Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-08-31

Sastuoh t<S> WHICH nave fttu IN the
shadows or the rivers" Oh. the won
ders of nature as revealed in the mi
raculous creations OF life. Have you
ever ceased 10 be amazed at the first
sentence of the Apostles Greed. II be-
lieve In God the Father Almighty, Max
err OF heaven and earth. and in Jesus
Christ. his only Son. our Lord?"
Need of Providence.
Utter folly is it 10 deny the Father
hood Of God and the divinity Of Jesus
Christ as revealed in the creations of
nature. Many years ago i'm a debating
society the Earl OF Rochester, in order
to ill out the list or debates, tried to
prove that this world had no need of
an overriding or a creating Providence.
After he had finished his speech and
won the applause Of his auditors he
turned and said, How can man who
walks upright. who sees the wonderful
creations OF God and has the use OF his
senses and reason use them to the de-
nying OF his CreatorP So say we all
rof u.s. When we witness tie miracu-
lous effects OF heat In the creation of
| life, we bow before the great COO who
has built the fires OF reproduction upon
every Hillside and in every valley,
| whether we see that life Illustrated in
the wing OF a bird. the leaf Of tree
or An the >throbbing heart OF mortal
and yet immortal man.
But I find that fire is the symbol of
publication as well as OF creation.
When Christ says he will send ere, /
remember that one of his purposes is
to take the dross out of the hard me-
tailic heart. This is as truly part of
his mission as to create the seeds OF
life and by heat burst those seeds into
the white blossoms of the springtime.
The more l study Christs life the
more 1 am impressed with the fact
that Christ continually has to make us
| over and purify u.s. even as the nuggets
OF gold must be burned I'm the smelling
furnaces to separate the alloy from the
true gold. what" you say: "ailf1
Yes; all. There is no exception to the
rule. We have all erred and strayed
like lost sheep. We have all followed
too much the devices aud the desires
OF our own hearts. There Is none that
doeth good-no. not one.
Atmosphere Not Antiseptic.
e We have all been contaminated by
sin from the very atmosphere which
we have breathed. To certain extent
1t is possible in an operating room to
keep the patients wound free from
poisonous Infection. In the first place.
the patient before being operated upon
has his body thoroughly cleansed.
Then he Is etherized and carried to the
operating table. There every instru-
ment and every piece of furniture
and cloth has been made antiseptic
to receive the patient. There the
nurses and the doctors are all dressed
In pure, clean, aptiseptic linen. They
even wash their hands, their faces and
their hair in carbolic solution. The
very atmosphere Is filtered through
apertures covered with gauze. Thus is
the sick patient cared for In the -oper-
ating room. The attendants are thus
careful that no external dust or impu-
| rity touch that patient. But the atmos-
phere we breathe i'm life Is not made
~antiseptic from sin. The hands that
touch us upon the streets are not al
ways pure hands. The lips which
speak TO US are not always pure lips.
Behold, we were born in sin; we have
grown up amid the vitiating atmos-
phere OF sin! Though we have again
and again bowed Mt the mercy seat
and made the publican's prayer, "God
be merciful to me, sinner" yet today
we find that we have just as great q
need Of Christ the Purifier as we ever
had OF Christ the Creator of our souls
and physical bodies.
Now. how does Christ purify our
lives? 1t Is done by the hot fires OF
trouble. A fire is always the best of
all purifiers stand at one of the
great kiln doors OF an East Liverpool
pottery. l say to the potter: N"What
are you doing? Why are you making
those fires so hotY' ITO bake the
clay" he answers 'Why do YOU bake
the clay?' ! ask. ITO get the impuri-
ties out of It," he answers. Then I
stand and hear the roaring noise Of
those seething flames. They leap, they,
hiss, they-try to burn asunder- the
heavy. massive brick walls which are
confn1ng them. AS / peer through
che little hole I seem to hear the CLAY
calling: Let me out! Oh, let me out!
They are burning me to deathr' 'No."
answers the potter: I'VE are not de-
stroying you; we are merely taking
the impurities out OF YOU" Not only do
they burn some Of the clay once. but
twice and even thrice. Each time the
furnaces are made hotter. Then the
clay comes forth as the beautiful vase.
perhaps With its sides painted into a
flower garden by master artist or
into the exquisite features Of a beauti-
ful maiden. to be among the treasured
wedding gifts OF a kings bride.
l step across the bending, twisting
winding Ohio river, filled with its
great freight boats and lined with its
mighty railroads, and enter the
black, smoking heart OF a great CITY
and stand In one OF the huge foundries
that have made Pittsburg SO famous
around the world. see the stalwart
workmen moving about the fires. In
their weirdness they look like the NOV
ing spirits OF Dante's Inferno" Then
see the men tossing the iron ore into
the huge receptacle In which It be-
comes molten as river OF fire. Then
see the river of fire rolled out into
huge bars and tempered and allowed
10 cool. what are You doing. work.
men!' I ask. Making STEEL" "What!
making steel out Of that filthy. base
iron. ore y Yes; steel Is nothing more
or less than crede' iron .purifled by fire
and tempered Alright. That iron ore
shall yet be. changed into steel rails.
over which the huge locomotives will |
run, and into steel beams to hold up |
the bridges that win span the rivers. |