The Ornithology Of The Bible; Or, God Among The Birds
T. DeWitt Talmage
Matthew, 6: 26: " Behold the fowls of the air."
There is a silence now in all our January forests, except as the winds whistle through the bare branches. The organ-lofts in the temple of nature are hymnless. Trees which were full of carol and chirp and chant are now waiting for the coming back of rich plumes and warbling voices, solos, duets, quartets, cantatas, and Te Deums. The difference between the forests in summer and the forests in winter is the difference be- tween an academy of music with enchanted throngs listening to an inspired cantatrice and an academy of music empty. But the Bible is full of birds at all sea- sons, and prophets and patriarchs and apostles and evangelists and Christ himself employ them for moral and religious purposes. My text is an extract from the Sermon on the Mount, and perhaps it was at a moment when a flock of birds flew past that Christ waved his hand toward them and said: "Behold the fowls of the air." And so, in this course of sermons on God Everywhere, I preach to you this sermon con- cerning the Ornith olgy of- the Bible, or God- among the Birds.
Most of the other sciences you may study or not study, as you please. Use your own judgment, exer- cise your own taste. But about this science of ornith- ology we have no option. The divine command is positive when it says in my text, "Behold the fowls of the air!" That is, study their habits. Examine their colors. Notice their speed. See the hand of God in their construction. It is easy for me to obey the com- mand of the text, for I was brought up among this race of wings, and from boyhood heard their matins at sunrise and their vespers at sunset. Their nests have to me a fascination, and my satisfaction is that I never robbed one of them, any more than I would steal a child from a cradle; for a bird is a child of the sky, and its nest is the cradle. They are almost hu- man, for they have their lov ...
T. DeWitt Talmage
Matthew, 6: 26: " Behold the fowls of the air."
There is a silence now in all our January forests, except as the winds whistle through the bare branches. The organ-lofts in the temple of nature are hymnless. Trees which were full of carol and chirp and chant are now waiting for the coming back of rich plumes and warbling voices, solos, duets, quartets, cantatas, and Te Deums. The difference between the forests in summer and the forests in winter is the difference be- tween an academy of music with enchanted throngs listening to an inspired cantatrice and an academy of music empty. But the Bible is full of birds at all sea- sons, and prophets and patriarchs and apostles and evangelists and Christ himself employ them for moral and religious purposes. My text is an extract from the Sermon on the Mount, and perhaps it was at a moment when a flock of birds flew past that Christ waved his hand toward them and said: "Behold the fowls of the air." And so, in this course of sermons on God Everywhere, I preach to you this sermon con- cerning the Ornith olgy of- the Bible, or God- among the Birds.
Most of the other sciences you may study or not study, as you please. Use your own judgment, exer- cise your own taste. But about this science of ornith- ology we have no option. The divine command is positive when it says in my text, "Behold the fowls of the air!" That is, study their habits. Examine their colors. Notice their speed. See the hand of God in their construction. It is easy for me to obey the com- mand of the text, for I was brought up among this race of wings, and from boyhood heard their matins at sunrise and their vespers at sunset. Their nests have to me a fascination, and my satisfaction is that I never robbed one of them, any more than I would steal a child from a cradle; for a bird is a child of the sky, and its nest is the cradle. They are almost hu- man, for they have their lov ...
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