Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-05-04
Caln1ase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Tslmace. d. d.

that wonderful period of life when the
snind of the child. emerging from the
mysterious twilight land, first begins
10 think independently. He WARNS us
90 respect these visions OF childhood.
The text is Luke ii, 10. twist We not
that must be about My Fathers busi-
pessF
Without doubt one OF the most salts
factory pictures ever painted of Jesus
Christ is that OF Hoffman. called
Christ the Boy Talking With the Doc
tors In the Temple" We have seen
scores of pictures of Jesus Christ. The
Partisan Louvre is full OF them. The
Vatican is full OF them. The art gal
leries of Antwerp and Brussels and
Berlin aud Venice are full OF them.
But. though the greatest artists have
exhausted their genius to reproduce
for us an inspired idea OF the Saviour's
face, yet most OF them have come far
short of the ideal. They either make
ChristS face too effeminate, as did
Bida. Da Ninci and Stelnle; or too
much of Hercules, as did Rubens
ana Nandyke; or too grotesque, as
did Tintoretto and Rembrandt and
Guido; or too mercenary, as did Ber-
nardo, Strozzi and Plockhurst; or too
stern, as did Dore and Aibrecht Durer;'
or too ;igonlzing. as did Bouguereau
and Correggio; or too Iachrymose, as
did AIRY Scheffer. But toward Hoff-
mans picture there Is no division OF
opinion. We are here unit in our
appreciation. When we see Hoffman's
youth standing among the doctors In
the temple we at once say: "Yes, that
is my idea of Jesus the child That
child looks just as 1 supposed Christ
looked as boy"
The eyes are big and intelligent
They seem to be looking far off, They
truly seem to be catching an inspired
vision of his Fathers business. The
halo about the head. the beautiful curls
falling in graceful curves about those
shoulders, show the human and the d.
vine commingling. The robe about his
1.-THE form is as pure and spotless as
his life. He seems to stand there as
child. and yet he seems to be reaching
far out into the future. All worlds, oil
ages. seem to be his. In contrast TO
this beautiful face. with it's wonderful
features, are the astonished and puz-
Eled countenances OF the baldheaded,
learned sages. who were not accus-
toned to debate with youths, but only
with their compeers in the sanctum
sanctorum OF the Hebrew sanhedrin.
The Twelfth Year.
And yet. as stood watching the
hanufffnl Of hnf lt,.f,, a II.
question came TO me: ''Why should
those Hebrew rabbis wonder ut that
boys intelligence? Should not all men
and women stand In awe before the
average boys of tie present day? Do
not most youths and maidens OF twelve
summers have inspired visions from
God, as Christ had an inspired vision?
Does not God call to them at this crit
ical age to be about their Fathers busI-
nessT He does. / want you to study
with me this morning some OF those
childhood visions. Men and women,
too, have their times OF reaching out
TO things unseen. but this morning let
us think chiefly OF those bright imagin-
ings OF youth. This age. the twelfth
year, Is TO me the most Important OF
life. May we be very careful how we
deal with our children when they are
entering the sacred portal OF their ear
ly teens, The way they tread the path
OF life Will in nll probability decide the
way they shall tread these paths
through time and through eternity.
Why do put such an emphasis upon
the age OF twelve? Because 1t Is about
the year when the child for tho first
time lets go OF his parents or guardi-
ans hand and begins. to climb the
heights Of the unseen world and to
think for himself. That is the time
when he begins for the first time on
his own account to ponder about God
and what God wants him TO be. Be
fore that age the child for the most
part is completely under the control
or the father and the mother, but Mt
the twelfth year the parent Is astonish-
ed at the strange questions which the
boy puts. Suddenly. and seemingly
without any preconceived thought, the
boy will break out with such questions
as this: Mother. where was before
1 was bornY' Mother, where shall I
go after / am deadY' Mother, how
can live in heaven when my body "a |
night when Twas lying awake In bed I
made up my mind that Jesus wanted
me to be a preacher. like Paul and
Timothy. about whom we studied IN |
our Sunday school last week" These |
questions or statements seem to |
spring from the lips almost involun-
tariiy. When he first speaks thus you
look at him In amazement Then YOU |
say, WHO has been talking to you, my |
sonT' He answers simply, mo one,
mother; no one" All, yes, some one
has been talking to him. Like Christ, |
the boy in the temple, he hears a |
strange voice. He sees strange visions. |
These visions are not Of earth. but of |
heaven. He cannot see those visions |
full orbed; but. like Christ the boy he |
can see them I'm their dim outlines. He |
hears the divine voice. and In his faint |
way he is saying. Il must be about my |
Fathers business"
BEGINNING to Climb.
Has your boy never astonshed- yoa
by his strange questions and answers.
as Christ astonished the lawyers and
Soctors in the temple when but twelve
years of age? Some time ago an any /
lous mother said: when my children
were very young they were mine.
could say to them. children, sit DOWN. Z
and they would sit down. 1 could read
to them book and explain to them the
pictures. and they would accept my
statements as true, because mother
said 1t. But there comes a time when 1
L feel my boys hand loosening it's