The independent-reporter., 1910-07-07

A%l4t 10 iiht a nibhlllalb an IOti
With an engineer that's brave
We must make the run successful
From the cradle to the grave,
Watch the curves, the fills,the tunnels,
Never falter. never quail,
Keep your hand upon the throttle,
And your eye upon the rail.
You will roll up grades of trial,
You will cross the bridge of strife,
See that Christ is your conductor
On this lightning train of life;
Always mindful of distractions,
DO your duty, never fail
Keep your hand upon the throttle
I. And Jour eye upon the rail.
You will often find Instructions,
Look for storms of wind and rain,
On a fill, or curve or trestle
They will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus,
Never falter, never fail,
Keep your hand upon the throttle
And your eye upon the rail.
Here in these words the poet is
comparing life to>a mountain railroad.
The figure is strong; the picture is
vivid; the vision is easily grasped.
Yonder stretching into the distance
we see chain of mountains; there,
too, is the winding trail of the rail-
road. Now we see the engine with
it's train of cars climbing up the
/ brow of the mountain. 1t reaches the
top and now descends the opposite
slope and runs awhile between the
+ Y-;l - 81 ,;o ip Incf
! in some dark ravine, now plunges
! into tunnel; emerging it continues
its course over rugged sleeps and
/ bridged chasms, while beneath rush
the maddening torrents leaping the
crags, fighting their way into the val
ley below. Oh, it is grand picture,
this picture of lifes mountain rail-
road
Human life has been described and
pictured out in countless forms All
the fine figures of speech have been
called forth to illustrate its various
features. The parable, the allegory
the metaphor. the anecdote, the hy-
/ perbole, the antithesis, the climax; in
fact every bit of symbolic language
known to man has been used over and
over again a thousand times to set
! forth the stern realities and the
I thrilling experiences of human life.
! Sometimes life is described or COM
pared to a journey starting back yon-
der in the land of childhood and wind
ing up in some lone graveyard. Some
times ii is compared to a sea. Who
has not heard the expression: The
sea of life At times this sea is pic
tured to us as being calm, and placid
its waters, sparkling, laughing, dane
ing in the light that drops from the
/ fountains of the sun. Other times il
is described to us in the language OF
the cruel storm. The heavens are
dark; threatening clouds cover the
sky; there is a flash of lightning, fol
lowed by loud peal of thunder, anC
the maddened tempest leaps forth
from his chains with terrific force anC
clamor. 1t lashes the sea into white
foam. The waters moan and groan
for they are angry. They roll up in
mighty pillows and these small crafts
of ours are driven hither and thther;
some are dashed against jutting rocks
with great wreckage or swamped by
the jaws of a cruel whirlpool; others
are driven far asea and are lost upon
unknown shores. On this sea of life,
What chance is there for that little
craft of yours when such sea is
running
But here in my text human life is
compared to story, not to noun
tain railroad, not a voyage across the
sea, not journey over some country
road; but to a story told. 1--WE spend
fo1p hpt fa told 10
fore going any further | must give
YOU some idea of the origin of this
idea. The psalm from which ! take
the text is called a psalm of Moses
and we may conclude that Moses
found the application as he heard the
story telling that was going on in the
tents of Israel. You will remember
that when Israel was going out
from Egypt to Canaan that they lott
cred dreadfully along the way. We
read that it took them forty years
to make that trip. We also learn from
the record that during those years they
did nothing They were an idle peo-
pie. God gave them mama to eat
/ and they wore the same suit of clothes
from the day they started out from
! Egypt until they landed at Kadesh
/ Barnea. 1t was certainly a very idle
and dull life that they led; so to cut
off the monotony of such a dull jour
ney and to kill the time they resorted
to story telling. So with us. We may
tell the story of our lives in many
ways. We may tell it in speech, or in
writing or in music or in pictures
! We all have our pet faults, our short
comings, our little sins, and not foI
all the world would we have them
known. These we like to hide in the
darkest chambers or our soul. And
we are very careful lest the tongue
4 slip and give out any secrets. But
! in an unguarded moment a look, ol
a smile or a frown of the face
gives us away. We do not realize it
We have been telling certain parts OF
the story without our knowing it, We
told it in illustrated language. One ol
the greatest inventions of modern
times is the moving picture machine
and that which makes it so marvellous
is the fact that it gives us so smuct
of the real life. That machine is cap.
able of telling a life story. not in
words but by throwing upon the
screen the mans deeds and doings. II
reproduces the character in the terms
of actions and deeds. So it is with
our life stories. We carry with us oul
own moving picture machines, and we
are all the time telling the story oi