The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-09-07
A Summers Lessons from
Field, Forest and Bog.
Sermon by Kev. J. WiIbor Richardson, Pas
tor of the Belfast Baptist Church.

Sermon by Kew j. WiIbor Richardson, Pas.
tor of the Belfast Baptist Church.
The speaker chose the oath verse OF the
104th Psalm as the text: 20 how mani.
fold are Thy works! In Wisdom hast
Thou made them all; the earth is full Of
Thy riches" The minister said: GAS 8
person uses stairs or ladder to reach 6
high elevation; or an artist Yields the
brush to place the minds ideal on can
vas, that the world may see the secret
conception of the mind; so God makes
nature the revelation of His mind. Ma.
ture reveals how God thinks and creates
and loves. In every nook there are les
sons for the devout person who wishes to
study. There is the tremendous lesson
from the lake of bog! Passing through
the underbrush we unexpectedly came
upon this place. Not anywhere was the
water over foot in depth; in some
places less than n inch. There in full
view were thousands of the most beauti-
full lilies; the petals seemed costly enamel,
the yellow stamens the finest of refined
gold. To use a boat was impossible; to
wade out meant an awful death. Within
a foot of the solid earth on which we
stood, a pole could be thrust down through
the soft ooze 10, 20, 80 feet, and not touch
bottom. Animals had stepped in to Stake
thirst and had been swallowed up. But
over that treacherous surface the most
beautiful dragon-flies were fitting; the
birds with ecstatic call were Swimming
slo,g the surface, or sweeping upward
in merry chase-it looked so beautiful,
so peaceful. But it meant death to even
attempt to walk towards any lily that
kissed the sunlight with exquisite per-
fume that August morning.
How much like the shimmering sur
J face which sin spreads around its attrac-
tive flowers, and acts which seem SO
full of gleesome song. The forbid
den thing which seems so much like
prize resting in its little secluded
pool-who shall know or see - there
there are no sign boards or warnings
but O, the fatal bog beneath. When one
steps from the solid ground of obedience
to God in a search for a forbidden flower,
the person must instantly sink into fur
Their and increased indulgence. Once in he
can't stop sinking. Before he realizes
the ooze of sin covers his thinking
! gives impulse and color to his thinking
! then comes the one mad plunge. King
! David, of whom it was once said, "A man
after Gods own heart, one day came to
the margin of his lake of bog. Looking
across he observed Uriah's wife, lily
that appeared so beautiful and desirable.
He yearned for the fiower-yearning
merged into action-'as man thlnketh
in his heart so is he'-so David plunged
after the lily; he sank overhead in lust,
murder, lying, treachery, awful fraud.
And the son Absalom, who followed
David, walowed in incest, rebellion and
immoral blackness. And they that fol-
lowed Absalom ended in destruction and
despair. When you come to the lake of
bog think we'll before you step in-then
you will never grieve and sutfocate going
down. For one day better feel the pang
of self-denial, than for a lifetime ex-
perience the bitter taunts of wounded
conscience.
"a man was arrested for embezzlement
and was placed on trial. After sentence
former neighbor said to him, MIR. B.
how could you so disgrace your sweet
wife and children? How could you so
betray the confidence of the public in
you? After all these years building up
SO fair name as you possessed, how
could you with one sweep blacken it
from top to bottom?' With running
tears and voice choked with emotion he
replied, If l could have felt the shame
before enlightenment as felt the shame
after, my character had remained un-
broken My friends, do your best think.
ing before you raise your foot to 60 after
the lily. Ere you proceed try to imagine
how it feels to possess an aching heart
and crimsoned cheek and vain wishes
that it had never been. If you can
imagine beforehand how you may suffer,
there will never be any afterwards suf-
fering. Remember that even king
may not covet a lily, if that lily must be
reached over bog OF sin.
"You may observe the loves and
hatreds of nation accurately illustrated
by the customs of insects on mound OF
under stone. Nature is full of sermons.
A trip after frogs for bass bait had its
s ermon. There was the lesson of pre-
sumptuous curiosity. The brook wound
its way under banks, then spreading Out
into little seas with upright weeds on the
mar gin, looked like forests in miniature.
1t was another world in the glen. In
stead of men and boys at their pastimes,
the frog, grasshopper and cricket made
up the population. To them, finding a
seed or juicy weed, or capturing a moth,
was as important as negotiating corner
in wheat on the Chicago exchange, OF
arresting spy in Germany. The first
splash of my wading boots sent the frogs