Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1908-05-14

oGou Caught IN uhfk uIkuIh my
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 plalntive notes we're
the wailIng OF the lost.
Now. into most OF our lives there
come at times birds with black wings
and blue breasts. We cannot cap.
ture and destroy them, and they al
most turn our hearts into a cemetery
We have the blues" Webster saya
that the word blues" is a contraction,
he might have said concentration, OF
blue devils" II Is 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 tho first
nine verses there was in HIS mind q
whole flock OF these birds with black
wings and blue breasts. believe that
God allowed him to have the blues. in
order that he might give us the Dl.
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 stun 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 never quite so
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. Infidelity
speaks Of q God whose every thought
is a star and whose dreams are con.
stellatlons." He thinks not OF men.
Such a view OF God Is enough to give
any one the blues.
The third black feather is
A Complaining Spirit.
Il complained. and my spirit was
overwhelmed"
The more you complain the more
cause you will have for complaining.
The squid blackens the water about
Il that II may hide itself In the black
ness. II shuts out its own vision, In
order that 1t may shut out the vision
OF others. And thus q complaining
spirit darkens everything about US.
Another black feather is
Insomnia.
Thou holdeBt mine eyes waking"
II 10 hard to be cheerful when we
cannot sleep. The darkness OF the
mind enters our soul, and gas light
will not Danish IL. The fitting Of
black wings makes q rustic in our
rooms that does not soothe US. Our
nerves become tomtoms on which
devils beat, rather than harp.strings
upon which angels play.
Still another black feather is
The Memory Of Good Times Gone.
II call 10 remembrance my song
in this night"
Once he was a nightingale, fillIng
the air with music; now he is a
screech-owl, filling II 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
ent sickness harder to bear.
So much for the analysis OF the
blues. Let US look for a moment az
Gods Cure;
nc 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 clean.breasted
confession. This" says the Psalm.
list. lis my innrmity."
God il not to blame II am blue.
He would make me bright and cheer
full. ! take the fault as my own.
He does not say that II 10 q sin. There
10 quite a difference between sin and
infirmity. fnfiunity IL weakness Of
q good thing. a. an inarm eye. or
hand. or faith. or love.
Confession OF sin brings forgiveness.
but there must be no apology. II We
whitswash our souls We shall not have
them washed wklto. Paul said: Il
rejoice in inhrmity. that the power OF
Christ may rest upon me-"
Again. faith In God is q good cure
for the blues The PsAlmist says:
Thy way is In the sanctuary" Go
20 church. Find his way in the
sanctuary: walk in Il. and Il win grow
brighter until the perfect day.