# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1908_S22 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) - witha view of these. 22 The Lutheran Pioneer. A Beautiful Incident. A man blind from his birth, a man of much intellectual vigor and with many engaging social qualities, found a woman, who, appreciating his worth, was willing to cast her lot with him and be- come his wife. Several bright, beautiful children became theirs, who tenderly and equally loved both their parents. An eminent French surgeon, while in this coun- try, called upon them, and examining the blind man with much care, said to him: “Your blindness is wholly artificial; your eyes are naturally good, and if I could have operated upon them twenty years ago, I think I could have given you sight. It is barely possible that I can do it now, though it will cause you much pain.” “T can bear that,” was the reply, “so you but enable me to see.” The surgeon operated upon him, and was grad- ually successful. First there were faint glimmerings of light, then more distinct vision. The blind father was handed a rose; he had smelled one before, but had never seen one. Then hé looked upon the face of his wife, who had been so true and faithful to him; and then his children were brought, whom he had so often fondled, and whose charming prattle had so frequently fallen upon his ears. He then exclaimed: “Oh, why have I seen “all of these before inquiring for the man by whose skill T have been enabled to behold them! Show me the ' doctor.” And when he was pointed to him he em- braced him with tears of gratitude and joy. So when we reach heaven, and with unclouded eyes look upon its glories, we shall not be content No; we shall say, “Where is Christ —He to whom I am indebted for what heaven is? Show me Him, that with all my soul . I may adore and praise Him through endless ages.” “As Unto the Lord.” She was only a poor, plain, freckled woman, whose clothes were of a fashion her mother might haye worn, yet, day by day, as she busily plied her iron, many a humble neighbor would stop by her door to listen to the quaint old hymns she sang so vigorously. a “My good woman,” said Mrs. G., who had called -to engage her services, “how can you stand all day in this hot room, always ironing, and yet ang 0) cheerily ?” - her playmates the news of His love and mercy. “Ah, my dear lady,” she replied, “the Lord has given me this work to do; so when I’m tired and ~ out of sorts, I say to myself that verse about doing things heartily, as unto the Lord, and try to think how I'd feel if I could see Him standing by my side and He knew I had an unwilling heart for His tasks. Then I sing my brightest hymns, and, while my iron smoothes out the wrinkling in the clothes, I’m planning how to smooth out the rough places in my neighbors’ lives. “There’s poor Granny Jones, left alone all day. She’s crippled with rheumatics, and nearly blind, too. When I sing, it cheers her a bit, and she feels as if some one cared for her. “Little Tommy Green in the room above me has a weakness in his back, and lies in his cot bed from morning till night. His mother works in a factory and ‘doesn’t come home till dark.’ When he’s lonely, and sick with the pain, he pounds on. the floor with a stick, and I sing the hymns he likes best, and he lies quiet and hums them over to himself till he falls asleep. Then once in a while I slip up with a cup of water, and bits of picture papers that come wrapped round the clothes, and give him a pleasant word. Ah, ma’am, the Lord’s so good to me I must try to help them that have few blessings.” And this thankful woman lived in a little hot room, spending her whole life ironing and smooth- ing out wrinkles for others. What shall we render unto the Lord for all His mercies to us? A Dying Child’s Request. The little daughter of a native judge, in one of the mountain towns of Japan, whose wife had be- come a Christian, loved to hear her mother read the New Testament, and was particularly fond of St. Luke’s Gospel. She listened eagerly to the story of the Savior’s birth in Bethlehem and all the won- ders of His life and death, and was eager to tell But she was taken sick with diphtheria and soon lay at the very door of death. While her mother sat weeping beside her, she opened her eyes and said, “Mother, please put your Gospel of Luke under my head for a pillow; it is so beautiful; from it I learned all about Jesus.” It was done, according to her wish, and while she thus rested on her be- loved Savior’s Word, the Good Shepherd gathered this little lamb to His bosom, and the little child was at rest.