Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-05-25
LIES TRIALS ARE A HELP.
By Rev. Olin Scott Roche.

LIFE TRIALS ARE A HE'LL.
By Rev. Olin Scott Roche.
Snow and vaporS wind and storm,
fulfilling His word.-Psalm cXlvii., g.
One of the most remarkable monu-
| ments in Westminster Abbey is that 80
Sir John Franklin, the discoverer OF
the Northwest Passage, who died anna
the terrors of the Arctic regions IN
1S47. Through the efforts OF Lady
Franklin the last of many expeditions
sent out was successful in disclosing
the steps of her husbands progress IN
the polar regions, ending with the trag-
ic record of his death. She erected the
monument in the abbey, which depicts
vessel crushed amid icebergs, and
underneath are the words: - We
frost and cold o We ice and snow,
bless We the Lord; praise Him ana
magnify Him forever
Out of the depth of her bereave-
ment, loneliness and poverty, there still
remained boundless and implicit falth
in God
The first aspect of the wind and tenn
| pest, the ice and the snow is one TO IN
spire awe, anxiety and dread. we nat
urally ask How can we praise Goa TOT
those elements in whose train come ais
aster. desolation and death? Amid all
this disorder and ruin the psalmlst
tells us that some law is working ana
Gods word is being fulfilled; even the
powers which seem to have escaped
his control have their uses and FUR
Their His designs We may trust Him
to bring order out of chaos, good out or
evil
At least one reason for the devasta-
ton is apparent to the close observer:
On a relatively small scale, the storm
is hostile to life, but on much larger
one it is the great enricher and nour-
Usher of the soil, which without it would
remain dry, hard and unproductlve'
Out of death comes new life. Out OF
decay the grain which sustains and
the flowers which beautify.
The storm and the tempest have their
uses also in developing the energies
of men, The strongest characters are
not nurtured in pleasant climates,
where they may obtain food easily
from the earth and the trees, but rath-
err in colder countries and on stubborn
soil where one must struggle for very
existence. Need we wonder that Mex
leo, with all it's mineral wealth, is poor,
and that Alaska, with its forest, It's
furs and it's ice, is rich? 1t is stern
| necessity which develops the strength
| of manhood. forces the pioneer to build
him a home and at last makes the des-
ert to "rejoice and blossom us the
rose
Not only is such a person moved to
battle against the destructive forces of
nature, but he is also aroused to con-
| quer mans inhumanity to man. A
very large share of the worlds suf-
| ferngs comes not from nature but fol-
| lows directly or indirectly from hu-
man carelessness, selishness and greed.
! Most of the accidents on railways,
| on steamboats,, in tunnels and mines
! are of this character. God Himself
cannot prevent such evils without in
terfering with mans free will, and
hence with his education. But every
| such accident arouses mems indigna-
! ton. awakens their inventive skill and
leads to greater caution, watchfulness
and security.
The storm and the tempest have yet
another mission, in calling forth a
blessed tide of sympathy. Poor King
Lear, out on the heath with barred head
and quaking limbs, amid the thunder
and the lightning, the wind and the
rain, is but q type of multitudes OF
| others who have learned sympathy
| through bitter experience and thus,
whether for individual misfortune or
public calamity, there are opened many
mountains of tenderness and generosity
in human souls. Surely we may be
| thankful for whatever turns our hearts
In kindness toward our fellow men.
Ny friends, when you stand amid the
| tempests of life, trust God; when you
| look upon the marvels of nature, praise
| Him; when you are stirred by the gran
deur of His works show forth His
| sympathy and His love.
REOPENING OLD WELLS.