wnen a drove of sheep came along, followed by an old man, staff in hand, his faithful dog at his heels. The shepherd looked at me, and with never a glance at the western sky, he asked, “ What ye doing, Mister?” I explained that I was about to photograph the setting sun. He looked at the sky, then at the camera, and finally declared, “ Mister, I been in this section fo r more than forty years, and never seen one o f them sunsets before.” How like men and women whom God “ daily loadeth . . . with benefits,” and yet who never give a thought to, or return thanks for the bounty. But consider, for one moment, that in creation, God has built a museum vast as the universe itself. Every evening He hangs paintings and tapestries delicate with the most exquisite colorings. Thousands of such productions bedeck the western sky in many localities the world around, and no provision has been made for their preservation. Almost in a moment they are obliterated, and wonder o f wonders, the very next evening, there is the same grand exhibition, with never two hangings exactly alike. How true it is that “ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” Everything in sky and land and sea beckons us to worship the One who has created all these things. Then at the end o f the life o f every man and woman there comes the evening. Finally our sun goes down, but only to those who are in Christ will the view be glorious. The Christian is the only one who can sing: THE DAILY GRIND “ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing o f the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself fo r us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works”—Titus 2:11-14. \ T 7 E are to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Soberly, ' ’ with regard to self; righteously, with regard to others', godly, with regard to God;—thus the order progresses . . - This sober, righteous and godly life is to be lived ‘in this present world.’ We are not to hide in a cave like medieval mystics. This life is to be worked out right .here, in this commonplace and unromantic, workaday world. God’s purpose with us was never to develop a race of ascetics, with hands folded on our breasts, gazing heavenward, singing evermore about the sweet by-and-by. His purpose is to develop Christ-like characters, who can stand the wear and tear o f the here and now. Beware o f that tendency to find in devotional books, and the mysticism of the recluse, an emotional escape from reality, by which you dodge the daily grind. The Lord Jesus Christ spent His life in rough and rocky Palestine, with ordinary people amid the matter-of-fact problems of the day by day. We must follow Christ. This present world may not seem a very ideal place, but it is an ideal place fo r God’s present purpose with be lievers. Heaven is the ideal place for it, but we are now on earth, and it is a real training ground, with all its hardships and handicaps, its weal and woe. Do not try to escape by withdrawing into yourself, or hiding in some retreat far removed from earth’s sin and shame. This life . is to be lived amid the currents of today, “ where cross the crowded ways of life.” — Vance Havner T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S Sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise in Glory is waiting fo r me; Sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise with Jesus fo r eternity.
Sunsets By George R. King
Sunset on the Equator
—Photo by George King, Los Angeles. S UNSETS have been to me a never-ending source of wonder and delight. And like every other provision, made by the Creator fo r the welfare of mankind, they are here in abundance. Only the dwellers in cities are de prived of the beauties and grandeur o f setting suns. God knew that we would need air, so He made enough of it. It is said that our earth is enveloped in a life-giving atmosphere at least fifty miles high. Let Professor Einstein compute the cubic miles in that mass. Then consider the water supply in air and ocean, lakes and rivers; there is water enough for every need o f the human family, and every other element needed by mankind is here in abundance. It is the same with sunsets. I have seen them in nearly every corner of our country. I have witnessed the going down of the midnight sun in Alaska, north o f the Arctic Circle, and have watched the great orb tumble into the ocean below the equator. And from the deck of ocean liners in seven seas I have been entranced by the glory of this mighty spectacle. It is the same on the land as at sea. Go to the High Sierras in our own state, to the Rockies of Colorado, the White Mountains o f New Hampshire or the Great Smokies of the Carolinas. In every quarter God has hung these mighty canvases to call us away from the sordid and com monplace. But alas, like so many other gifts from His hand, most people pay little heed, and turn away to their humdrum vocations. More than forty years ago I was spending a few days in the cattle country o f the Northwest. My camera was in place just waiting for the right position o f cloud and sun, Page Fourteen
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