Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-02-14

~ years, tnen tnlrty years ana tnen
forty years All this time Moses was
broodlng over the lnjustices which
were being perpetrated upon his peo-
pie. But not until twoscore years had
passed did God say to Moses: "My
son, go to Egypt. and I will be with
thee. Go up, and will make thee an
emancipation for an enslaved race"
Oh, how some Of US are chafing at the
fact that God is keeping us in INDIAN
eIiles OF inactivity. We want to do
something to aid our fellow men, but
God Is saying to US as he spake to
Moses: my child, be patient Thou
canst never be a liberator of thy Eel.
low men unless thou dost flrst learn
to govern thyself. Thou must abide
here In faroff indian until thou dost
learn this truth" Tell me, my friend.
Is not the greatest obstacle retarding
thee from mighty usefulness the fact
that you have never learned to gov
crn yourself, you have never learned to
walt when 1t Is best to wait?
Button. the great French preacher.
once said: Never think that Gods de-
|
Hold on! Hold on. Patience Is gen
ius! Aye. patience Is more than sim
pie human genius. Gospel patience Is
the acme of gospel faith and trust It
Is resting our faith on Christ. 1t is the
divine faith which says, Though all
things may seem to go against me for
the time being, yet God is making all
N ina toll
good, and therefore we can afford to
wait, just to wait for his dear sake"
There IS an Infinite lot OF Christian
philosophy to be learned in these
quaint words of the Hoosier poet. The
more I study them the more God
speaks and teaches me the lessons of
patience which he spake to Moses in
his INDIAN exile:
1t amt no use to grumble and complain:
It's just ms cheap and easy to rejoice
When God sorts out the weather and
sends rain,
wy rains my choice.
In this existence dry and wet
VIII overtake the best of men.
Some little skift O. cloud II shet
The sun on now and then.
There ain't no sense. as 7 can see.
Immortals SIGH as You and me
A-fautin natures wise inton.s
And lockin' horns with Providence.
Thanks For the Weather.
But have most of us learned the
Christian lessons of patience? Like
James Whitcomb Riley, can we thank
God for the rain as we'll as the sun
shine? When things go all right, then
we are right. But when anything goes
wrong we have not learned the lessons
OF gospel patience Then we speak
words which we ought not to speak
and do things which we regret all the
days OF our lives. Naturaists tell us
that the mighty winged eagles have
sometimes been slain by the little hum
ming birds. These smallest Of birds,
which you could crush in your hand.
have been known to perch themselves
upon the heads of the mighty kings of
the air There they have sat and peck
ed and pecked until they have pecked
into the brains Of the eagles and tum-
bled their dead bodies down into the
dust. Thus quick temper, the inabili
have been known TO absolutely nullify
Il mans influence for good We are
all right when everything is going all
right. But we are all wrong when any
thing goes wrong Thus God exiled
Moses in INDIAN to teach him patience
Thus God is holding many Of us in OBJ
scure positions until we learn to gov
ern ourselves.
But again I learn that God sent
Moses into his INDIAN exile to teach
him the practicalities of life. Moses
by his education was sage. but Moses
was theorist. For many years he
had been cloud dweller or n vision
airy dreamer. In all probability in the
temple of Karnak he had learned all
the theories Of government. but theo-
~ and fact do not always nest as twin
sisters in the same cradle. He had de-
veloped his head, but not his hands.
So God. in order TO fit him for practi-
cal leadership made him work with
his hands and his feet as we'll as with
his brain. When Moses went down
into the land OF INDIAN. he not only
had to go to work. but he had to hire
himself out to do the work of COM
mon shepherd. Have you not heard
how he helped the daughters of Reuel
to water their focks?
Methlnks | can now see him guard
ing his sheep down In the pasture
lands near Mount Sinai, Mhere God
was one day to give him the Ten Com
mandments written on tables Of stone
His clothes are coarse. His hands
are callous. The shepherds staff is In
his hands. why" hear him say to
himself. II never knew il was so hard
as this to earn your daily bread. In
my foster mothers home we never
worried about our daily food. In the
Eing's banquet we used to waste more
than we ate. II ever am to he
leader of my people, | must teach
them not to be wasteful God will al
ways give us enough to eat and
clothes to wear, but waste Is sin.
1t should he a crime in mans eyes. as
it Is sin In Gods sight" Thus Moses
struggle for daily bread scattered
away many Of the foolish notions he
had about Gods providence and care.
He learned that God meant man to
help himself When Moses led his PEG.
pie through the Red sea, methinks he
often went through the camps and