The Democrat-sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1906-1935, 1908-10-22

which man ,ow deals. It is simply
different.
1t Is sometimes said that God could
not suspend one of his laws without
stopping the universe. but do we not
suspend or overcome the law of grav-
itaton every day? Every time we
move foot or lift a weight we tenn
porarly interfere with the operation
of the most universal of natural laws,
and vet the world is not disturbed
Science has taught us SO many
things that we are tempted to con-
clude that we know everything, but
there is really great unknown which |
is still unexplored, and that which we
have learned ought to Increase our
reverence rather than our egotism.
| Science has disclosed some of the ma.
chinery of the Universe. but science
has not yet revealed TO us the great
| sccret--the secret Of life. 1t Is to be
found In every blade Of grass. In every
insect, in every bird and in every ami ,
| mai. as well as IN man Six thousand
years of recorded history, and yet we
know no more about the secret of life
|
| live, we plan, we have our hopes. our
fears and yet in moment change
| may come over any one of us, and this
| body will become mass OF lifeless
clay. What is 1t that. having, we live
and, having not, we are as the clod!
We know not, and yet the progress OF
the race and the civilization which
we now behold are the work of men
and women who have not solved the
mystery of their own lives.
And our food-must we understand
It before we eat it? If we refused to
eat anything until we could under
stand the mystery of its growth, we
would die of starvation. But mystery
does not bother us in the dining room.
Only in the church Is it an obstacle.
l was eating a piece of watermelon
some months ago and was struck with
its beauty. took some Of the seed
and dried them and weighed them and
found that it would require some five
thousand seed to weigh a pound. And
then applied mathematics to that
forty pound melon. One OF these
seeds put into the ground when warmed
by the sun and moistened by the rain
goes to work. 1t gathers from some
where two hundred thousand times its
own weight and, forcing this raw ma,
terial through tiny stem, constructs
watermelon. 1t covers the outside
with coating of green, inside of the
green it puts layer of white, and
: within the white core Of red, and all
through the red it scatters seeds, each
one capable of continuing the work Of
reproduction. Where did that little
seed get Its tremendous power? Where
did it find its coloring matter? How
did it collect its aavoring extract?
How did it build a watermelon? I'm
!. til you can explain a watermelon do
not be too sure that you can set limits
!, to the power of the Almighty or say just
what he would do or how he would do
! 1t. l cannot explain the watermelon,
but eat it and enjoy it.
;. Power That Is Infinite and Divine.
Everything that grows tells like
story of infinite power. Why should
: deny that divine hand fed multi
a tude with few loaves and fishes
+, when | see hundreds of millions fed
9 every year by hand which converts
!. the seeds scattered over the field into
an abundant harvest? We know that
. food can be multiplied in few
- months time. Shall we deny the pow
\ er of the Creator to eliminate the ele-
- ment of time when we have gone so
far in eliminating the element OF
a space?
:. But there is something even more
wonderful still, the mysterious change
. that takes place in the human heart
when the man begins to hate the
!, things he loved and to love the things
. he hated, the marvellous transformation
~ that takes place in the man who be-
fore the change would have sacrificed
:, the world for his own advancement
= but who after the change would give
. his life for a principle and esteem it
" privilege to make sacrifice for his con
?, yictions. What greater miracle thar
- this that converts a selfish, self cen
" tered human being into center from
70 which good influences flow out il
~ "a every direction! And yet this miracle
- has been wrought in the heart of eacf
one of us, or may be wrought, and We
!? have seen it wrought In the hearts Of
le those about us. No; living in the mlds
a. Of mystery and miracles, shall no
re allow either to deprive me of the bene
Ii fits of the Christian religion.
rt Some of those who question the mir
le acle also question the theory OF atone
ment. They assert that 1t does not &C
ID cord with their idea of justice for ont
to die for others. Let each one bea
s. his own sins and the punishments du'
I'd for them, they say. The doctrine o
" vicarious suffering Is not new one
a 1t Is as old as the race. That on'
10 should suffer for others is one of tn
A. most familiar of principles, and we se
" the principle illustrated every day o
to our lives.
s. | lind proof that man was made II
u the image of his Creator in the fac
It that throughout the centuries man la
ne been willing to die that blessings de
OF MED to him might be enjoyed by nj
re- children, his chidren's children and tn
ld world.
The seeming paradox, "He that say
m eth his life shall lose 1t, and he tina
ly loseth his life for my sake shall I'M
he It," has an application wider than tina
1t. usually given to 1t. 1t Is an epitome o
Nv history. Those who live only for then
at selves live little lives, but those WI
o4 | rive themselves for the advancement