The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-03-23
THE LILIES OF THE FIELD.
God a Being Of Love and Cares For
All His Creation" But He Does
Not Aid the Slothful.

AT the Lutheran cHuFcH Yesterday.
Consider the lilies how they grow;
they toll not, they spin not: and yet
| say unto you that Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like enc
of these (St. Luxe 12;27)
! Christ, the nature lover, was prone
to draw the illustrations, with which
he obiectitied many of his abstract
ethical aud spiritual doctrines, from
the mysterious book of nature. in
the context he is urging his disciples
to avoid too much attention towards
things earthly and refers to the
1 beautiful lilies in the field as an eX-
ample OF Gods wisdom and goodness;
/ God created and clothed them
dressed them so wonderously beauti-
Eful that their garb rivalled the
gorgeous robes of royal Solomon, who
in his zenith of glory was not ar
rayed like one of these.
Who-that is devotional and
thoughtful-does not apprehend God
through nature? The spirit of nature
] forever seems to elude the artist who,
at best. is but the imitator of the for
mer Let us refer to a nature scene,
pointing to a God on the distant
slope of the great Pacific, in northern
| California. Mid-winter, that famous
Japan current" flowing through the
ocean, and altitude. are the factors
! involved. In the distance Mt Shasta,
nearly $4,000 feet high, etarnally
crowned with snow, towers over the
fertile valleys at his base; silvery
rivers. like great serpents, twine
through the foothills and wales speed
ing ever toward the sea; and deep
within those genial valleys. ever
fondled by the breath of that climate
-tempering current from the trop-
les. are peaceful villages and cosy
farm houses. with roses, whose petals
are touched by the coIoring of an ar
fist divine, climbing in rich profusion
over their walls; perennial summer
in the valleys, perpetual winter on
the lonely crests of Shasta, Why?
Because the hand OF omnipotence
reared the mountain-in imitation of
which the architects build their sky
scrapers in cities-and cut out the
road WAYS for our rivers, and estab-
lished the principles underlying ocean
currents Summer in January, north
of the II degree. while in the same
latitude in New England the minions
of Boreas are refusing the caresses OF
our gentle south wind.
Aye, the power and wisdom of that
architect called God are hyergriphic-
ally engraved on natures bosom, aud
plainly seen in his handiwork For
example, clearly the subtle laws OF
crystalization, as seen in the forma-
ton of snow and frost-crystals, speak
OF an overriding one who formulated
them within the temple of infinite wis
dom.
In Prov. &c we read, Go to the
ant thou sluggard; consider her ways
and be wise: which having no guide,
O, erseer or ruler, provideth her meat
In the summer and gathereth her food
in the harvest" Says writer: For
long time European commentators
and naturalists denied that ants
stored up grain for future use as was |
asserted in Proverbs. (as read ayoe1 |
But while such is true Of most of the
1O4 European species, two of those
species do lay up food, aud are called
harvesting ants Like species have
been found in Texas and South Am
erica. and are known to exist in
Palestine. They show many other
proofs of their skill, Some OF them
build wonderful houses; these are
often several stories high, sometimes
five hundred times the height of the
builders. with rooms, corridors and
yaulted roofs, supported by pillars.
Some species keep kind of cows
others have regular army of sol
diers; some keep slaves. No closer
imitation of the ways of man could
be found in the entire animal
Bees also, exhibit marvellous pow
ers in the arrangement of their cells
for honey-hexagonal. six-sided-in
their ability to find their way home
through the trackless woods. and in
the assiduity with which they toll dur
ing the summer months TO lay up food
for the coming winter. God gave to
ant and bee all that IS theirs, and
he blesses them with success when
hey observe the conditions to regu- {
ate their lives If he cares for these
minor creatures. how much more will n
ne bless the efforts of men and /
women, If within the province of his I
aw Il
But to the lilies again. There is az {
Did tradition to the effect that, as ,
mother Eve, after that first trans t
,ression of Gods law, was leaving
Paradise. or Eden. her repentant {
ears falling on the earth created the Z
lily. In Christian art, the lily is EN- h
1lematic of chastity. innocence. purity. +
Solomons reign was a splendid one, :
noted for extravagant expenditures of :
lis peoples money, and ostentatious I
display. His glory, at it's highest tide. q,
was evanescent. ephemeral; for III .
alter years he utters that doleful sen .
of vanities, all is
-anity" As king rObed in reSnlend-