While this illustration is especially applicable to the service of Decision Day, it is recommended for any occasion where there is opportunity to speak of conversion or a returning to Christ.
The Talk.
"A gentleman, a little past middle life, was traveling from the east in a luxurious passenger train crossing one of the far western states. As he gazed from the car window, his face wore an expression of interest, which developed into one of wonder and excitement.
"'Can it be,' he exclaimed, addressing the man who sat with him, 'that I am passing through the very same country which I saw but a few short years ago? It seems impossible!'
"Now, why did it seem impossible? Let us find out. It appears that when the man traveled the state before, he looked out of the car windows upon a scene of barrenness and desolation. [As you speak, draw [Fig. 68] with brown crayon. Be sure to leave the mountain peaks white, but, in order to secure an impressive pastel effect use the broad side of your brown and your yellow crayons lightly over the entire area of desert and mountain side.] The earth was dry and parched, and in all directions, as far as the eye could see, grew only the sage brush—the mark of the desert. There was no life, excepting an occasional coyote, and the reflected heat and light made travel almost unbearable. The monotonous earth was composed of the leveled deposits of the mountains which the sun had baked for centuries.
[As you continue, change the scene by covering the brown with green. Draw the foliage of the trees with green and the trunks with brown. Life may be added by touching the trees with the red and the yellow and the orange to indicate the fruit. The thought is to transform the desert into a place of fruitfulness. This completes [Fig. 69].]
