The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1916-04-07

Ihky3NNA NEN~I or spray, WHIST
EsSEet.&, @SsSf tho birds have
wheeled about the crags. and far
out az sea the ships have left their
traces in foam-then turning inland,
! have gone down the hillside into the
still valley, sheltered from the winds,
and there the lonely plowman drove
the team across the heavy Clods All
Is still-dull. II you please TO call IL
so--that Is Isaac" AS another has
is. that IL has no salient features" He
", "A type Of, the commonplace people
OF whom God has made 30 many. How
Ihrilling, Il is TO know that God IL the
God OF Isaac and OF all like unto
him. ,,.
+" lsaac's life was no doubt disap
Uointment 10 men. lie came by
bsiraculous birthI yet proved 60 be Just
an ordinary man. Many have hoped
to be the happy fathers OF artists.
sculptors. musicians and scholars. but
their children have turned out 10 bo
house painters. stone mssons. and dry
goods,clerks Still. n Is well TO have
entertained these hopes, for II our
children are no moro remarkable than
they are. I'm spite OF our ambitions,
what might they have been II we had
had no ambitions for them.
Isaac's life was directed by God
This appears especially In the story
OF his marriage. fodnd in Gen. -.
THE steps OF a good man are ordered
OF the Lord" no matter how dull and
brown his life may be outwardly: an
Ordinary" life may stlll be an cor.
dered" life. Horace Bushnell. In bis
great sermon on Every Mans Life
Plan OF God" states HIS theme thus:
What God has n definite plan for
every human person. glrding him
Sisibly or invisibly for some exact
thing. which it will be the true sig
hilcance and glory of his life 10 have
accomplished"
In character Isaac was marked by
the passive virtues. We do not APP
brociate patience. gentloness meek.
ness. and other quiet graccs ms much
'as we should. -
Submission was n marked element
I'm his makeup. when Abraham would
"ofer him as a sacrifice on Mount Mo.
'riah he made no resIstandb. though
The knife actually flashed bver him.
'What n picture he was OF 'our Lord
~ his submission GIeb. 10't7J. This
rlement appears again I'm Isaac's life
VI Gerar. As fast as he would dig
Wells at this place the PhillstineB
would contend for thcm. bit instead
or quarreling. Isaac would1 move on
Rnd dig another well Thu outcome
'bf his meekness was thatDyhe PhIlis-
Zines came 10 him 90 mate COW
Snant. saying. we saw certainly that
the Lord was with thee".! Even now
There is a sense in which the meek
Inherit the earth.
'Tbis quiet man was thoughtful, and
we see him going out 10 mediate I'm
the fields at the eventide fGen. 24:G3).
Quiet people may know things better
thafl others and know them more
deeply. This twentieth century. with
blobdshot eye and feyered pulse" has
lost tho art OF meditation, but only
when truth saturates us does II really
become a life power.
ksaac was afectionale. as manifest.
cd in his relation 10 his mother and
his wife (Gen "a: GU. We need such
seople in the world. 1--WE have often
noticed that plain mother who has
great heart. sill be adored by a son
who shines I'm tho world OF science or
lletters.
: How surprising ~ is 10 find that this
quiet man was. nevertheless. senBu-
GUS Isaac loved Esau because he
did eat OF his venison" (Gen 2j:28;
We have. In this matter. a
suggestion OF one danger OF the quiet
life. Alexander Wright says the great
est gluttOn he ever knew never
crossed his own doorstep and his only
walk was between his desk and the
dining table Temperance. or. as the
Revised Version renders. selfcOntrol
is n grace much insisted on In the
New Testament.
Isaac's commonplace life ~ notable
because linked with Christ lie was
an ancestor OF Christ and also a typo
of him in. that his birth was super.
natural and that. "in a figure" he was
offered up and also raised from the
dead. Our lives may be made slgnln.
cant. IN that they. too. may be linked
with Christ Paul e1horts that even
slaves shall do their work. not as unto
their earthly masters. but az into the
Lord. for" says he. Eye serve the
Lord Christ" Our commonest actions
can be done with the same motive as
our highest deeds-"to be well pleas
ing unto him" Tho world passeth |
away and the lust thereof; but he that '
doeth the Will Of God abideth forever"