Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-30
"SHADOWS AND ECHOES
SUBJECT OF SERMON
Rev. Robert J. Burdette breaches In
teresting Sermon to Large Con-
gregation at Temple Bap-
tist Church

At the Temple Baptist church yes
terday the pastor, Robert ]. Burdette,
preached on the topic Shadows and
Echoes" taking for his text For we
are but of yesterday, and know moth
ing, because our days upon earth are
a shadow"
I'VE are accustomed to connect
shadows with gloom and sadness" he
said. 1--WE think of the Solemn shades
of endless night we associate shades
with ghosts of the departed; there is
a certain gloomy terror in the world.
Shadows tonight cries the guilty kind,
have struck more terror to the soul
of Richard than can the substance of
100 900 soldiers Let us seek out some
desolate shade means Malcom, and
there weep our sad bosoms empty
But always the shadow proves a
light. 1t declares a substance. 1t
defines form. 1t emphasizes solidity
and depth. 1t carries the long per-
spective beyond sense into the bound
less of imagination. And the shadows
may be beautiful, even as they are
beautifiers of the day and the world.
LAS look out of my study windows
my eyes rest upon the Sierras. 1t is
noontide, and sunshine floods the
mountains with radiance. But it de-
stroys much of their beauty and gran
ueuT anu Impressive bQOliullly. InC
great range is simply an enormous
wall; the serrated skyline fades into
the light, blending with the skies that
veil its sharpness with the very in
tensity of the sunshine.
Sun Calls Forth Shadows
"But wait-the descending sun calls
forth the shadows from their noontime
hiding places. Every canon is painted
q ha 1tcrb
lifts itself boldly; every trail CLEANS
clearly against the climbing shadows
cool and quiet and tranquil, the unseen
valleys, unseen when flooded with the
noontide, nestle against their encirc-
ling mountains; the foothills, scarce
distinguishable from the valley levels
in the binding light now lift them
selves in the beauty of dark green or
ange groves and the dove gray orna-
ture of the olive orchards above the
spreading plains; crag and peak, with
the glow of the sunset on their faces
and the twilight shadows thrown like
cloaks of sable around their massy
shoulders rise like giants from their
couches; the whole range, clear as a
cameo cutting, stands out against the
opal of the evening heavens mountains
and monuments of God.
For the shadows are gray and blue
Tower and battlement arise in grace
and majesty; profound depths of black
ness outline the trails of changing
light; a sunset tint like an opening
rose touches the stony face of cliff
with beautiful tenderness. How royal
in their beauty are the mountains
when the shadows come to robe them
in their garments of splendor and
Jewels of glory, to watch the king of
Al. tut
in the west. and see the queen of the
night. enter into her realm with all
the starry battalions making her reign
glorious with the majesty of night and
calm.
World Beautiful
'Iow tame and fiat the world of
beauty would be without its shadows!
Such are the shadows which glorify
our lives; that make our yesterdays
beautiful.
"These are the somber shadings of
sorrow: these the hard lines of bitter
disappointments; here the gray
touches of loneliness; this shadow fell
from passing cloud of doubt; this is
a mist-cloud of perplexity; this a dull,
binding fog bank of unbelief: this
was a storm of agony in. some sore
bereavement; this was dust-rage
blown in from the desert by the rest
lees winds.
"Now look back at them as the sun
goes down in glory. How soft and
tender are the blending shadows.
kissed by the sunset into gray and
purple. gold and rose.
''TIow the love of God transfigures
the shadows that fell across the way
of our pilgrimage. In his vision of
heaven John saw "a great multitude
which no man could number. out of
every nation and of all tribes and
peoples and tongues, arrayed in white
robes'-so dazzlingly white--their
whiteness was radiantly splendid even
in that land of shadowless light. And
these were they that came out of great
tribulation and had made their robes
white by washings in blood"
First you 60 and stuff the turkey,
Now you la.' II on the shelf;
Then when comes around Thanksgiving,
- mA.C wuoIE