The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1908-10-15
which man now 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-
itation every dayf Every time we
move a foot or lift weight we tenn
porarily interfere with the operation
of the most universal of natural laws,
aud yet 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 a great unknown which
is stlIl 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
secret-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
than they knew in the beginning. We
live, we plan, we have our hopes, our
fears, and yet in a moment a change
may come over any one of us, and this
body will become a 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
Il before we eat it2 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.
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 1t would require some FIVE
/ thousand seed to weigh a pound. And
then I 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. It gathers from some
where two hundred thousand times its
own weight and, forcing this raw ma.
terial through a tiny stem, constructs
a watermelon. It covers the outside
with coating Of green, inside OF the
green It puts a layer of white, and
within the white core of red, and all
through the red 1t seatters seeds, each
one capable of continuing the work of
reproduction. Where did that little
seed get it's tremendous power1 Where
did 1t find its coloring matter? How
did It collect its favoring extract?
How did 1t build q Watermelon Un-
til you can explain a watermelon do
mot 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. cannot explain the watermelon.
but eat 1t and enjoy It
Power That Is Infinite and Divine.
Everything that grows tells like
story of infinite power. Why should
deny that a divine hand fed multi,
tude with few loaves and fishes
when see hundreds Of millions fed
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 sc
far in eliminating the element oi
space7
But there is something even mors
wonderful still, the mysterious change
that tnkes 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
but who after the change would give
his life for a principle and esteem 1t G
privilege to make sacrifice for his con
victions. What greater miracle thar
this that converts a selfish, self cen
tered human being into q center from
which good Influences fiow out II
every direction! And yet this miracle
has been wrought in the heart of eacf
one of US, or may be wrought, and we
have seer 1t wrought in the hearts Of
those about us. No; living in the mids-
of mystery and miracles, | shall MOI
elbow either to deprive me OF the bene
fits of the Christian religion.
Some of those who question the mir
acie also question the theory Of atone
ment They assert that 1t does not &C
cord with their idea of justice for on;
to die for others. Let each ole beal
bis own sins and the punishments due
for them. they say. The doctrine o.
vicarious suffering is not new one
1t is as old as the race. That ont
should suffer for others is one of thu
most familiar of principles, and we set
the principle illustrated every day o.
our lives.
find proof that man was made II
the image of his Creator In the fac
that throughout the centuries man hai
} been willing to die that blessings de
. MED to him might be enjoyed by hi
children, his children's children and thu
world.
The seeming paradox, HE that saw
eth his life shall lose 1t, and he tha
loseth his life for my sake shall f1nC
] bo, 70,