The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-07-01
os ANGELES. CAL, June 24.-In thi
NK pE WITr rALMAeE, D. D.

sermon the preacher shows how even
 the bitterest trials and sorrows of our lives may be transformed into bless ings. The text is Exodus NV, 20, And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the water. the waters were made sweet" -'-.'--'
 Human nature may be aptly compared to the earths surface. It was valleys and hills, lowlands and heights, broad pastures and undulating prairies, rich Es- 6raelon plains and Bad Lands of the Da- kotas. It has Himalayas of inspiration, where we see the face of Jesus Christ transfigured before our eyes, and valleys of Despond, in which the sunshine of hope never enters, even as the daylight cannot penetrate the catacombs underneath an cient Rome Yet, strange to say, when we are standing upon the highest pin nacles of spiritual inspiration then we are often in danger of tumbling over the steepest precipies of sin. This despicable characteristic of the human heart is not only true of individuals as 1t was in the life of Peter when he denied Christ thrice, but 1t is also true of the spiritual con ditions of communities. A tidal wave of skepticism can submerge a nation and a pSDple as dn llulNluudl can pc SucheQ Into the quicksands of a spiritual death.
 Some time ago l read a graphic &C., count of an English tourist ascending the Swiss attitudes. As this gentleman and his party were climbing, they passed through a beautiful village where life in all it's rustic simplicity was smiling be- fore their eyes. Hardly had they left this little village and gone a few miles beyond. when one of the guides cried .I.H lanche breaking loosel'' The Engllshman looked. and saw a great mass of snow about three miles In width tearing away from its anchorages. With deep intona- tions, which sounded the death knell not only of cattle and sheep and horses and goats but of men, women and children, 1t came tumbling down. In it's wild plunge it literally swept away all vestige of life, and pushed houses and barns and school houses and churches and trees and fences and crops into the canyon below. Nothing was left in the pathway of that onrushing snow but the bare rocks. Like those avalanches, there are spiritual ca tastrophes which sweep whole communi- ties off their feet.
 In the Third Heaven.
 The darkest of clouds as black cur tains may be drawn over the bluest of
 
 cism and doubt may reverbate as dolo- rous echoes to the most gladsome shouts of gospel praise and thanksgiving. It was only three days ago that we find the 1sraeltes so happy that their spiritual gratitude makes them almost beside themselves with joy. In their holy elation and thankfulness to God for their de- liverance from the pursuing Egyptians they were like Paul, who described his past spiritual Joys in these words: ''l knew q man in Christ about fourteen years ago, whether out of the body cannot tell God knoweth). Such d one caught up to the third heaven" Yes, the Hebrew people were in the third heaven only three days ago. They were so happy in their recent liberation from serfdom that they could not keep their feet still, let alone their lips. linen sung Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake, saying: l will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed glorously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation, he is my God, and l will prepare him a habtation. My fathNs God and 1 will exalt him. But hardly had this song died away when the people began to murmur and denounce God They said: What are we going to drink
 
 eight hours, and there is no water but these bitter waters of Marah. Why didst thou not let us stay in Egypt rather than bring us out into this wilderness of sand to die of thirst?" Then God showed Moses tree, and the great lawgiver threw this tree into the bitter waters of Marah and at once they became sweet Wonderful story this, and yet this his tory is the biography of our own lives We have all had our times of singing and dancing and praising God upon the banks of the Red sea. Then we have all had ouI sudden spiritual reactions when we have been in the desert with no water to drink but the bitter Marah. Indeed, many oi us are standing and complaining at the bitter waters even at the present time Now, this ought not to be when God has provided means of sweetening them.
 Mirages of the Desert.
 First, let us talk about the bitter wa ters which are now flowing out of the desert places where once grew the lux uriant oases of the visions of our early childhood. When we were boys and girls sitting behind the schoolroom desk we never pictured for ourselves the pro saic conditions of being clerks and farm hands and book canvassers and mechanics and servants and stenogra phers and nurses. But when we thought of our selves as future men and women we al- ways painted for ourselves beautiful mir ages in every desert. We could see our selves in imagination as artists sitting be- fore an easel, or as surgeons standing by some operating table, or as lawyers plead ing in some court room or as astrono- mers. exploring the pathway of the stars
 But now instead of being artists and creating masterpieces to hang in the French salon, we find ourselves common sign painters. Instead of being authors writing books we find ourselves as com mon printers, setting the type, or as bookbinders putting other mems books together Instead of being a Cathern- Booth or a Frances Harvergal or a Miss Willard or a Fanny Crosby or Susan B Anthony, we find ourselves washing