The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-05-28
THE BACCALAUREATE
Delivered to o. Il. S. Class 1914 by
Rev. ]. M. McClelland.

ulSn SCuOOl was uellNcl6u UclOlS q
large audience in Penn Auditorium
last evening by Rev. j. M. McClel-
land, pastor of the Central NJ. l..
church. Music was furnished by the
high school orchestra and the high
school chorus. The invocation was
pronounced by Rev. Kelsey and the
scripture lesson was read by Rev.
McFerran. Rev. Cave pronounced
the benediction.
Rev. McClelland took his sermon
from Psalm ga, What is Mani" and
Matt 1912, How much then is a
man of more value than a sheep"
He said in part as follows:
The question which the first part
of the Scripture suggests may be an
swered from more than single point
of view.
On one hand, brevity, weakness and
insignifcance characterize him. The
crocodile fioundering in malarial
swamps outlives him. He builds a
house, and it shelters succeeding gen
erations. He plants a tree and his
children's children are famed by the
cool breeZes in it's friendly shade.
How apparent his weakness! His
arm wearies with a burden which a
thread of wire will sustain with ease.
The donkey which he disdains will de-
feat him in test OF strength. A gust
of wind will toss him like bubble on
an angry tide. A pool Of water few
feet deep will drown him, while a
shaft of sunshine will strike him into
insanity or the grave.
Multitudinous diseases attack him,
buffet him, torture him. Germs in
conceivably minute rush his life's
forces and leave him a physical
wreck. The house-fy carries enough
bacteria on its feet to cause his col
lapse and death. The scratch of a
pin may induce poisons which within
the space of a few days will over
whelm him. He is the creature of a
thousand accidents, any one of which
may limit his powers or completely
extinguish fife's fires.
How astonishing his ignorance! He
enters life knowing nothing and
leaves knowing-little more. In his
ignorance forces that lay about him
since creations morn escaped him.
God gave him many lesson In the
power of steam, but the poor, dumb
creature could not spell 1t out for
ages. Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome
and other nations of antiquity, as we'll
as more modern nations, rose, became
mighty and fell knowing nothing OF
this monster born of water and fire.
When God first flashed His light
nings on the sky, or split the mighty
oak and laid low the lofty cedar, His
challenge rang on the ears of the
races, though a hundred centuries
came and went ere man threw his
lasso around this steed, tanned, and
harnessed him to the diversified tasks
of the present day, .r
Man enters the school, pursues his
study in the college and university
altogether fifteen or twenty years OF
his life are thus devoted, and comes
away conscious that he has but
touched the rim of knowledge.
Yet his lack of knowledge is no
more pronounced than his want of
wisdom. The landmarks OF his folly
are found at every stage of human
| history! He builded city on the
plains of Shinar and raised a tower
theI ein thinking thus to fOrestall the
Almighty. He has fallen on his face
| before his own dumb idols made out
of insensate matter and his stupidity
saw not the futility of it all Even
today, millions are prostrating them
selves in idol worship hoping to Sc
cure peace of conscience. We marvel
at their dense superstition in protect
ing, for instance, the plague-spread
ing lat. But it may serve to slim
ulate our liberation to recall how re-
ceutly we looked upon the common
hOuse-hy as a special provision OF a
wise Providence whereby waste mat.
ter might be eaten, that unconsumed
would endanger life. Swat the fly
is not only a recent movement toward
sanitation, but reflects our own ignor-
ance maintained through many years
For centuries man fought man.
with him as chief hero who had slain
most of his fellowmen. Scracely a
river ON earth that has not run red
with human blood. Devasting wars
laid waste practically every nation OF
the ancient world, while modern EN-
pires, kingdoms and republics writhed
in the agony of conflict.
Peace commissions and boards OF
arbitration are of recent origin. Per.
haps the most outstanding illustration
of mans lack of wisdom lies in his
| federation and advocacy Of institu.
tons whose nature 1t is to destroy,
Coming generations will look back
with Amusement on an age in which
these Institutions were supported, re.
sulting in the loss of hundreds OF
thousands of human lives, while mis-
cry was added to misery until the
earth was tumultuous with the cry of
the oppressed.
Mans insignificance when compar.
ed with the Architect of this universe
is almost oppressive. Where stood He
when He laid the foundations of this
vast scheme? What Is the reach of
His army who hung in yonder space
sun more than ninety millions miles
away, and 1000 millions miles beyond
star?
The Psalmist was contemplating
something like this as he wrote.
When | consider Thy heavens, the
work of Thy fingers; the moon and
the stars which Thou hast made,
what is man, that Thou art mindful
of him." Little wonder the question
rose to his lips! Some there are to-
day who looking into the apparently
interminable spaces and feeling the
vastness of this great world scheme
saw IL is incredible that man, so