The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-11-26
Ca(naQe
Sermon
Ry Rev.
Frank De Witt Talnafe. ID. y.


are gratefully recalling their material
mercies. the preacher III this sermon
points to the priceless blessing of wa
ter as one which contributes most
largely to our national happiness and
prosperity. The text Is | Corinthians
x. a, "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 4
mountain about 300 feet high and
about | 800 feet Mt its base. 1t looks
when not In action like q big sand
dune in the midst of n barren desert
There Is not a 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 iv-
ing near It. nor n rabbit nor n ground
squirrel making It's home amid its cav
ems and rocks. It's sides are great
barren waste. 1t seems to be a place
forsaken of God and Of man. But sud
denly the guide says. "Now look at
Wonder hill" And there before the
| tourists eyes Is n 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 gcysers. My
| RAIDS of fountains are in full play.
! There is hardly Il bare spot to he seen.
| 1t seems as though an infinite power
| had driven upward from great ocean
| in the depths of the earth vast force
| of living water and made the barren
| mountain n fountain of innumerable
| riv,llets.
We'll. never think of the Roaring
mountain I'm Yellowstone park In full
play, but | think of the mount of Ho-
| reb I'm the center of the bleak. barren
desert of Sinai. There 1t has stood Tor
| ages without tree or a spear OF grass
growing upon It, AS the lsraelites
| with marched tongues and cracked lips,
stood looking ut It's sandy and rocky
| sides they could 10 more expect to gel
| a drop of water out of 1t than you
could expect to find fountain spring
| ing no at the foot of the pyramids
! But suddenly Moses smites those rocks
| Then a great stream of water leaps ont
| of those hillsiles as the myrihds OF
| geysers spring up from the sides oil
| Roaring mountain when 1t is in full
play. These waters rush down the
mountain side and form themselves
into n great river. This river flows ON
TO the Red sea And the Israelites
| IL, In, In
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 vii
derness
God gave water to the Israelites II
the wilderness, and Christ has givel
water, 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 ant
corn and oats and homes and air aIt
national prosperity / will make water
natural and spiritual the subject o
my Thanksgiving sermon. want t.
show you the innumerabe blessings
God has given to America in its water
supply. When you go home on Thanks
giving dry to banquet rich In mer
cies. want you to thank God for thu
pure water which he has provided Ii
such abundance for you.
The Spiritual Water.
In the first place. ON this Thanksgiv
far. Il ri IL In
water--for water which you can put t
the parched lips to quench the recur
ring thirst; for water to fill the arte
ries with blood; for water withou
which In very few days man woult
die a miserable death; for water TIL
lack of which will turn man In
short time into raving maniac TO
water. which composes nearly 90 pc
cent of the human body.
Thank God for the drinking waite
which our civil engineers bring to u
from the lakes and the rivers and th
mountain SHOWS. miles upon mile
away; fer the great reservoirs which a
all times of the year furnish us wit
water enough to drink. In 1906 the OF
ficials Of Philadelphia decided to la
huge water pipes through Chestnu
street. When they dug down the
found lying there great wooden oa
logs, with bore running throug
them ranging from six to twelv
inches, which had lieen placed there i
17gg to supply the city with water
Thus for years upon years the munic
pal authorities Of our cities have bee
going far away to bring down til
drinking water to the people as Kin
Solomon brought down water from th
mountains for the Inhabitants of Jer'
salem. Each year these civil engineer
are going farther aud farther away fo
their water supply. Then We see Ne'
York gathering It's drinking water fror
the Cretun GER and the Catslsill mauI
tains at the enormous cost of hundred
OF millions Of dollars Then we tur
to such eitie as Chicago and aIilWa,
kee and Detroit md find them runnin
their mains n out into the clear. rur
waters of Lake Michigan and LAX
Erie and pumping their supply {