The Penn's Grove record., 1912-10-18
CON MON BUSHES
ALL In FLAME
Deduction Drawn From Miracle
Revealed in the Text of
the Holy Scriptures.
Nv YHEN Moses in the land Of Mid
NV ian obtained the great vision

the leadership of Israel he was
occupied with the ordinary tasks Of
life-he was simply doing his duty in
a prosaic way. He was tending the
docks, and doubtless meanwhile
Eliminating on big questions, idealiz-
ing his common tasks, and so prepar-
ing himself for greater service later
o By faithfully serving in a lowly
capacity Moses was led into just that
humble frame of mind which fitted
him for advancement to larger respon-
s1b1lltles. His promotion came
through a personal touch of the pow
ers of heaven upon his life. 1t is
often so-the common round" brings
man suddenly face to face with God.
There is no telling around which turn
of the road the angels may next meet
US. AS Moses was leading his flock
he came to the mountain of Cod
and an angel of God appeared to him
in a flame of fire.
With a sacred inquisitiveness Moses
turned aside to learn the meaning of
the strange sight that met his eyes.
What interested and surprised him
was not Just a bush-Moses came
across plenty of brambles in the land
of indian, and had often torn his
flesh IN their thorns; nor was it the
sight of a burning bush, for Moses had
seen many bonfires along the ridges of
the hills that cut into the deserts. The
wonder was that the bush, while burn
ing, did not burn-that it was not con-
sumed. We do not know just what
the nature of this miracle was, for we
do not know the nature of any mira
Gle, o of life itself, which is one
great wonder. 1t is sufficient for the
moral purpose of this epistle to rec
ognize that the burning bush vas the
scene and seat of some extraordinary
(and yet not necessarily irrational or
unnaturaD phenomenal manifestation
of the power and presence of Jehovah.
In a sense, God was in that bush, as
he might be said to be in a still,
small voice'-not that the Deity Is
enthusiastically merged in the phenom-
ena of the world which he has created,
but that he is Dramatically at work
in all the processes of nature, wheth-
er in those which we having plotted
down a few data here and there, as
to discovered laws" called natural"
or those in which, not having been
plotted as yet, men regard as extraor-
binary, or miraculous"
The most important point in this in
cident is the sign that it gave Moses
of the dynamic presence of Jehovah
in all his life, and i~nferentially in our
lives, too. So very much was God in
that place that the wondering shep-
herd was told to slip off his sandals,
for the very earth upon which he
stood was holy ground" BY this rev
elation of God to him Moses life
was at once lifted to a higher plane.
Yet it was not promotion in a world
ly sense that did this-not just a
change of tasks, though Moses was in
deed thereafter called to more con
spicuous duties-but a heightening of
moral ideal, the increase of consecra-
ton, and the broader scope of social
sympathy hat came when Moses met
God face to face in indian, was chal-
lenged by his holy purpose, and &C
cepted-though with some m~isgiving,
due at first to a weak faith-the call
to a larger task, and a more arduous
service.
Solitude often assists the culture OF
the higher life in man, and discovers
for him the sacred meaning of the
commonplace, when ordinary happen
ings are consecrated to a lofty and
eternal aim. 1t is not necessary to
go into the desert to find God-that
was the mistake of the old-time ascot
les. What is needed is a certain
amount of solitude in ones own heart
which leaves space for God to enter
and which is shared by the continual
presence of him who spake to Moses
out of the bush burning in the desert
and who said to his Mission-sent disci.
pies: "Lo, l am with you always, even
unto the end of the world"
To the man who carries the sense
of Gods presence with him no spot is
absolutely lonely and every place is
holy ground. Wherever such a man
goes he sees-what happens many
around him fail to recognize-the
bushes of the commonplace glowing
with the theophanies of a revealing
God. In saying this l am not teach
ing any pantheistic nothing or mere
sentimental dream-I am simply en-
forcing the fact, taught and illustrated
throughout the length and breadth OF
Scripture-that the Lord Jehovah is
everywhere present by his spirit, at all
places and at all times ready to re
veal himself spiritually to the humble
upbuilding all things by the word OF
his power, and frequently taking de
light in making his glory to burst
through the veil of the ordinary, until
the rudest hut by which some way
faring man kneels becomes mantled
with a dazzling Shekinah. He that
hath eyes to see let him see, and he
that hath ears to hear let him heal
this thing. Occupy yourself with Gods
task, and, though like a Simon Peter,
you have to toll all night taking
nothing, yet in the golden morning
you shall see the Lord. Set your af
fections on things above, and though
you may be YEARLY stumbling along
in a dreary desert. the very acacia
bushes that border the stony path
you tread shall fame with a light
which never shone beneath the sun!
Rev. Charles Devon.
The man who has no aim in life will
have no hope in death.