Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-05-03
Calr,ase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, d. d,

Los Angeles. cal, April 29.-In this
sermon the preacher takes us back to
that wonderful period Of life when the
mind of the child, emerging from the
mysterious twilight land, first begins
20 think independently. He warns us
! TO respect these visions OF childhood
| Tho text is Luke ii, 40. twist We not
that | must be about My Fathers bust
| ness?'
Without doubt one of the most ats
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
/ lorieS of Antwerp and Brussels and
| Berlin and Venice are full of them.
| But. though the greatest artists have
exhausted their genius TO reproduce
| for us an inspired idea Of the SaviOurs
face, vet most Of them have come far
short of the ideal They either make
Christ's face TOO cfrcminatc, as did
Bidn. Da Ninci and Steinlc: or too
much OF n Hercules. as did Rubens
and Nandyke or too grotcsGue. as
did Tintoretto and Rembrandt and
Guido: or too mcrccnary, as did Per
nardo. Strozzi and Ploclihur,t: or too
stern, as did Dore and Albrocht Dlircr;
or too agoni7ing. as did Rougucreau
and torrcggio; or too lIchrynoSc, as
did AIRY Scheiter. But toward IIoff-
mans picture there is no division OF
opinion. We are here unit in our
appreciation When we see Hoffman's
yoNth standing among the doctors IN
the temple We nj once say: Yes. that
! is my idea Of Jesus the child. That
child looks Just as I supposed Christ
looked as boy"
The eyes are big and intelligent.
, They seem 10 he looking far of. They
truly seem to he 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 di-
vine comminClinG. The robe about his
1.-the form is as pIre and Spotlcss as
his life. He seems to stand there as n
/ child and yet he seems 10 ne reaching
far out into the future. All worlds, all
ages, seem TO be his In contrast to
I this beautiful face. with its wonderful
feature ere the astonished and puZ-
zled countenances Of the baldheaded,
learned sagcs. who We're not accuS-
toned 70 debate with youths. but only
with their comncers in the snnctum
sanctorum of the Hebrew Sanhedrin.
The Twelfth Year.
And yet as stood watching the
beautiful face Of that Divine Child. this
question came TO me: "Why should
those Hebrew rabbiS wonder ut that
boys intelligence: Should not all men
and women stand ia awe before the
average boys of the present day: 10
not most youths and maidens of twelve
summers have inspired visions from
God. as Christ had an inspired vision?
Does not God cali TO them at this crit
ical age to be about their Fathers bust
neSs:" 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
10 thncs unseen but this morning let
H. think chiefly of those bright imacn-
inSs Of youth. This age. the twelfth
year, is 10 me the most important OF
He. May we he very careful how we
deal with our children when they are
entering the sacred portal of their ear
~ teens. The way they tread the path
OF life will in all 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 it is abs 1t
the year when the child for the st
time let's go Of his parents or guard
ans hand and begins 10 climb the
heights of the unseen world and 20
think for himself. That is the time
when he begins for the first time Oh
his own account TO ponder about God
and what God wants him to lie. Be
fore that age the child for the most
part is completely under the control
Of the father and the mother but at
the twelfth year the parent is a@tonish-
ed ut the strange questions which thc
boy pu,1. Suddenly. and seemingly
without any prcc0ncelved thought, the
hoy will break out with such questions
as this: Mother, where was | before
| was born Mother, whore shall |
so after | am dead" Mother, how
can l live in heaven when my body is
buried in the earth?' Mother. last
night when was lying awake in bed
made up my mind that jesus wanted
me to be IA 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-
tarily. When he first speaks thus YOU
look 1T him in ama2emcnt. Then you
say. "W'ho has been talking to you, my
SOM He answers simply. NO one,
mother: no one" All. yes. some one
has been talking to him. Like Christ.
the boy in the temple, he hears Il
strange voice. He sees strange visions
THESE visions are not OF earth, but of
heaven He cannot SEQ those visions
full orbeG; but like Christ the boy he
can sec them in their dim outlines. He
hears the divine voice, and in his faint
way he is saying, II must be about my
Fathers business"
Beginning to Climb.
Has your boy never astoni'hed you