Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-03-31
Calnnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae, ID. D.

has confronted every generate since
the world began-the training and de-
velopmcnt of the child-and shows In
new light the individual responsible
ity of parents. The text IL II Kings Nv,
70, rs II well with the childY'
Some time ago IL was my privilege to
spend day with dear friend. who
for many years was u Utah mission.
AIRY. In one of his tours he became
lost. He stopped for the night at a
farmers home away back In the noun
talns. Next morning this farmer said,
Come. want 10 show you wonder
full sight" Then he took my friend
and they rode of for many miles until
they came to II great lava bed about
two miles wide aud four or five feet
high. This lava must have begun vom-
iting forth from II volcano hundreds II
not thousands of years ago. There
upon the top of this lava bed were to
be seen the footprints of II woman and
just behind them the footprints of
little child My friend told me he be-
lievcd that those footprints must have
been made when that lava was In
process of cooling. They must have
been made by woman of the mound
building period or OF one OF the other
prehistoric ages. And yet those In
denta tons In that lava were just as
clear and distinc. as though made but
yesterday. After my friend had ceased
talking said 10 myself: YES. that Is
wonderful record. but perhaps we
might see the habits and customs OF
some of those prehistoric ages repro.
duced in our own lives IL we could only
trace them out. Because we do not
know from whence our habits original.
ed. that does not prove they have not
been handed down from father to son
even unto the tenth generation, AS the
Bible tells us is the case with the con-
sequences of n mans sins"
We often say 10 ourselves. How sur
prised our grandfathers ana grand
mothers would he If they could awake
and get up out Of their graves and see
the modern inventions the automobiles
and railroad trains and telegraph and
telephone wires and skyscraping office
buildings" But often think how sur
prised we might he II our great-grand-
parents could come back To earth and
tell us how many Of the customs of our
present lives were practiced many cen
turtles ago. Dr. Schlicmann. the great
German archac0logist and the discov-
ercr Of the ancient site of Troy. was
such devOtcc of the past that lie gave
his wife IIomeric name and called his
servants by the nomenclature Of the
heroes and hcroines Of the Odyssey"
and the 'llaih." He also called his chill
drcn AggmcmnOn ana Andromache.
But mcthinks II Hector and Achilles
and Ajax and Helen and Paris could
come back TO the world In the flesh
they would have been just as much sur
prised ut the ways of Dr. Schlemann
as Dr. Schliemann would have been
surprised at their ways For In many
matters their customs were the same.
In the ways of salutation. In their loves
and their hates and In many of their
habits | believe that the year 1906
Il. c. can be found 10 be akin to the
year 1906 A. ID.
speak thus because want you to
realize that the human life depicted In
the Bible is just the same kind Of hui
man life that we have in modern times.
When we study the life of Elisha In
S95 Il. c., we are studying the lives Of
the men and the women of the present
day. Now, this Shunammite woman Of
my text had very sick boy. and he
died. What did the mother do? What
would you and have done under the
same conditions? She said. Il will go
and hunt up the prophet OF God"
When she came TO Elisha. what did he
do? For years this prophet when he
was journeying that way had been ac-
customed 10 stop ut this woman's house
and sup with her. her husband and her
boy. Thus, when the Shunammite wo-
man drew near Elisha accosted her In
the language of the twentieth century
as well as in that OF the millenniums
which are gone. Elisha says: "How are
you? How Is your husband? How Is
your child:" To speak literally he said:
"Is Il well with thee? Is II we'll with
thy husband? Is II well with the
child!" Now, am going TO accost you
with only one of the questions with
which Elisha greeted this mother. ]
am going To inquire from YOU ms TO the
welfare of your babies. of the boys and
the girls. We are both parents. and so
In this home greeting say: How
Is II with the children? Is Il well with
the child:" Are you ready here and
now TO answer this important saluta-
ton!
How IL the ChiIdf
How is the child physically Is II
well with his lungs ana heart and
stomachy Is he growing Alright? Is
he taking enough exercise? Is lie eat
Ing the proper kind of food? This Is
not superiiuous question. This IL the
salutation which Elisha gave TO the
Shunammitc woman. This Is the ques-
tion which every father and mother
should lie able TO answer intclligently.
The picture OF every true. loving par
ent ought to he that which saw In an
advertisement some years ago. There
IA, a .,,h I.v "a hauutff,I chilli Tim