Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-11-28
CalmaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmsee, d. d.

our people at this thanksgiving season
are gratefully recalling their materia
mercies, the preacher In this sermon
points to the priceless blessing of wa
ter rs one which attributes mos
largely TO orr national happiness ant
prosperity. The text Is | Corinthian,
X, 4, For they drank of that spiritua
rock that followed them
Among the wonders of Yellowstone
park there IS not one more marvellous
than its Roaring mountain 1t is {
mountain about 300 feet high anC
about 1900 feet at It's base. 1t looks
whom not in action Ike n big sand
dune In the midst Of barren desert
There IS not Il spear of grass growing
upon it. There Is not a tree lifting its
branches upon its sides to be kissed by
the rising sun. There is not bird llv-
ing near ii, nor n rabbit nor ground
squirrel making its home amid its cav.
erns and rocks Its sides are a great
barren waste. It seems to be place
forsaken of God and of man. But sud
denly the guide says, Now look at
NOllhtI nun Anu lutIt DtlOCt the
tourists eyes Is most wonderful spec
tacle From out of the sides of this
barren sand dune, from the bare rocks
and the dark caverns. there come leap.
ing forth innumerable geysers. Ny
RAIDS of fountains are in full play.
There is hardly bare spot to be seen.
It seems MS though al infinite power
had driven upward from a great ocean
in the depths of the earth a vast force
of living water and made the barren
mountain fountain Of innumerable
rivulats.
Well. | never think of the Roaring
mountain in Yellowstone park in full
play, but think of the mount OF Ho-
reb in the center Of the bleak, barren
desert of Sinai. There 1t has stood for
ages without a tree or Il spear of grass
growing upon 1t. AS the Israeites,
with pnrched tongues and cracked lips,
stood looking at its sandy and rocky
sides they could no more expect to get
a drop of water out of it than you
could expect to find fountain spring
ing up at the foot of the pyramids.
But suddenly Moses SmitcS those rocks.
Then a great stream of water leaps ont
of those hillsidcs as the myriads of
geysers spring up from the sides of
Roaring mountain when it is In full
play. These waters rush down the
mountain side and form themselves
into a great river. This river flows on
to the Red sea. And the Israeitcs
during all their sojourn in the desert
camp by the waters of this river. Thus
the great miracle of the ages was per
formed when God gave drink to the
their forty years journey in the will
derness.
God gave water TO the Israelites in
the wilderness, and Christ has given
wa ter, blessed water, to us as people
In the new world. AS many Thanks
giving sermons are being preached this
week about the blessings OF wheat and
corn and oats and homes and air and
national prosperity will make water,
natural and spiritual. the SUI ject OF
my Thanksgiving sermon. want to
show you the innumerable blessings
God has given to America in its water
supply. When You so home on Thanks
giving day to banquet rich in NOR
cies, | want YOU TO thank God for the
pure water which he has provided in
such abundance for you
The Spiritual Water.
In the first place, on this Thanksglv-
ing Sunday thank God for drin&iu-
wa tcr-for water which You can put to
the parched lips to quench the recur-
ring thirst; for water to fill the arte-
rles with blood; for water without
which in a very few days man would
lie miserable death; for water the
Jack OF which will turn q man in a
short time into & raVing maniac; for
water, which composes nearly 90 per
cent of the human body.
Thank God for the drinking water
which our civil engineers bring TO us
from the lakes and the rivers and the
mountain SHOWS, miles upon miles
4 way; for the great reservoirs which al
al times of the year furnish us with
water enough to drink. In 1906 the of
icials of Philadelphia decided to lay
1uge water pipes through Chestnut
street. When they dug down they
'ound lying there great wooden oak
ogs. with bore running through
hem ranging from six 10 twelve
inches, which had been placed there in
I709 to supply the city with water.
lhuS for years upon years the munich
1al authorities of our cities have been
going far away to bring down the
thinking water to the people as King
solomon brought down water from the
mountains for the inhabitants Of Jerli-
'alem, Each year these civil engineers
ire going farther and farther away for
heir water supply. Then we see New
York gathering its drinking water from
he Croton river and the Catskill noun
aims at the enormous cost of hundreds
If millions Of dollars. Then we turn
. such cities as Chicago and Milwau-
zee and Detroit and find them running
heir mains far out into the clear, pure
waters of Lake Michigan and Lake
Erie and pumping their supply of
Thinking water. And wherever YOU
20 you find the keencst of engineering
,ralns concentrated on the problem of
diving the people pure water to drink
Thank God for a glass Of pure, cold
yater