Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-08-11
Calmase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. d. D.

Los, Angeles, Cal, Aug 5.-In this
Eermoa the preacher shows that in
order to make ones life work OF real
value to the world and humanity the
foundations Of character must be laid
deep and true. The text is Matthew
VIII 27, "And the rain descended, and
the foods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house, and 1t fell,
and great was the fall of it,"
The reason the Bible is not rs plain
and interes ting to some people as 1t
might be Is because they do not un-
derstand the geographical and geolog-
ical and meteorological conditions Of
the Holy Land. In order to intelligently
follow the earthly footsteps of the
Man of Galiiee" the tourist should not
be content V 18th n cursOry or superb
cal examination. He should study
the meteorology Of Palestine to the
last detail He should not only study
the tornadoes and hurricanes and
which unsheath their
swords of destruction and, tumble
down upon the earth huge masses OF
water when the windows of the
heavens are opened by great cloud
bursts, but he should also study the
freshets and those movable sands
mixed with water commonly called
"ouicksands," and the simooms, or
siroccos. sweeping over its nearby
deserts. where there is but little mois-
ture in the furnace heated air, for the
atmosphere Of Palestine would not be
what II Is If the Arabian desert was
not on its border All these meteoro-
logical studies will clarity the lessons
of many of Christ's parallels and give
hn added meaning to some of the
strange. weird oriental customs OF
the Hebrew race.
1t is said that General Lew Wallace
wrote his great religious masterpiece,
Zen -Hur," before he as a tourist had
WEI seen Jerusalem. But, though Lew
Wallace might have evolved true idea
IF the Holy Land out of books, l am
'ralils 10 confess that with all my theo-
logical studies never knew what the
Holy Land was like until l set foot In
those sacred valleys and saw with my
own ey those baIlowed hills. | ex-
pected to end Palestine almost trop-
Ical la,l y. exT ected ts find its hills
covered with dense forests, its valleys
dotted with farms, dts bees turning
srery mound into n honeycomb, all its
Vineyards growing huge grapes of Es-
! vi and its flowers crowding every
., W and corner of the soil. Now, what
III = find? ! found the Holy Land
othi'oo more or less than n parallel OF
,utbe VI California with another name.
eople vl.r have been TO Los Angeles
nd ridd en- through San Diego county
nm form hn idca of the Palestine hills.
Like sou thern California.
Tho soils Of both lands are ricE
pouch if you c;A1 only get water upon
lem but the trouble is to get the wa
,r. Instead of every two or three
-eeks having a gen tie rain or shower
$ we used to have in the New Eng
md and the middle st.'t ties, we nave III
lese two hnts the dry and the rainy
easons. When it is dry'-it is awfuiiy
~. Day in and day out. Week III ana
eek out. month in and Nonth out
lat dry weather will conpRle. NOT
ne drop of water will fall from tne
eavens during all that time. Literal
, not one shower will come. Then the
rass withers. The soil becomes IKE
aked clay. The dust is everywhere
But when the rainy season comes
hen. In order to compensate for heT
auclty Of moisture, nature sehdS
torms In perfect deluges. Every
anyon has its raging torrent. Inc
illsides are cut into deep gl7llles.
he water seems to be everywhere.
his fact is due to the geographical
OnditiOns, because the waters canuot
nd their drainage outlets as they 90
I the yerdure covered hillsides or the
asst. No man, except the Dravest,
are venture out Of doors when the
torms break upon Los Angeles IN tne
Amy seasons. The sewers Will De
hoked with water. Every street from
urb to curb will be a huge, rushing
iver. The car lines will be block
ded. All traffic will come to stand
till Then the hillsides and the val
eys will blossom as the rose. The
overs and the rich grasses will spring
ID as If by magic on every side. NO
lew Yorker or New Englander can
ully understand this atmospheric con-
ition unless he has been in Palestine
r in southern California. Thus you
lust study the meteorological in1u-
nces of Palestine before you try to
Interpret the parable of my text.
Christ is not here saying, Every
ne who heareth These sayings Of mine
nd doeth them not shah be likened
nto foolish man who built his house
pon the sands In Pepnsylvania or in
Iermany or in France, where IT VIII
attn two or three days every two OF
hree weeks in every season OF the
ear and the water will be drained
uietly and quickly away" Christ is
aging, Every one who heareth these
ayIngs of mine and doeth them not is
, be likened INTO a foolish man who
uilds his house on the sands at the
cot of some Palestine canyon in a dry
eason." That dry season may con-
lnue months and even years, but
rhen the rainy season comes the del
Qe will come. Then the hurricane
will beat upon that house from above
nd the freshet viii undermine that
ouse from beneath, and it will fall,
nd great will he the fall Of it. With
hese few words of geographical nnd
explanation let us now
lpproach the parable little more in
letail and find therein practical gos'
,el lessons for the work of everyday
ife.
His Judgment Just.
The parable. in the first place, proves
+ho+ God rovar ta<pS SnaD Judgment