The Neshoba Democrat., 1909-12-23

l
NTH and back to horizon again and
the world so recently alive with light
1ades into the time of reverie and
rest. And yet at eventide it 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 yet the moon
light; but it is candle light that cheers
the hour that would else be filled 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 patriarchal grace
The precious Bible, once his fathers
| pride.
Then kneeling down, to Heavens Eternal
King
The saint, the father, and the husband
| prays.
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 a 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 eventide.
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 lifes 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-
cles of the market and the choicest
vintages 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 revelry 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 vintages. 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 accentuate
the shadows of the catacombs into
which the little company has cautious
ly found its way. AS eyes grow ac-
customed to the place a table is seen
and on it there is 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,
Il rinlr Ln ;e,
motto, and soon the day will end in
night. The shadows are gathering
fast and faster and the Christian
hearts in Rome might we'll 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 it's
little flame the great light Of eternal
truth is set ablaze.
The Light That Jesus Casts.
And it is all happening because Je-
sus had light for the shadows. His
faith in God was the candle that ct
his eventide enabled him to read Gods
message and to interpret it 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, filled
with loyalty to her Lord, she became
because he had influenced her life.
The man that Saul of Tarsus became
when as the apostle to the Gentiles
he urged men to become Christians,
he became because Christ had brought
him to life and to the light of immor-
taiity. The church that was constitut-
ed by men who had been towards
when they fled from the disaster of
his death, was possible because he
had made these same men courageous
by his resurrection. Always when he
has touched human hearts it has been
to make them grow humane: when he