A Beautiful Picture by Daniel March

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 17, 1878

A Beautiful Picture.

By Daniel March

Rev. Daniel March, D. D., in "Our Father's House," draws the following beautiful picture:—

"I have stood on the top of the high mountain when the sun was up in heaven filling the world with his glorious light. As I gazed around and beneath, I saw clouds ridged and rolling like the billows of the sea. I saw them far off and far beneath, advancing toward the rocky hight on which I stood. In the distance they seemed like mighty masses of Parian marble, white as the drifted snow in the noonday sun. It was a delight to watch their ever-changing beauty as they sailed on the viewless air. The play of imagination easily transformed them into the white thrones of the cherubim; then again they seemed like the streaming banners of the armies of heaven; and now, behold chariots of fire and horses of fire advancing with such restless might as to sweep away the summits of the eternal hills in their march. By and by they approached and smote the side of the mountain far beneath, and they rolled upward swiftly, silently, till they reached the summit and shut out the light of the sun with their shadow. And then the bright forms, which seemed so mighty and glorious in the distance, proved to be nothing but a driving, darkening mist—a mere mass of shapeless vapor—disfiguring everything with its touch, and leaving no trace of beauty for the eye to rest upon while it went sweeping by. But in a moment the mist was gone. Again the sun shone clear and bright upon the bald mountain. Again I could see the cloud as it rolled down the rugged steep till the air was of sufficient density to bear its weight. Then, again, it put on the shape and hues of glorious beauty, and sailed away in serene and gentle majesty upon the wings of the wind.

"And I said aloud, in the solitude, This is a picture of life. So do all the forms of temptation appear, fascinating in the distance, and worthless in possession. When the tempter allures from afar, we see an angel form, and his voice sounds like the music of heaven; but when he comes near, and we give him our hand, we feel the clutch of the demon, and we hear a voice that mocks at our misery. The rewards of worldly ambition, and the indulgences of worldly pleasure, seem so precious and beautiful, when seen afar, that we cannot wait to make them our own. But when they come near, and we grasp at the tempting prize, we fill our hand with the mist, and we draw it back to our bosom wet with the chill of death. When the gilded shadow which dazzled our vision and awakened our hope has come near and proved to be only such stuff as dreams are made of, then it passes away, and often, in the distance, it seems again as brilliant and alluring as before. If we would not spend our life in the chase of phantoms that lead to bewilder and dazzle to blind, we must turn our yearning hearts to him who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. We must climb so high up the mount of faith that the clouds of doubt and fear will never darken our minds or deceive our hearts."