The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-05-09

- sometimes peTCn-
ed on the masts,
but had ley
been caught. On dark nights they
went to the Mohammedan graveyards,
roasted on the boughs Of the cypress
trees, and mingled their doleful notes
with the signing of the winds. The
Moslems declared that the spirits OF
the wicked dead dwelt in these birds,
and that their plaintive notes were
the wailing of the lost.
Now, into most of our lives there
come at times birds with black wings
and Blue breasts. We canno cap
ture and destroy them, and they al
most turn our hearts into a cemetery.
We have the blues" Webster says
that the word "blues" Is q contraction.
he might have said q concentration, Of
"blue devils" 1t is q word used in
classic English, as IS the word
dumps" There is a state of mind
which Shakespeare could describe
only as the dumps, so dull and
heavy" and these hard times are apt
to produce that state of mind.
While the author Of this Seventy
seventh Psalm was writing the first
nine verses there was in his mind a
whole flock Of these birds with black
wings and blue breasts. / believe that
God allowed him to have the blues, in
vine analysis of this state Of mind.
Having diagnosed the disease, he
then gives us the cure.
Let us pluck the feathers from the
wings Of these blue-breasted birds and
examine them one by one, that We
may learn just the stuff that the blues
are made Of.
The first black feather is
A Morbid Taste for Sorrow.
MY soul refused to be comforted."
There was comfort to be had, but he
did not want it. He preferred dis
comfort.
Some people are quite 80
happy as when they are miserable.
They pet their griefs.
The second feather is
A Distorted View of God.
Il remembered God and was
troubled"
The remembrance Of God ought to
have given him pleasure. Infdelity
speaks of a God whose every thought
is a star and whose dreams are con
stellations." He thinks, not of men.
1--l x;or, of CoI iC nnnnOh m give
any one the blues.
The third black feather Is
A Complaining Spirit.
II complained, and my spirit was
overwhelmed"
The more you complain the more
cause you will have for complaining.
The squid blackens the water about
II thai it may hide itself in he black
ness. 1t shuts out it's own vision, in
order that it may shut out the vision
of others.
Another black feather Is
Insomnia.
Thou holdest mine eyes waking"
It is hard to be cheerful when we
cannot sleep.
Still another black feather Is
The Memory of Good Times Gone.
81 call to remembrance my song
in the night"
Once he was a nightingale. filling
the air with music; now he is a
~screech-owl, filing it with discords
The fact that he was once happy
makes him miserable to-day. Former
wealth makes present poverty more
oppressive; former health makes pres
| Ont sickness harder to bear.
So much for the analysis OF the
| blues. Let us look for a momen at
Gods Cure;
ar the means by which these birds
of black wing and blue breast may
be driven away, or taken and de
stroyed.
First, let there be a clean-breasted
| confession. This" says the Psalm
| list. lis my infrm!ty."
God is not to blame If / am blue.
| He would make me bright and cheer
ful. ! take the fault as my own.
Confession Of sin brings forgiveness,
but there must be no apology. If We
whitewash u souls we shall not have
them washed white. Paul said: II
| rejoice in infirmity, that the power OF
| Christ may rest upon me-"
Again, faith in God is a good cur,
for the blues. The Psalmist says:
"Thy way Is in the sanctuary"