Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-08-17

The dwellings Of Thy love.
Thine earthly temples. are.
TO Thine abode
My heart aspires.
With warm desires
To see my God.
The interesting and impressive en-
ercises Of this day, incident to the
rededication Of this historic church.
bring vividly to mind these lines of
the poet, Cowper, in which he paints
for, us such Il true and beautiful pic
ture of the House of God. Let us
learn anew the lesson they teach,
and find here within these walls,
though built by the hand of man, the
sacred precincts that constitute the
sweet ,rysting place Of the soul and
Truth Religion is life-thc life Of
God in the soul Of man, the response
Of mans spirit to the attractions Of
The Divine Spirit. But the religious
life must find expression; it must
have Il place fit for growth and hab-
itation-a place Of meeting and COM
muning with the Author of all life
and being. Hence these earthly tenn
pies. so pleasant and so fair. arc
given to the children Of men as the
fit and peculiar place for divine wor-
snip: for the supreme exercise
and experience Of the human
spirit in contact with the Di-
vine Spirit; for the vital con-
nection Of human love with divine
love. This it 18TH at gives them their
permancnce and security "lpon this
rock declared Christ 20 Peter, 81
will build my Church; and the gates
Of hell shall not prevail against it,"
To these earthly temples come at
stated intervals the great body of
believers. who constitute ,.he Church
Of Christ on earth, Of different names
and orders, but one in faith. For as
the body is one. and hath many men,
bers, and all the members of that
one body. being many, are one body:
so also is Christ" or this spiritual
edifice it is that John, the apostle,
speaks in Revelation, when in a Wis
ion he saw the church prepared as
bride adorned for her husband, :"
and to whom ono Of the seven angels
declared: 81 will show thee the
bride. the Lambs wife" What a
beautiful figure OF speech! How
sweet and fragrant its meaning! How
1T touches the tenderest chords in
human life and destiny, and links
them with things spiritual and eter-
nal!
For three generations or more this
church has been to this community
a center Of light. life and love, ever
shedding its gentle radiance into
many Christian homes. In very
truth it can be said with becoming
modesty that the Richland commu-
nifty has ever been noted for it's
Christian homes, in which dweil
solid piety and the homely virtues.
How memory recalls the familiar
forms and faces OF the fathers and
mothers. the heads Of the homes Of
forty and fifty years ago! True and
faithful were they in their day and
generation. Hard were the lines on
which their lot was cast 1t was in
deed the day Of small things. The
btighting scourge of four years Of
civil warf, re had ravaged our fair
Southland until all wealth was ex-
hausted. and the surviving veteran
returned to his home amid wreck and
ruin. Oh! how the heroes and hero
Ines OF the sixties ana the seventies
rise before our eyes to-day in their
sublime grandeur. and challenge our
love, homage and admiration. How
the labor Of their hands builded
anew the humble home; how their
solf-den!al and self-Sacrifice made
possible first their meagre support OF
the church Of their choice. and then
enabled them to opcn the school
house door. made possible only by
a subscription list at so much per
pupil. Nothing short Of an abiding
faith in the supreme Author Of all
Good could have sustained and
soothed them in their labor of love.
There remain and are present
mere with lis to-day, three survivors
or that heroic paSt--Dendy, Ellison
ana Armstrong. Venerable men! You
stand as the commenting Link hetWeen