The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-11-19

be an oasis of fertility. The wide prai-
rie. the wooded hills become. in their
turn. the waving sea of grain and the
fruitful vineyard. The impossible bar
iers of the mountains to be the source
Of supply for the needs of man and the
bowels of the earth to find him fuel All
u the neverfailing and inexhaustible
storehouse of the bountiful providence
# God for mankind. And man Of his
own volition and skill and effort could
accomplish less than nothing were 1t
not for Gods promptings and help, for
I IL only with the help of God that
Ill these things are his, and can be
turned to his use. for by God are the
valleys exalted and the hills made low.
This. then, we are sure is Gods way.
but this is not all; il is more and more
embracing. All life is the expression of
His heart. We ought to rejoice contin-
ualy in His merciful goodness and also
in His royal bounty beyond and above
the bare necessities. For instance, what
+, the need of flowers? He could haye
1-ade a strong and honest earth which
would take the seed and give IL out in
q harvest, and thus we could at least
i've, but when He made the earth sub
tantial. wonderful and all sufiicing as
It is, He added the flowers and other
things to delight the eye and other sem
ses, TO provoke delight and worship. He
added these because he wished to give
hem. and because their beauty and de-
iyht should give solace and refresh
ment to tired humanity and renew their
hopes within them. and where Is the
nan who does not delight in the bios
som along the roadside? There was no
need for the birds. but how enpty and
IrsymIathCt!c nature would appear
without them despite its ample provis-
ION. The world would go lis way and
-eason follow season, the sun would
Use and set. grains w2u,d ripen and the
forest trees would roach their heals up
in the clouds without them. Goa made
al this and then filed The Iiet wJj l1
with forms OF beauty, and the sileaces
with song.
And to all this. God has added the
richer delights of love and sympathy
what truly DO we lack? We revel in
the sunshine of His love and live by
His light Truly it is a true and good
saying of the Psalmist, My cup run
meth over" our loving Father delights
in all.ng il when we would bid Him
stay His hand. and presently the cup
is overnowins, not because we thought
TO have ii so, but because Of His great
goodness in giving. II is the simple
expression Of His way with men.
In passing ! 2sk you TO observe the
harvest as parable Of the condition
Of the heart sof men and their rela-
tionship 10 the kingdom Of Heaven.
From the preparation Of the soil the
sowing of the grain. the reaping anr
the threshing, our Lord made a parable
What a wonderful parallel He has
drawn. taking into consideration ali the
conditions possible from the beginnins
to the end Of the process OF the har-
vest. We ought not TO pass this by
entirely without remark. even though
the lesson is so obvious. We are too
tatliliar with the parable Of the sower
for 1t 10 be necessary to more than re-
llrk its significance I'm passing. Let
it remind you especially AZ the time
4 harvest that the soil OF your heart
'0' Tlv 7-- 20 H. q ri-ht condition TO |
receive the seed Of the spirit, and that