Times-promoter., 1909-12-23

rS3W 3 er's tasks are
AsH done and from field
and toll weary steps
are turned toward home. The after
glow has famed from horizon to ze-
NTH and back to horizon again and
the world so recently alive with light
fades into the time of reyerie and
rest. And yet at eventide 1t shall be
light. The prophet Is somehow kin
to the Scotch minstrel whose song
of the "Cotter's Saturday Night" best
lends meaning to the prophetic word.
For the evening light is surely not
the sunlight, nor is it vet the moon
light; but it Is candle light that cheers
the hour that would else be filed with
the deepening gloom of dusk and
dark. Not until most recent years
could the twilight hour be filled with
any other light than that of the primi-
tive candle, whose pleasant rays,
though soft and feeble, sufficed to set
ablaze that great light which makes
clear and plain life's pathway. For
in the light of the candle our fathers
read the Book from which the true
light shines. Robert Burns has
caught the spirit of the prophetic
truth as he says:
The cheerful supper done. with serious
face
They round the ingle form circle
wide;
The sire turns DER with patrlarchal grace
The precious Bible. onces his fathers
pride
Such scenes have not been peculiar,
however. to Scotland, but they have
been characteristic of the homes Of
Christian folk of every kindred and
tribe and tongue since that long ago
Easter dawn which heralded the risen
Lord. When shadows have been deep
ening the faith OF Christian hearts
has been as the light Of candle to
set ablaze the beacon light OF endless
day. And herein is evidenced the true
worth of our religion, for it alone
among all the religions the world has
known gives light AT eyentide.
False and True Lights.
All men have not always thought
so, and when the pages of history are
consulted scenes are witnessed that
portray the efforts men have made to
tighten the shadows of life's waning
! day. Here Is banquet hall in Rome,
flooded with the myriad lights Of
lamps and brilliant with the scintil-
lating gems that bedeck the gorgeous
ly appareled personages of that impe,
rial city of the Caesars. The delica-
cies Of the market and the choicest
yintages Of the years are placed be-
fore the favored guests. The extreme
of Indulgence is permitted in the SEN
sual pursuit Of pleasure and the
sounds of reyelry arise while fast and
furious grows the spirit of misrule.
Beneath that hall a different com
pany gathers. They have no blazing
lights nor flashing gems. No costly
food nor yintages. The room in which
they meet is bare Of luxury and far
from the. light Of day, and such light
as is provided serves to accentuate5
the shadows of the catacombs into
which the little company has cautious
iy found its way. AS eyes grow ac-
customed to the place a table is seen
and on 1t there Is a cup Of native
wine, and some bread which is being
broken as one says, "This do In re-
membrance Of me-" But where is the
true light shining? In the hall Of the
Caesars or in the catacombs?
The shadows are gathering rapidly
and Rome's day is nearly done. EAT,
drink and be merry" is the Romans
motto, and soon the day will end In
night. The shadows are gathering
fast and faster and the Christian
hearts in Rome might well be strick-
en- with despair as prosecutions and
martyrdoms become their lot, But the
faith Of Christian hearts Is the candle
shining in the gloom and from its
little flame the great light Of eternal
truth is set abiaze.
The Light That Jesue Casts.
And 1t Is all happening because Je-
sus had light for the shadows. His
faith in God was the candle that at
his eventide enabled him to read Gods
message and to interpret 1t for all
mankind. The message which he read
in his soul was the principle Of the
resurrection. He himself was the res
direction. Such he was to Martha.
The woman that she became, filed
with loyalty to her Lord, she became
because hh had influenced her lifes
Tie man shat Saul Of Tarsus became
wien as the apostle to the Gentiles
he urged men to become Christians,
he became because Christ had brought
MIN to life and to the light Of immors
tally. The church that was constitut-
q L y. .ll