Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1912-07-25
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RlTTER sWEET.

BITTER SWEET.
4 Text 'sThe Lord showed him a tree.
4 which when he has cast into the waters
4 the waters were made sweet Eek XIV, IS.
The Israelites had just escaped from
their slavery among the Egyptians
The sun had risen but three times
since they had crossed the Red sea
and witnessed the power Of God dis
PLAYED for their delivery; the sound Of
4 Mirlam's song was still ringing IN
their ears; they had marched but sixty
miles Ia the wilderness Of Shur Then
| the cry rang out, mo water" God
led them to the waters Of Marah, but
when they stopped down to drink
they were dismayed to find the wa
| tiers were bitter and they could not
drink Then the people rnurmured
against Moses, saying What shall
we drink =" That stanch old patriarch
knew whom he had believed tooE
his case to God, and "the Lord show
ed unto him tree which when he
had cast the branches into The waters
the waters were made sweet I can
not help thinking Of the analogy he
| tween the lsraeiite Of old time and
| the Christian of today He has Just
escaped the bondage Of sin and Satan
He has seen Gods power manifested
| wonderfully In saving him. He thinks
| the rest Of life's journey should now
be nothing but endless delight. when
suddenly he stoops to drink at one Of
lifes pools and finds 1t bitter He's
arrived at Marah
Shallow Streams
Some day you've done your best;
you've felt the flush Of success and
then? The flush faded, a reaction set
In and you were seized with d panic Of
misgiving ana depression The bottom
seems TO have dropped out Of every
thing Human nature?N That ex-
iplains it. Nerve exhaustionP | think
so You had 1t at the end Of some long,
bard strain of work have gone home
from preaching service in which l
have walked the heights and IN FIVE
minutes have been rolling on the floor
In the agony of bitter failHre These
moments of reaction are full of peril.
Ninety=five per cent OF the suicides of
which we read are committed in panic
of such depression. The devil catches
man off his guard and tempts him on
his weak side A girl has lovers
quarrel, hands back her ring and IN
|pique marries a man she doesn't love
and whom she wishes thousand times
afterward she had never seen, Whats
to be done In such d crisis? Bromides
Hunt up the dope bottle2 no too
many do that The last time / had such
an attack I was about starting to visit
a patient at the almshouse hospital
When came back was the most
thankful and the most humble white
man in the county
Deep Waters.
But not all troubles are mental Some
are from without, and we would be
more than human not to notice them.
Trouble is an apothecary that mixes
many bitter doses. The lamb Of your
little flock gets sick You watch over
her with numb feeling that is hor-
ribie to endure. All that nursing and
medicinal skill can accomplish is done,
but the pulse grows feehler and the
face paler, You cry out in anguish OF
soul, "Oh God. spare our childp' Then
the house Is still. The light Of your life
has gone out Bitter watersl
There was time when business
was good You smiled IN the face of
the world. Then suddenly the sky
4 t,-ra,,,o 5a,.i- MA, 49, ,..1se.h 49,,
storm was over you stood by the
wreckage. resentful and cynical Bit
ter watersl And our personal griev-
ances how we magnify them till our
vision is distorted We have a way
of dwelling on them until we lose
sight Of the blue heavens above us.
How ready we are to brood over pet
ty Sights and insults How we are
stung by trifIing neglects A little dis
courtesy and our souls begin to tester.
A suspicious man Judges wrongly,
and jealous woman sees all out Of
focus. The sun VIII not shine, the
birds VIII not sing, the dew viii not
sparkle on the grass to the man who
has bitterness ranking In his soul.
Lots Of lives are embittered by pain,
poverty. injustice, hypercriticism. Bit
ter waters of Marah!
The Branch In the Waters.
There is a branch for every bitter
stream. "A remedy for every human
Ill. preacher Yes, nature provides
them Why shouldn't God2 There is
queer law Of compensation. Where
there is a poisonous reptile or weed
nature provides an antidote near.
Had it not have been 20 the race
would have persisted ages ago. And
when God gives person some defect
or deformity he also gives him an
additional spur to overcome that blem-
lsh The blind have superior hearing
and touch, the deaf quick eyesight If
both should he partly missing there Is
an almost sixth sense developed The
man with one arm becomes unusually
- .