The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 39

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 39
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A Laughing Man.

world to come. ‘The richest man on earth will | The Holy Spirit was evidently at work in him,
soon be poorer than he, not having, not need-| preparing a chosen vessel for the Lord.

ing, even corn meal, and the laughing pilgrim| One day he surprised his teacher by coming
is on his way to everlasting treasures in the|to him and asking permission to go home for a
heavens.—J. H. B. few days. Now it is well known that the chil-
dren of the plains are inclined to become home-
sick; constant sitting and working is not to
their taste, and when they get a sudden mood
or notion, they seldom have power to resist it.
So, thought the missionary, it might be in this

: case. He therefore told the boy that he would
charge of a light-house on the coast of England. | 4+ allow him to go at present, because the new

She was & Christian lady. The congregation to| schookterm had just begun, and during vaca-
which she belonged was engaged in missionary | tign he would have an opportunity of visiting
work, and she wanted to help along the cause. his folks. Without a word of reply the boy
Bat ate had very little money. Those who left the room. When the missionary came out,
visited the light-house often gave her a little| 14, boy approached him and once more begged
for showing them through it. : Could she spare with faltering voice, ‘‘O please let me go!”
any of this money? After thinking over it she |-7),, missionary now asked him to tell frankly

made up her mind to set apart Monday as a why he wanted to go home. Tears filled the
missionary day. She resolved to give to this boy’s eyes, and for fully ane ainutostheteonla
work all the money received from her Monday | ,, 44 say ay EIS Finally he replied with his
visitors. The next Monday she would begin.

Monday came. No visitors came in the fore-
noon. In the afternoon a good-looking gentle-
man arrived, and wished to see the light-house.

In the basement of a tenement building
there is a small room with a low ceiling. It
contains a cot and its scant and dingy cover-
ing, a rusty little cooking stove, and one chair
with a board for a seat. Its only human oc-
cupant is an old man, without kindred and
without money. Now and then he whitens
the walls of his poor neighbors, and notwith-
standing his age and lameness, he is able to
earn about three dollars a month. But often
he has nothing but corn meal for his food, and
then he lives right royally on ten cents for
twenty-four hours.

To a servant of the Lord who called upon
him the other day he said, ‘‘ Welcome to my
poor room. It is shabby enough, as you see,
but it is the room of a King’s son. Yes, God
has taken me into the family of heaven, and
Paul up there is my brother. When I think
of the grace that sought me and brought me,
a. wretched prodigal, to my Father's house, and
forgave all my’sins, and lifted me up to be a
joint-heir with Jesus Christ, God makes me
laugh. I know that He is with me day and
night, as I know that you are sitting there; I
read His precious promises; I can say with my
brother Paul, ‘I believe God, that it shall be
even as it was told me;’ and then as I look by
faith into the mansion my Saviour has gone to
prepare for me, often I laugh aloud. Some-
times I fear that the people in the room above
will think Iam crazy; but I am laughing at
the thought of God’s love for such a sinner.
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL.’

Then the old man arose from his cot and
said very earnestly, ‘‘I would not change places
with the richest man on earth. Why should I?
Has not my brother Paul said as he was moved
by the Holy Ghost, ‘My God shall supply all
your need, according to his riches in glory by
Christ Jesus?’ And He does it. He supplies
all myneed day by day, and what more can
the rich man say? If He brings me down to
corn meal, it is only to give me a brighter
glimpse of the coming glory; but, mark you,
then is the time I feel most deeply my own
nothingness and vileness. I often find people
in public meetings approaching God in a light
and, as it seems to me, an irreverent way, talk-
ing much about their holiness; but the older
I grow the more does it appear that there is
an infinite gulf between His greatness and my
littleness. Praise to His name, Jesus my Lord
has crossed this dark and awful gulf to take me
to God, and it is this that makes me laugh.”

The merry laugh that followed: his speech
was not forced, and his visitor thought that
such a man has aright tolaugh. He is richer
than Jay Gould, greater than Alexander. The
former has a pitiful $250,000,000, and is prob-
ably unhappy because he has not $500,000,000;
the latter wept because there was not another

world to conquer. This old man believes the
word, ‘‘All things are yours;” and he has
conquered both the present world and the

<-e

A True Story.

Some years ago there was a widow woman in

usual calmness and decision: ‘Jesus has been
merciful tome; my heart is glad; I would like
to tell my folks about Jesus. My father and
mother have never heard His name. Please

She took him all over it. When he was going|}o¢ me go, that I may speak to them without
away he thanked her for her kindness, and delay about Jesus.” It was impossible to re-

slipped something into her hand. After he was | ruse his earnest request. ‘‘Go then,’ said the
gone she opened her hand and was surprised to ‘

find a coin equal to about five dollars. This
was more than she had ever received from a

missionary, “and we—we will pray for you and
yours.”” ‘
koe For two days the boy missionary had to walk,
visitor before. It was a large sum of money |in order to reach his parental eae After
for her to have. She thought of some things | the lapse of a week he returned to Miduapoor.
she needed that she could buy with it. Bhe His face beamed with delight. The name of
began to question whether she ought to S'Ve | Jesus had had a sweet sound to those who had
away so much money. She spoke to her neigh-| ,over heard it before, and they had listened
bors, and they told her to give a small part to} attentively 10 the story of the cross. Nor did
the church and keep the rest. But she did not) this missionary visit fail to bear fruit. It re-
feel satisfied to do that. She resolved to give) uited in the conversion of the whole family.
it all to the Lord, just as she had agreed to. |The mother was baptized first, then the father,
The next day a lady, with her daughter, | 1,6) the three brothers and two sisters. The

came in a handsome carriage, and wished to : ~ en

: young man who was instrumental in bringin
seo}! he light-house. They spoke very kindly |},is loved ones to the feet of Jesus became :
fo the widow, and when they left the lady); .ocher in the mission-school.

handed the little girl something to give to the
poor woman. When the visitors had gone she
found it was no less than one hundred dollars.
The lady was the Duchess of Kent, and the
daughter was Victoria, the present Queen of
England. The Lord says: “‘The liberal soul
shall be made fat,” and “‘He that pitieth the
poor lendeth unto the Lord.’’”
Inith. Child’s Paper.

The Calw Missionsblatt, from which this story.
is taken, concludes with the following remark:
“This young Santal is a noble pattern for us
all, and his example sbould remind us that the
missionary command of Christ, Mark 5, 19, is
addressed to us also, ‘Go home to thy friends
and tell them how great things the Lord hath
done for thee, and hath had compassion on
thee.’”—Tittle Missionary.

> o> oe ee

“The Love of Christ Constraineth Us.” | ‘Tune is no condition of the saints so low,
no pit ao deep, wherein they can be caught,
A boy of the Santal tribe of India, about | but that a humble supplication can reach the
14 years of age, came of his own accord from|throne. A David buried quick in a cave, a
the woodlands, where his parents lived, to| Daniel in the lion’s den, find that prayer can
Midnapoor, in order to enter the mission-school win up to God and find audience. For the -
for Santals. Being wide-awake and gifted, the | high and lofty One—who hath the heaven for
boy made rapid progress not only in the com-| His throne, and the earth for His footstool—
mon branches, but also in acquiring Christian | hath an eye to them also who are of a poor and
knowledge. Soon he appeared to be possessed contrite spirit, and, therefore, no desperate
of an earnest concern for his soul's salvation. | case of the people of God renders prayer useless.