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Show Lm Little Sermonettes BY THE PASTOR. "Come-unto mc, all yo that labor and are heavy- ludan, and I will prlvc you rest. TaUe nv yoke upon yon and learn o mo, "for mv volso Is easy, and my burden Is llcht." "Fact Is stranger than fiction." and yet the world seems doter-mined doter-mined to Hiiro Its lessons from fiction rather than fact. And so we find the tlm-titers tlm-titers crowded every night and tho book stores ' thronged every day with eager searcher:; after something- new In fiction, and from these sources the multitudes aro taking their Icssoiih In humnnltariivnlsm. Women and children, nnd even men. will j read tho story, or watch the play, and erv over tho imaginary wrongs and suf-firings suf-firings of tho actors, while wrongs that are real and sufferings which are ln-descrthable ln-descrthable are within a stone's throw or anv of us. Tho sympathy thus expressed, however. Is evidence that tho heart is In mm the right place, but tiic hands are tied: for who would think of trying to right Hie wrongs and relieve the sufferings which are- only Imagined by the actor or the author? The trouble is that the 11c-tion 11c-tion absorbs so much of the time mat there Is little left for the discovery and relief of that which exists In fact. len-dorness len-dorness of heart, nnd sympathy, speak well for anv, one and If you wfll come with mo just one evening I will show you more of wrongs and suffering than you can read In a year In story books or see on tho stage In a lifetime, and It will bo where you can shed tears of sympathy that will fall like balm, and then you can raise vour arm and your voice to right n wrong, that when righted will shower "blessings on your head. Human nature Is the same today as It was two thousand years ago. And hu-man hu-man wrongs nnd human suffering aro the snme that they wore when the Christ walked up and down the shores of Galllleo or traveled the highways of Palestine, or t tood In the market places of the centers of commerce and listened to the tales of woo and saw the afflictions of his people, .'nd he the only one moved with compas-filon. compas-filon. For ho tells us that the leaders the priests and the rulers would not lighten the burdens nor right the wrongs of the people If they could have done it with one of the fingers. But, thank God, sympathy and substantial relief since that lay have multiplied with the years. And os the population of the world has in-creased, in-creased, so also has the Christ spirit tried to keep pace with the increasing throngs. But tare must be taken lest we satisfy ourselves with merely cultivating our .sympathy, and whetting our Indignation nt wrong, over the things that need not j our sympathy or help. The Christ message comes with pceu-liar pceu-liar fitness to those who labor and are -heavy laden: There is but little in this 1 -world but what seems uusulted to us and unfitted to our natures. Men and wo-men wo-men toll all day and find themselves fa-, tlgued hi night, and the compensation 1 barely sufficient to keep the wolf from 1 the door. Or If the rewards of service j do meet the necessities of life and some to spare, then sickness comes along, or other misfortune, and sweeps away tho savings and they find themselves where 1 they started, only with less days and 1 strength to gather up the broken thread. 1 Or If fortune smiles and "man heapcth up richer and knowcth who shall gather them " "For man dieth nnd goeth to 1 )iis long home, and the mourners go l about the. streets." The backache and l the fatlgtie from toll Is often severe, but 1 tho heartache from misfortune and sor- 1 row Is u thousand times worse. The eas- ties we build In the air arc often de-slroycd de-slroycd In the building, but moro often 1 chattered to fragments after they have 1 necn completed, and we find oulselvus Illy prepared to meet the emergencies thus thrust upon us. Tt was so In the timr of the Christ, when he met the widow of Naln following the bier of her only son; when he went to tho death, chamber where Jalrus's daughter lay In the embrace of death; when h met the father whose son was a lunatic: when 1 the storm raged on the sea and the dis- "Iples were exhausted from toll and j fright; when ho approached the leper colony just outside the city walls at Jerusalem; when he stood by tho tomb nV his dead friend, Lazarus, and when 1 is compassionate soul beheld the hungry end fainting multitudes, and his great Jfart ached at the sight and the sound of human misery", and he cried out in the rove and sympathy or nis soul: "Come 1 unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 1 adcn, and I will give you rest." "tt'e stand today appalled at the catas-trophe catas-trophe that has overtaken southern It-aly. It-aly. The world seems almost speechless In contemplation of the awfulncss of the horror of that scene. And yet In reality the loss of all of ones' property there, Is no worse than the loss of all of one's property elsewhere; the sorrow and tho grief at the loss of all of one's loved ones there is no greater than the loss of all one's loved ones here, except (n the 1 magnitude of the loss. The world stands appalled and helpless in the presence of 1 that disaster. But has not the world s-tood helpless to ward off misfortune in ten thousand other places? Docs not the 1 world stand in awe and dread of the 1 grim monster, everywhere helpless to 1 stnv his approach? I suppose that while 1 the" world stands there will be mlsfor- 1 tune: and while time lasts there will be death and sorrow. And while this is so 1 the Christ spirit Is doing what It can to 1 relieve misfortune, and comfort the sor- rawing. Human hearts aro melting to-1 to-1 day In sympathy with hearts bursting -with grief. But these things do not stay 1 misfortune nor the hand of death, and 1 still tlie world has labor and sorrow. Tho world says: "Why can't we havo the Christ hero now to heal -the sick, feed the multitudes, still tho tempest, and raise the dead?" He s here and Hl to do vastly more than Is here enumcr- (ited. And while he may not heal all the nick, he will. If called upon, soften tho 1 bed and smooth tho pillow and make oven sickness a blessing. He may not 1 feed tho multitudes without labor, but he 1 -will sweeten labor and toll with plenty 1 of bread. He may not ctlll the tempest, but he will calm tho fear, in tho con- H nclousncsa of his presjnec. Ho may not Htay the hand of death or raise tho dead, 1 yet he gives the assurance of tho resur- rectlon and eternal life, a homo where there ls.no more' death, neither sorrow 1 rior Blghfng. He has done nil thlu for others; he will do It for you. |