Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-08-17

prOuuceQ Oniy III tdir Wedtuer.
THUS when bright. warm. beauti-
ful spring morning is about to dawn
and the owl and the nightingale have
gone TO their nests. when the aurora
has lifted itself above the horizon and
the suns rays begin TO absorb the dews
and the moisture near TO the earth's
surface. then the morning clouds APP
pear. Then the meteorological can see
them sporting amid the tops OF the lofty
mountains. AS sea gulls play hide and
seek with the crests OF the waves
All, meteorological, is that your defini-
ton of the morning clouds? Then /
know what Hosea means when he says.
Your goodness is as a morning cloud"
He means: lyon are only a fair
weather Christian. You are only a
Christian when the sun is up and every
thing is bright. But you are no Chris
tian for the time of storms"
A Mss.inw Cloud Christian.
You say. II am not morning cloud
Christian" Well. II you are not, then
what are you 2 Can Gcd with all His
omntpotent power put his finger upon
one act OF your life where you were
willing to deliberately sacrifice your
own interests or your ease for him?
Have you given to him any OF your
money! Have you given to him any
OF your time? When you saw his loved
ones unjustiy treated. have you been
| willing to leap forward and be sacri-
| feed for their sake? When young
| Stephen Decatur entered the harbor OF
Tripoli ship was pointed out to him
which he was told was commanded by
the pirate who had murdered Decatur's
brother. Followed by his men. Decatur
leaped aboard that boat and gave bat
| tie to the giant commander While he
! was fighting the commander of the
vessel he was flung upon the deck.
Then q black skinned pirate seaman
was about to bury his sword in him
when an unarmed American sailor
| flung himself between the would be
| slayer and his beloved captain and took
the descending sword on his own head
Are you and ready to sacrifice our
| selves for God as that humble sailor
was ready to die for Stephen Decatur?
Are we simply morning cloud Chris
| tians, unwilling to serve Jesus Christ
except In fair weather, when the sun
| Is bright and when all things are COM
| ing our way?
But there Is still another fact to
which i want TO call your attention In
reference TO the beauty OF my text
Johann Eiehhorn. the great German
| Bible commentator and critic. gives
unstinted praise to the poetry imagery
| of Hoseas writings. He said: His
| discourses are like a garland woven of
4 r. mn ~ a.
| woven upon images. comparison upon
comparison, metaphor strung upon met
aphor. He piucks one flower and throws
1T down that he may directly break Off
another. Like bee, he flies from one
| flower bed to another that he may suck
his honey from the most varied pieces.
1t Is n natural sequence that his figures
sometimes form strings of pearls" But
amid all Hosea's poetic pearls and gar
| lands there is not one more beautiful
than this OF the morning cloud. Why?
The morning cloud is the first real
beauty that we see I'm the heavens after
the day has dawned.
On an Indian Reservation.
1 was most powerfully impressed
with this figure last year when up in an
A
and the morning clouds. I'm the language
| or the meteorologlst, are one 1t was
the evening OF n most beautiful day.
The members OF our party had broken
camp in the morning and gone on
ahead. | stayed behind in the woods
In order TO study and write About =
O'Clock In the afternoon I shouldered
my gun, threw my pack over my Shout
der and started out to overtake them.
walked on and on toward the west.
The sun, high I'm the heavens. began
to drop lower and lower TO the edge
or the horizon. After awhile It was
Ike a reflector shining directly at me.
and had TO pull my felt hat down over
my eyes to protect them. But no SOON
er did the sun fall behind the western
bills than II shot its rays up toward
the sky and began 20 tint the evening
clouds in the most beautiful colors.
Now they seemed to be mirrors OF fire.
Now they became great molten lakes OF
gold. Now they were turned into ex-
quiAte lace work. Now they seemed
to be the great domed heights OF the
cathedrals OF the heavens. All, It was
marvellous sight. the more marvel
Gus because I knew that within q few
moments, ey the atmospheric law of
the west, those hills would be shrouded
In complete darkness. Thus the figure
OF the morning clouds is the more
beautiful because they are the gilded
chariots OF the day. which start to rum
bic across The boulevards of the sky as
soon as the king Of the barnyard has
sounded his reveille to his harem AMI
the farmers boys awake from their
sleep to go forth to do the chores and
to care for the cattle.
| Now, what has the night and morn
Ing cloud to do with our vapory re.
pentanceY some one asks. WHY. do
you not seef The darkness of the night
represents terror or the punishment of
SIN The morning cloud represents the
snort lived repentance which comes to
some OF US just after we have been
punished. Our morning cloud repent
snces are great deal like that of
King Pharoah and his c0urtiers when
Abe plaques Of Egypt came upon them.
God said unto Fharoah, "Iet my peo-
pie 60" Pharoah would not. Then the
river Nile was turned into a river of
blood, and every challice the king lifted
1 % MS lips seemed to be filed 10 the
orim with the refuse Of the public
siaughferhouse- Then the frogs came
leaping up the palace stairs and crowd.
ed into every nook and corner, and. as
cobblestones, they covered every street
and they filled every hallway and bed,
room. Then came the plague OF MUIR
T0f m IN .I I~tI