The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-02-21
! SATURDAY /
4 NIGHT TALKS /
q Fly F. E. Dawson Rutland VI.
a 4 . z Z aisIIaif
DIVINE ASTROLOGY.
DIVINE ASTROLOGY.
Feb. 81, 'O7-(Gen. 15:1-16)

is often the case thai night Is ra-
diantly beautiful, all the pomp and
magnificence of heaven turning OUT
on dress Tarade, gloriously impress
sive in their mystic eyolutions.
1t was on some such night as this
that the old patriarch Abraham went
out on the hilltops Of his Palestine
home, and beheld the vision OF the
stars. There they hung, millions OF
sill cry eyes, throng upon throng,
over the hills, glittering in the East,
throbbing in the West, scintillating,
flashing, twinkling everywhere. The
mighty Arcturus and his children
Venus and Mars, and the mighty
band of light-the Milky Way, they
we're all there. angels talking IN
light, servants watching the gates OF
the CAPITAL of the Universe. And in
that hour Abraham knew that though
he was childless his poSterity should
be as numerous as the flaming sons
of light that marched and circled
and swung before his raptured vision.
This was vision to a man In the
dumps. Abraham was nearing the
century mark. and although men
lived to greater age in those days
than they do now, he had already be-
gun to feel the effect OF his years. He
had met with many Disappointment
in life, and had not reached the goal
of his ambition in coming to that
land a quarter of q century before.
He was rich in herds and f1Ocks. and
other worldly possessions, but he
was childless, and his nephew, Lot,
had forsaken him. The people OF the
land looked upon him as an inter
loper, and he felt like a pilgrim and
a stranger on the earth. Just now
blues, and was overwhelmed with
doubts and fears, wondering if life
was worth living.
But the old patriarch was phil
oso9her, he had the Oriental habit
of meditation largely developed, and
instead of f1inging himself down I'M
der Juniper tree to sulk as Elijah
did on a similar occasion, he went out
under the dome of the sky and look
ed M. And there, above his head,
calmly floating in their appointed
places were the multitudinous hosts
Of heaven, calm, serene, undisturbed.
The stars have no nerves. They
are not upset by difficulties, never
set ''rattled,' never cease to shine
because people criticise them, do not
become disappointed. Nothing ever
veXes the eternal calm of those vast
spaces in which they have their be-
ing. Storms sweep over the earth,
the ocean is dashed into fury, the
atmosphere is heavy with clouds or
ripped open by lightning, bat the
Ornament is never affected by the up
roar of this small planet. They have
no cares and no perpleXities, and
they swing as serenely in their orbits
as though there was no such thing
in the universe as trouble. So they
have done for countless ages, SO they
will do for countltsS ages to come.
When you feel a fit of the blues
coming on, go out and look at the
stars. Gaze at those myriad worlds CT
light until their unruflled serenity
takes possession of your own soul, and
fears and sorrows flee away. 1t would
hold back many a man from becom-
ms misanthrope or a suicide to
take a good long lesson in star gaz-
Ing
But Abraham saw more than this.
He saw something in the stars that
no one else had seen. He saw pos
ter;ty. Here he was an old man,
with not chick nor a child in the
world, yet those starry heavens were
continents on the fields of which he
saw countless thousands of descend
ants reckoning their spiritual gen
aalogy back to him, as the father of
the faithful. He was the first4great
believer. and according to his faith
it was unto him. In world OF doubt
and unbelief 1T is a great thing to be
the progenitor of a race of men who
walk by faith and not by sight
There are those who maintain
that mans destiny is written in the
stars. They say that for every hui
man soul there is a natal star so bril-
liant and luminous that nought can
equal it. No language can describe
its beauty, no mind can paint its
oveliness. They assert that if a child
Is born under certain stellar infiu-
ences he will be a warrior, under
others he will be philan1hrOufst, he
is born to make money or to rise to
official position, or to stumble on a
dark path of evil to doom. And they
claim to be able to predict the future
career OF a child by casting a horo-
scope of the heavens and reading his
destiny inscribed by pencil of star
light at the moment of birth. His
destiny is controlled by Mars
or Venus or Mercury or Saturn.
This may or may not be true.
There is one star, however, which
has affected every human life. 1t is
the Star of Bethlehem. Abraham
saw it and was glad. The prophets
saw 1t and were thrilled. The Shep-
herds saw it and rejoiced with ex-
ceeding greeat joy. 1t shone over the
manger in Bethlehem, and it has
poured light upon every cradle since.
In its radiane we walk. Toward it's
source we hasten. Through the
darkest midnight that ever came
down upon a soul it's beams can be
discerned. We steer by it across life's
stormy sea. To be guided by its
rays is to know the meaning in its
fullest sense of divine astrology.
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