THE PALM TREE MOUNTS HEAVENWARD

It would seem that the variety of palms which climbs upward into the sky, was bent on getting as far from the earth and as near heaven as possible. They ascend till they outstrip the other trees, and seemed determined to get above swamp, miasma and everything else of a groveling nature. There, in their exalted sphere, they wave their perennial boughs, and bear their fruit, and bask in the beautiful sunshine, and live in an element truly above the world.

Are you flourishing like that? Is there something divine in your very being that makes you ambitious to rise as far above this world of sin and as near heaven as it is possible to get? Can you sing from experience,

God has chosen us to sit together in heavenly places above the mist and fog and spiritual malaria of this sin-laden world. With the palm tree blessing in our souls, we are not yearning for the flesh-pots of Egypt. The leeks and garlic and onions of the past Egyptian diet have no charms for such a one. He has risen to heavenly heights, where he catches the smiles of his Savior and is enabled really to look down on things terrestrial.

When Pharaoh was pressed by Moses and Aaron to let the children of Israel go, he first refused, then tried to compromise by letting them worship the Lord "in the land." When this failed, he tried the second compromise and said he would let them go, "only ye shall not go very far away." Pharaoh was certainly a long-headed schemer. He knew if they did not get very far away, he would not have very far to go after them. Then, again, he knew if they were not very far away, and had a hard time to get something to eat, they would not have far to get back and fill up on garlic and onions.

It is just that way with Pharaoh's antitype, the Devil. He first refuses to let his subjects go. Then if they are bound to go and be Christians he tries to get them to do their religion "in the land;" that is, remain in the world and be worldly professors. How many are really deceived at this point! When the Devil sees that this compromise will not take, he tries the next one and says if they are bound to be Christians, all right and good, but "ye shall not go very far away."

How many poor deluded souls bite at this bait! They do not get very far away from Egypt, and certainly the Devil has not very far to go after them. Then, when they fail to get enough in their religion to satisfy the longing desires of their hearts, they naturally turn toward the flesh-pots of Egypt, and should they feel abashed because of their church profession in going outright to the theater, dance, card parties and other worldly amusements, they get them up in the name of the church and religion, and have a fourth class performance in the church, or enjoy the fun and frolic of strawberry festivals, bean suppers, oyster stews, grab-bags, fish ponds, and so on ad libitum. They may try to hide the smell of their Egyptian diet, but anybody can tell when one has been eating onions and garlic.

Thank God some folks got such a boost when they left Egypt, that they never long for any of the former life. Like the palm tree, they are above it all.

Imagine the Apostle Paul attending the performances which some churches have these days! There are pilgrims scattered over the world today so lofty in their spiritual makeup, that to stoop to the level of the pleasures of the worldly professors would be so utterly incongruous that it would border on the ridiculous.

The palm tree blessing is a high blessing. It is the "higher life" indeed. "And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it" (Isa. 35:8).

"There is a path which no vulture's eye hath seen." This is the path of the pilgrim. It is so high that the vulture in his aerial flights has never yet been able to look down upon it. Pity such a person? Never! The world thinks they are looking down upon us, but no worldling on this mundane globe ever looks down on the palm tree saint as he walks the narrow, heavenly trail, practically oblivious of conditions below. Let not any worldling think that he is looking down on God's holy ones; they are looking down on him and they are so far above, that he looks like a mere dot upon the surface.

The minds of many are turned toward the airships of the day. The aviators are vying with each other in long distances, speed, altitudes, and endurance; but the palm tree saints have solved the problems of aviation long ago. They have an heirship, though it may not be spelled exactly like those of the world, yet, for altitude, endurance, speed, and long traveling, it perfectly eclipses them all. The aviator of the world may break the world's record today, and break his neck tomorrow, but the possibilities of the Christian aviator are exceedingly charming and the dangers are reduced to naught. He is safer in his heirship than on the earth. Borne upward on the wings of faith, pushed onward by the propeller of perfect love, with a lateral stability which is a marvel to many who gave him "just three weeks to hold out," he is still rushing on toward the meridian sun, and has been out of sight for years. He never expects to come down again. Some day he will fly so far away from earth's attraction, and get so near heaven, that the gravitation, inversely to the square of their distances, will pull so in the other direction, that he will sail into glory and drop his pardon and purity biplane on the gold-paved streets of the New Jerusalem, amidst the shouts and cheers of the angelic host and the multitudes that have sailed in before, there to enjoy an eternal "aviation meet" with prizes and crowns of glory for all.