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fPWi *jjr THE MONTHLY ~ ‘" f ■;v'pf A Sermon For Thu bennrtment Will Bo dnpplied fin Local Pastors. Each Month JSj the MM . tHE VOYAGE OF LIFE By Rot. L. E. Wiggins, Pastor North Broad Street Methodist Chorch. ' r ' Text: “They that go down to the sea in ships.”—Psalm 107:23. . The Hebrews were not a seafaring people. They were landsmen by na ture and by environment. Practical ly all the sailing they knew was on the inland sea of Galilee. The prin cipal reason for this was the fact that there were no harbors along their coasts, as there are none today. If they had been more of a seafar ing people they would not have been ao narrow and provincial and anti missionary in their conduct. Yet here in this Psalm written by a He- "•ffW "swnarwroi and poetic descriptions of a storm at sea that we have in all literature. The point of view of the writer is evidently the shore. He stands on the dock and sees the ship cast an chor and make it’s way out to where the waste of water and the sky seem to come together. Then suddenly the storm rises. The heavens grow black with clouds. The winds, begin to howl. The waves roll higher and higher. One moment he sees the towards heaven; the next it sinks out of sight in the trough,. Beaten and driven the ship staggers like a drunk en man. The sailors pray to Jehovah in their distress. He hears their prayer and in answer the storm sub sides, there is a great calm and the Lord leads the ship safely to its de sired haven. It is a far call from those small craft which the Psalmist saw on the Mediterranean long ago to the great ocean liners of today, but it is stQl a thrilling sight to pee a great ves sel weigh anchor and set out upon a voyage across the ocean. The dan gers of ocean travel have been great ly lessened but still the mighty deep annually takes its toll of property and life and the sailor's lot is still a perilous one.. I take it that all of us are lands men. Few of us have ever taken a voyage on the vast ocean, and those of us who have will never forget the sensations that it caused. But in a figurative sense we may all be class ed among “those who go down to the sea in ships," for we are all embark ed on the ocean of time, we are all mariners and our frail barks are journeying across an unknown sea to^'a distant haven. There is nothing in all history that grips our interest more than the story of the first voyage of Colum bus across the trackless waste of * waters to find this undiscovered West ern World. He was one of the world’s great heroes of faith. He was seck- —mg air undiscovered- country and be* lieved that if he sailed far enough west he would come to it. His friends mocked him and said that he was crazy. He met with disappointment after disappointment. But finally he succeeded in convincing Queen Isa bella that hd was right and she gave him her aid. In three little boats— egg shells , compared with the ocean going vessels of today—he set out on that memorable voyage. Danger and disaster met him at every step. His superstitious sailors did their best to dissuade him and get him to turn back. They were on the point of mutiny many times. But his faith and persistence finally won and the New World was discovered. Through out Uytt long and terrible voyage we find this sentence recurring again and again on his log book, “This day we sailed due west, that being our course.” I have thought of how like that voyage of Columbus was. fore us is the sea of time. 'We be lieve that beyond the setting sun there is a land of pure, delight. No one has ever been to it and come back to tell us. We have set the prow of our boats in the direction of that undiscovered country. The storms come and the waves roll high. There are many hidden rocks to en danger our'boats and the fire of pas- sioir sometimes threatens to engulf us in its flame. Aimless derelicts floating on life’s ocean constitute a further menace. And some of our so-called friends try to discourage us as did those of the great discoverer. “What* the use?” they say. “There is no land beyond the setting sun. Live for today. Life is not a voy age of discovery. It is just a pleas ant excursion along the shore.” Hap py the man who like Columbus, amid all these dangers and discourage ments, steadily keeps on toward the goal, and who like him at the close of each day can write in the log book of his life, “This day I sailed due heavenward, that being my course.” are many kinds of ships on life Be- Kfe’s sea. Have you ever seen a sail ing vessel? All ocean going ships were once of this kind. The wind is . the. motive power and they can go only when the wind is favorable. Frequently they lie becalmed for days out In midocean. It is a slow and uncertain method of travel. Some people are like that. They ate at the mercy of every Wind. When the wind is blowing in the right direction they make progress but frequehtly they are becalmed or a storm blows them completely out of their course. Others are like the excursion boats that stick close to the shore. These boats v are filled with people. The bands are playing and all is merri ment and pleasure on bdard. But they never get anywhere nor do they mam any^uaage. • Ttaenwtorm atasya drives them back to shore. And there are still others who are like the great ocean liners. Their course is fixed The source of their powgr is not the fickle wind but the mighty engine hidden away down in the hold. They turn the prow out across the ocean and keep steadily on the course laugh ing at the winds, the storms and tem pests. The Pilot is on board an< they have the chart and compass by which to steer their course aright What kind of a boat are you ? The ocean is covered with ships sailing here and there and frequently they pass and hail each other. Ant so v it is on the sea of life. There are many ships. Though in one sense we must make the voyage of life alone yet there are many other ships that keep our company. Here is one of the joys of thp voyage. Like the ships on the ocean we can hail each other. We can dompare our experiences. We can tell each other of the storms we have weathered, of the pleasant ports at which we have touched, of the rich freight we car ry. Now and then we meet one who has been driven out of his course by the storm and we can help to set him right. Frequently we meet a vessel that is in distress. Food has run low or water has been exhausted, and we share with them our store. Not all the ships we meet fly our flag and speak our language, but still they are fellow-voyagers and we should help them if we can. They are men and women of like passions, with the same hopes and fears and they are seeking the same haven we are. The wireless has revolutionized ocean travel and greatly reduced its dangers. Did you ever read the story of the Carpathia going to the rescue of the Titantic that April night twelve years ago when that great ship on her maiden voyage struck an iceberg in midocean and werft down carrying with her twelve hundred souls ? There were many ships out on the Atlantic that night and many of them- heard the S. O. S. call which the wireless operator of the stricken ves sel sent out into the midnight air; but it was only the Carpathia that altered her course and steamed at top speed to the place where the sis ter ship was going down. She was several hundred miles away so she reached the scene of the tragedy too late to rescue all the passengers and crew. The ship had gone down and twelve hundred people had gone down with her but the Carpathia picked up seven hundred survivors and al tering her course sailed back to New York, delivering them safely there, and then turned to resume her voy age across the Atlantic. The papers were filled with praises of those men of the Carpathia who forgetful of their own interests heard the call of distress from their brothers and un selfishly rushed to their rescue. Our ships are equipped with wire less too, though all of them are not in working order. There come to us wireless calls from many fellow-voy agers far away on life’s ocean. Some of them float the Chinese flag, some the Japanese, some the Brazilian and many others. They are sending out the S. O. S. call which says that they have lost their course; darkness has settled down upon them; they have no lighthouse to keep them off the rocks; they have no chart, no com pass, no pilot. Millions are going down in the darkness of heathen night. Shall we like the Carpathia forget our selfish concern^ and fly to their re lief; or shall we do as did the other vessels on the Atlantic that" April night in 1912, go on heedless of their cry for help? ^ So, my friends, whether we will or not we are all sailors 'on life’s sea. It is our maiden voyage. None of us have ever come this way before. Ten, twenty, forty, sixty years age God launched these frail tutrlca of ours from the shores of eternity and the port to which we go is on tfle ocher side of the sea of time. We journey always westward, toward the setting , and some of these days the voy- picture age will end. to make It is not only our maiden voyage but the only voyage we can make. It behooves us therefore bo make the most of it ,tf when it is over ire realise that we have foolishly made but a mere pleasure, excursion of it that <we have carried a cargo of sin and selfishness and greed, we can’t turn back and make the voyage over again. We make it only once. The sailor can calculate pretty ac curately just when he will make the port and the voyage will end, but we cannot do that on life’s ocean. We do not know when the voyage will end. We do not know just where the port is to which we are sailing. We have read descriptions of it and we know the direction. Like Colum bus we just keep the course. And some of these dayfe—may be before this year of grace shall end—we shall hear the glad cry, “Land ahead.” It is not for us to “know the times and ’ yon going ’1 Is the prow of your boat pointed heaven ward today? Have) you the Pilot on board ?' If you have not, take him on board today and let the prayer of your heart be: Jeeps, Saviour pilot me Over lifers tempestuous sea. Unknown" waves before die roll, . Hiding rock and treacherous shoal Chart and compass come from thee. Jesus, Saviour,, pilot me. REACHING THE SPOT •.-i./l." ..v : ■ n \\ i m M .m : • wm [4 i, * seasons,” our duty is to sail on and on keepiflg the prow pointing heaven ward. “It may be I am nearer home, t* Did you ever see a great ship come to it’s wharf after a long ocean voy age? It is one of the gladdest sights ever witnessed on this earth—the shouts .of welcome, the waving of handkerchiefs, the warm handclasps, the happy reunions on the wharf as tears of joy flow. That is something like the landing of the Christian on the other shore. The storms and dangers will all *be past, we will press the golden sands beneath our feet and there on the shore to welcome us will be those whom we have loved and lost a while. It Has Been Done, Be Scores of Clin ton Citizens Say. i To get rid of an aching back, The sharp twinges, The tred-out feelings, You must reach the spot—get at the cause. In many cases ’tils the kidneys. Doan’s Pills are for weak kidneys. Clinton citizens testify. Ask your neighbor! Mrs. Nannie E. Finney, 66 Florida St., says: “My kidneys were out of condition and caused me to feel miser- My friend, as you think of that I Buffalo » Y * a constant bearing-down ache across my back and I was nervous and dizzy. My kidneys didn’t act right either. I got a supply of Doan’s Pills from Young’s Pharmacy and they put my kidnevs in good condition and cured the . backache.” (Statement given May 8, 1918). On January 21, 1922, Mrs. Finney said: “I haven’t used a kidney piedi- cine since Doan’s cured me several years ago. Because of the good they did me, 1 1 gladly confirm my former endorsement.” Price 60c, at all dealers. Don’t simply ask for a kidney remedy—get Doan’s Pills—the same that Mrs. Fin ney had. Foster-Milburn Co., Mfrs., ’Way Above the Average The average hen in the United States lays 72 eggs a jrear. The average Purina fed hen lays 148 eggs a year. Purina Makes the Difference 0 . , ' , Purina Chicken Chowder and Purina Hen Chow are the result of 30 years’ work in perfecting an egg making ration. Chowder and Hea Chow are sold under a guarantee of “More Eggs or Money Back.” I PURINA [PDULTl I CHOWS ler^J c=Ll rrrl-J rr^J r—* 11— J fr-r 3 ! r-r^i i— 1 lr— 3 f r-^J r—* t-rriJTr 13 11—^ fin 13 1 r—M i-— 3 1 c—fr^ (<—* fr 13 1 r—*i i—*I r—^ fr^ fr^ fr^ f Jr~ it ii i * r r ir ii I m i ‘/i / COLUMBIA’S COMMUNITY DOLLAR DAYS WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY ' ■* * February 20th and February 21st . ^ | P LANNED weeks ago by Columbia's leading stores, this two-day sale will be an act ual demonstration of the economy and satisfaction of shopping in Columbia. «» * Stores in every line have searched the world markets for new, attractive goods to be of fered at low prices only possible through large scale buying and quick selling. Mail orders for “Dollar" specials cannot be filled, so plan now to be in Columbia for the two days. : ^ . , * , 0 LOOK FOR THIS SIGN IN SHOW WINDOWS , v , •hElJ <fCQ0® \ « Uj