds spread them
yes over the prniries Of Kansas or
wheatfields grow in the Dakotas.
lany Of the oriental cities like Sa-
ria were nothing more or less than
at centers for this grape industry.
3 plains Of Abel Keramin were
nctlmes called "the Plains of Vine
IDS" The grapes of the valley of
hcol not only made their vines clam
over all the hillsides and the low.
DIS between Hebron and Kadesh
those grapes were famous for their
and sweetness as well as for their
nifty. Thus we have not only Il
at industry from which to draw
sermonic comparisons. but we
b have the grapes, which formed
Of the chief industries of the
brew race. mine own vineyard