Sunday, September 02, 2012

Sermons of John Wesley

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These are the collected 141 sermons of John Wesley, father of the Methodist Church. Sermons are indexed by number, title, and scriptural reference. Over 1,000 pages long, this document is not available in print and is a valuable reference for anyone who preaches the Gospel, is a United Methodist, or is interested in furthering their Christian education.

Another excerpt from "A Few Summer Days in the Adirondacks: A Natural History of the Adirondack Park"

June 05, Saranac Lake

It is early June and another day dawns, the forest shrouded in fog. The Saranac River flows full and steady through the village of Saranac Lake. A pair of brown, velvet-furred mink cavort along its stone-lined banks, seemingly oblivious to the wakening town. In the village, lilacs are in full bloom and the trees are full-leaved, plumped by the rains of the preceding days. Red-winged blackbirds stake their claims in the wetlands outside of town, clinging sideways to the puff-topped stalks of last year's cattails, calling out to one another with territorial displays. Concentric circles on still waters of Lake Colby mark the rising of feeding trout.

The forecast is for several days of hot and humid weather, with temperatures into the 80°s. In the not-so-distant past, summers would come and go with rarely a day in the 80°s - at most, a two or three day stretch. But such is no longer the case, as days of sweltering mugginess have become common. To experience such climatic conditions in early June seems to push the envelope of climate in this elevated mountain plain. Climate change theory projects warmer and wetter conditions in the Northeast, although the heavily forested Adirondack region should create its own weather island of cloud-shaded and somewhat cooler landscape. Still, one can expect, with some exception in the worst "heat waves", that nighttime temperatures will fall 20°-30° and make for restful sleeping.

Floodwood Road, near Polliwog & Middle Ponds
GPS: 44°20'25"N 74°22'07"W
Elevation: 1640 feet


In the wet woods, where spruce cover is not so thick as too block out light from reaching the forest floor, ostrich ferns reach 18" tall, near half of their final height. Mosquitoes are thick here and early season dragonflies, smallish and brown, swoop to and fro, hunting down their aerial meal. (Franklin and Essex Counties are known to have over 75 species of dragonflies)

The tangled stems and wide serrated leaves of witchhobble or hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium) flood the forest floor under fir, spruce, and beech. This is one of the most common Adirondack shrubs due to its tolerance for shade and acidic soils. Its white, five-petaled blossoms are mostly gone now, having blossomed forth from Mid-May in umbels of white before unfurling its leaves.

In this mid-elevations, poplars are sowing their fluffy, wind-dispersed seed. In some open areas, along wood roads and shorelines, clouds of poplar “popple” swirl in thick eddies along the ground.

Excerpt from "A Few Summer Days in the Adirondacks: A Natural History of the Adirondack Park"




Early June

Johns Brook, Keene Valley
GPS: 44°11'23"N 73°47'57"W
Elevation: 1200 feet

Originating on the eastern slope of Mt Marcy, the Adirondack Mountain's highest peak, John's Brook drains the valley between Tabletop Mountain to the north and a string of high peaks to the south, including Sawteeth, Gothics, and the Wolf Jaw peaks. At lower elevations in Keene Valley, the clear, cold water of John’s Brook cascades over rounded boulders of light-colored Granite (?) in the shade of tall maples, pines and hemlock before flattening out and joining with the East Branch of the Ausable River.

Roaring Brook Falls




The flow of water is greatly diminished at Roaring Brook Falls compared to the conditions during spring run-off, but still impressive as cold melt water cascades 1,000 feet and drops another 1,000 feet down through rock-strewn, spruce, birch and pine covered slopes to the point it crosses Route 73 in Saint Huberts.

At lower elevations (1000-2000 ft) lilacs are in bloom, leaves on the trees freshly full, some trees are still setting leaves – birches