Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-16

they are popularity called the day
Clouds or the summer clouds They
are not the cirrus clouds, the white,
feathery masses of condensed vapor
that can he seen far UP In the heav-
n four or Ave miles away from the
earth. at times seeming to be higher
than the stars. They nre not the MIN
bus clouds or the clouds Of the
storm with darker forehead than the
black skin OF the royal representative
Of Queen Candace's palace, who nee
~journeypd TO Jerusalem. The nlmbus
clouds often carry with them the IN
sheathed swords of fire and speak In
the voice of many thunders. They arc
not the stratus clouds, whose lower
layers sometimes form the fog banks
lining the s%eashores and covering the
fields which are sometimes called the
clouds of the night But they are
the clouds near to easah. which are
produced only in fair weather.
THUS when n 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 ap-
pear. Then the m~cteorologist can sec
them sporting amid the tops OF the lofty
mountains, us sea sulls play hide and
seek with the crests of the waves"
All, meteorological, is that your deini-
StN,, ~ XIo ,naryi,~ aIA,,Ir Than 7
know what Hosea means when he says.
Your goodness Is as a morning cloud"
He means: lou are only n 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 Morning Cloud Christian.
Iou say, II nm not a morning cloud
Christian" Well, If you are not, then
what are you? Can God with all His
omnipotent 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 n
of your time? When you saw his loved
ones unjustly treated, have you been
willing to leap forward and be sacri-
feed for their sake2 When young
Stephen Decatur entered the harbor Of
Tripoli a 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 a black skinned pirate seaman
was about to bury his sword in him
when an unarmed American sailor
fung himself between the would be
slayer and his beloved captain and took
the descending sword on his w head.
Are you and l 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 II way?
But there Is still another fact to
which I want to call your attention in
reference to the beauty cf my text.
Johann Eichhorn, the great German
Bible commentator and critic, gives
unstinted praise to the poetry Imagery
Of Hosea's writings. He said: His
discourses are like a garland woven Of
a multiplicity Of flowers. Images are
woven upon images. comparison upon
comparison, metaphor strung upon met
aphor. He plucks one flower and throws
it down that he may directly break Off
another. Like a bee, be flies from ono
flower bed to another that he may suck
his honey from the most varied pieces.
1t is a 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 In the heavens after
the day has dawned.
On m Indian Reservation
was most powerfully impressed
with this figure last year when up in an
Indian reservation. The evening clouds
and the morning clouds, in the language
Of the meteorological, are one. 1t was
the evening of a most beautiful day.
The members Of our party mad broken
camp in the morning and gone on
ahead. I stayed behind in the woods
in order to study and write. About 2
o'clock in the afternoon / shouldered
my gun, threw my pack over my Shout
der and started out to overtake them.
! walked OH and on toward the west.
The sun high IN the heavens, began
to drop lower and lower to the edge
Of the horizon. After awhile it was
like a reflector shining directly at me.
and I had to pull my felt hat down over
my eyes to protect them. But no SOON
err did the sun fall behind the western
hills than It shot its rays up toward
the sky and began to 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-
Quisite lace work. Now they seemed
to be the great domed heights Of the
cathedrals Of the heavens. An. It was
a marvellous sight, the more marvel
GUS because l knew that within a few
moments, by the atmospheric law Of
the west, those hills would be shrouded
IN cnrnrIafa a orknocc THUG thu 00,,ro