Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-11-29
CalnaQe
Sermon
By Rev.
frank De Witt Tslmase. d. D.

Los Angeles. Cal, Nov. 24.-While
our people at this Thanksgiving season
ere gratefully recalling their material
mercies, the preacher In this sermon
points TO the priceless blessing OF wa
ter rs one which contributes most
largely to our national happiness and
prosperity. The text is l Corinthians
X, 4, For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them"
Among the wonders of Yellowstone
park there is not one more marvellous
than its Roaring mountain. 1t is a
mountain about 300 feet high and
about 1000 feet Mt its base. 1t looks
when not i'm action like big sand
dune in the midst of barren desert.
There is not n spear of grass growing
upon It, There is not tree lifting its
branches upon its sides to be kissed by
the rising sun. There is not bird liv-
Ing near IT, nor n rabbit nor a ground
squirrel making its home amid its cav
ems and rocks. Its sides are a great.
barren waste. 1t seems to be a place
forsaken OF God and Of man. But sud
denly the guide says, Now look at
yonder hill" And there before the
tourists eyes is a 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 innumerabls geysers. Ny
RAIDS OF fountains are In full play.
There is hardly bare spot to be seen.
IL seems as though an infinite power
had driven upward from a great ocean
In the depths OF the earth a vast force
or living water and made the barren
mountain a fountain OF innumerable
rivulets.
Well. l 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 It has stood for
ages without tree or a spear OF grass
growing upon It. AS the lsraelites,
with parched tongues and cracked lips,
stood looking ut its sandy and rocky
sides they could no more expect to get
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 smites those rocks.
Then great stream OF water leaps out
OF those hillsides as the myriads OF
geysers spring up from the sides OF
Roaring mountain when II is in full
play. These waters rush down the
mountain side and form themselves
into q great river. This river flows on
to tho Red sea. And the Israelites
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
wandering Israelitish tribes during
their forty years journey in the will
derness
God gave water to the Israelites In
the wilderness, and Christ has given
water. blessed water to us as n people
I'm 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 subject OF
my Thanksgiving sermon. / want to
show you the innumerable blessings
God has given TO America in its water
supply. When you go home on Thanks
giving day to banquet rich ins mer-
cies, ] want you to thank God for the
pure water which he has provided in
such abundance for you. 49,.
The Spiritual Water. j.
In the first place, on this Thanksriv-
Ing Sunday thank God for drinking
water-for water which you can put to
the parched lips to quench the recur-
ring thirst; for water to Ill the arte-
ries with blood; for water without
which I'm n very few days man would
die a miserable death; for water the
lack OF which will turn a man in n
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
away; for the great reservoirs which at
all times of the year furnish us with
water enough TO drink. In 1000 the Of
ficials OF Philadelphia decided to lay
huge water pipes through Chestnut
street. When they dug down they
found lying there great wooden oak
them ranging from six to twelve
inches. which had been placed there in
1899 TO supply the city with water.
Thus Tor years upon years the munich
pal authorities of our cities have been
going far away TO bring down the
drinking water to the people as King
solomon brought down water from the
mountains for the Inhabitants OF Jeru-
salem. Each year these civil engineers
are going farther and farther away for
their water supply. Then we see New
York gathering its drinking water from
the Croton river and the Catskill noun
tains at the enormous cost Of hundreds
OF millions OF dollars. Then we turn
TO such cities as Chicago and Milwau-
kee and Detroit and find them running
their pains far out into the clear. pure
waters OF Lake Michigan and Lake
Erie and pumping their supply of
drinking water. And wherever Won
20 you find the keenest OF engineering
brains concentrated on the problem of
giving the people pure water to drink
Thank God for glass of pure. cold
waterl
We should also thank him for the
water with which we are able 10
cleanse our bodies and our homes and
purify our streets and which carrie,
away the refuse OF the cities. We
should thank him for the water which
washes our clothes and puts clean
sheets upon our beds and gives US
clean knives and forks and napkins
and tabiecloths for our dining rooms
and clean towels in our bathrooms as
We'll as for the water we drink and