The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1929-01-10
SPARKS FROM AN =
OAKLAND PULPIT +

Revelation 3:S: Behold, l have set
before thee an open door, and no
man can shut it.
St. John was a prisoner on Patmos,
penal island IN the Mediterranean,
inhabited by convicts marooned for
various crimes ranging from high fell
onies to Christian discipleship, openly
confessed, like Johns. This island
was the cage in which John was con-
fined, the bars of which were bars of
water, yet stronger than steel-the
sea, the encompassing sea which sep
arated him irrevocably from home and
friends and church.
But the prisoner of Patmos, sigh
ing because the door of liberty has
been closed upon him, hears Voice
from above speaking of the open door
which cannot be closed. Locked in
this cage by the key of Rome, he sees
in his dream One who holds the key
of David, who openeth and no man
shutteth; and shutteth and no man
openeth.
1t is one of the sublimest revela-
tions that has ever come to the human
soul. What is true liberty? What is
real bondage?
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars cage;
dc ot,I I1+ to1Y
That for an hermitage.
If l have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
What human being has not expert
enced the bitter tragedy of having
the door slammed in his face? 1t
may be some poor fellow with starv-
ing family knocking in vain at the
foolish ambitious girl who has gone
to New York or Hollywood to become
"star," only to be greeted with a
shrug. 1t may be some young man
black-balled by the lodge he wants to
join, or by the sweet girl he wants to
marry. 1t may be some pathetic
woman with a shawl over her head, a
baby in one arm, bundle in the
other, waiting at Ellis Island to be
sent back to the old country, from
which she had come to rejoin her
husband who had preceded her to
America, only to find the quota filled,
the door closed. 1t may be some
splendid lad who yearns for univer-
sity education but who has a widowed
mother, or an invalid sister to sup
port. Oh, the tragedy of the closed
door
Who has not stood in Moses stead
on Mount Nebo, and gazed with visit
full eyes at some promised land, just
over there, and yet forever out of
reach? So St. John STOOD on the
shore Of Patmos and looked with
yearning eyes across the blue-green
waste of waters to the purple hills
where lay his home. And who does
not need to hear, as John heard, the
Voice, as of many waters, Behold,
have set before thee an open door, and
no man can shut it."
We are passing through the open
door of the New Year into the I'M
explored country Of 1929. Each one |
must blaze new trail where foot of |
man has never trodden before. A vir-
gin continent lies before us with lin
itless opportunities for those who seek
them-with incalculable treasurers |
for eager minds and expectant hearts, !
but only barren soil for the hstless
and the dull-with victory for the
courageous and defeat for the timid.
The year will be what we make it.
But the richest rewards will come
to those who find the secret door to
life more abundant.
''Verily, verify, l say unto you,
am the door," Christ Himself is the
Open Door, the Way, the only Way,
to Life.