The Newtown bee., 1907-11-08
LITTLE SERMON.
THE JOY OF THE HARVEST
 BY 0. 0. WRIGHT.

They Joy before thee according to the joy in harvest" Isa. p:a
 The season of harvest has always been time of rejoicing. In the na- ture of the case it is an occasion of gratitude and happiness. The harvest is the reward of the .husbandman. and the crowning of the year with divine goodness. It is the proof of the in- dustry of man. and the fulflment of the promise of Cod: "while the earth remaineth. .seedtime and harvest. and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" As physical beings we are part of nature. We are in a literal sense of the earth. earthly. Our life in this world is largely dependent upon the products of the soil. The original home of man was in a garden. To till the ground was his work, to live of it's products was his struggle and his happiness. To multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have do- minion over the world is the perfection and glory of manhood, while God is the Father of the spirits of all flesh we may we'll say that the earth is the mother of our bodies, the nourisher and preserver of our physical life. For the proper food of man is the fruit of the soil; and the strength, vigor, and joy of the animal life depend upon the abundance and perfection of the harvest. Indeed, so intimately are we related to nature through our material bodies that according to both ancient philosophy and modern science: "A man is that which he has eaten.
 To be we'll fed and nourshed is of fundamental importance to all true and. abiding success in this world. The a. mount and quality of work that man can do depends in no small degree upon the supply and"value of food he eats. Heart, brain, and hand intellect, conscience and imagination, all enter- prise and progress and the manifes- tation ofiall life in this world depends upon the cultivation of the soil of the. earth, and the various conditions of the animal life.
 Moreover, our physical being is the natural basis of the spiritual life; and the earthly is divinely adapted to teach us the heavenly. The book of nature is the medium. through which our heavenly Father reveals to us the be- gnnings of the unseen and eternal. The earth is parable. Every object |
 in nature IS thought of the Creator !; and all things bear deeper, spiritual meaning than appears to the senses. The lily means more than stem, and leaves, and petals, and perfume. It is divine revelation to the heart of man, at least when the Son of God makes it tell it's story of purity, and human trust.
 In the analogies of nature rests the basis of the poetic and spiritual Ian guage of the Holy Scriptures. The story of the Creation means sthe re- creation of man in the Spirit andTruth. The rainbow is made beautiful with the divine promise of good The noun tains stand for the divine protection. Water is the symbol of the spiritua life. And so it is that the inspired
 writers make use of hills, valleys
 rivers, seas, lofty cedars and lowlS f vines rdeserts and fertile places: leaf and flower, and fruit; summer, ant winter, seedtime and harvest, locus
 and lion, and lamb, and wolf; and O
 all animate and inanimate objects O
 the material world to teach us lesson i, of the Infinite One, and of His spirit : ual things.
 The Lord of life is the great Inter 1 preter of nature. He loads the tree
 with fruits of heavenly wisdom. H
 makes the lowly vine point to us tn
 only source of life eternal. The fowl n of the air come from Him with swee s assurances of tender care; and sine
 He has spoken as never man spake
 the very grass of the field us lesso of humble trust. And as John Bul roughs says: Mature plays the princi
 pal part in the lives of all creatures
 man included, supplying motives, in
 pulses, opportunities, the guidance c orror;,o+;on '+he inheritance of instin(