The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-10-03
WRITTEN FOR 1.-THE UNION"
BESIDE THE STILL WATERS.
BY GEORGE E. TACK.
HE leadeth me beside the still waters.


HE leadeth me beside the still waters.'
A light morning breeze slowly
wings its fight up the valley, cur
tanned with mists, and touches with
its f1uttering pinions the placid sur.
face OF the stream. watch the con.
centric flow of ripples over the water,
and hear the sound of music as they
run over the pebbly shore and return
to the stream.
How beautiful now is the eastern
sky in the flush of sunrise The
bird-song from yonder grove tells OF
a happy heart, full of greetings for
the mornings flaming herald, and
praise to the God who gave it life.
Ny lips cannot refrain from joining
the singer in its matin song and
then / watch the mists roll up like
curtains above the dewy vale, now
sparkling in the sunlight +! How near
God seems at this hour
"Still, still with Thee, when purple morning
When the bird waketh, and the shadows fiee.'
Overhead the cleaning crescent OF
the moon floats upon tranquil blue
sea, and the morning star pales and
passes away in silence. The clouds
afar off are full of colors and seem to
change from moment to moment like
a vast kaleidoscope. Never was King
Solomon arrayed like one of these,
even in his most glorious apparel.
His was borrowed glory, earth-born
and transient, but the colors on those
clouds are from the great light bearer
far above. Even the fragile flowers
along the bank are more glorious, for
Solomon's glory was taken from
others, while theirs is all their own.
And like the flowers OF earth and the
clouds above, we, too, may reflect the
glorious light of the Sun of Right
eousness as He shines upon us in
tender love.
1t seems so quiet here now, for the
wandering breeze has left the place,
and can hear through the still air
the clarion calls of chanticleer that
ring from farm to farm. Overhead a
buzzard floats on motionless wings.
Now he scars and circles, higher aud
yet higher, until he is mere speck
in the glowing dome of sunlit ether.
How far away heaven must be, and
yet the Shepherd leads my steps to-
day. What sweet smile must have
been upon His face as He took little
children in His arms in the far-away
years and blessed them And some
of them learned to love Him, and fol-
lowed Him in after years to cruel
deaths, but their love was never to
die. 'Love begets love. Smiles are
like musical voices amid the hills,
which come back to those that utter
them with all their original sweet
ness" All, Shepherd of men, Thou
dost lead Thy flock evermore
All day, lured on by the sweet
voiced birds and scenes of beauty /
wander along hills and wales, and by
cool woodlands, where sunbeams fall
in streams of gold upon the green
platforms of the boughs of oaks and
naples and chestnuts, and flow down
and food the fern bowers beneath.
The branches of the trees down in
the woods seem to float in the still
air r; each leaf of rare design and
finish. Yonder is a slope of tender
green, overspread with a faint blush
of Towering grass.
Here comes vision of beauty, a
vagabond butterfly. His wings NOV
ing swiftly with joyous haste, are
orange lined, bordered with black
The borders are spotted white, and
the FURNISHED black head is studded
with jewels. Now l capture him as
he rests upon flower and hold him
in my hand carefully that I may moi
mar the beautiful lustre of the crea-
ture's wings. Frail it is, yet exquis
itely fashioned by the One who created
you and me, and it speaks of the
faultless Son of God, whose works
testify most eloquently of the power
of the eternal God in all the work o.
creation, from the oemeba to the
archangel, who dwells amid scenes o
matchless splendor
Swiftly the hours are born and de
part, and in the glorious panoply o
heaven a golden star now CLEANS like
the costly jewel of some potentate
1t is the star of evening, radiant anc
fair, but never can Its beauty com
pare with that star of old, whose flash
ing rays led the Magi from the Eas
to the Redeemer of men, when He
as earth's sweetest babe, lay cradle'
in the arms of mother-love. Coult
we, who also rejoice at His birth, hav
had that same devotion as the wis
men when the star of Bethlehem le,
them to a manger, yes, to a stable
There He was born, and amid tn
hills and valleys of His country. II
lived and ministered to men and VIC
men, and even little children, unit
His holy life became rebuke to tn
proud Pharisees, and then they cause
Him to be put to death.