The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1903, Page 23

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

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23

ticipant’s life ; for the crowd soon grows tumul-
tuous. Stampeding camels, frightened horses,
and struggling mules are seen at every hand.
Men cry, chasing hither and thither, while all
the time they are throwing stones against the
Devil’s Pillar and are endeavoring to get closer
to it. The soil they believe to be so sacred
that no one standing on it will or can die,
though they see the contrary to be the case
year after year.

Besides these ceremonies there are many
others which require much attention and cause
many privations, yet these are not com-
plained of. ‘The honor and glory of having
been in ‘‘God’s house,’’ and having served
Him on the spot ‘‘where Adam worshiped in
a tent let down from heaven after his expul-
sion from Paradise,’’ fully repays the Moham-
medan’s every exertion and privation. He has
kissed the most famous piece of rock in the
world, the black stone, to which all Moslems
must turn in prayer.

In going from Mecca to Medina the pilgrim
must traverse the famous pass of death. For
ages past that weird road has been strewn with
dying pilgrims. Overcome with heat and thirst,
many a religious fanatic staggers from the cara-
van and falls as if shot. Seeking life, they
find but death, temporal and eternal ; foralas!
they know not Him who alone is ‘‘the Way,
the Truth, and the Life.” J. K.

——~s—-e>s- e

God’s Fatherly Care.

In the winter of 1816—17 there was great
scarcity in Germany. By reason of the famine
there was suffering and sickness and death on
all sides. Want and distress also came toa
certain weaver, Andrew Hiller. He labored
diligently, early and late ; but wages were small
and the necessaries of life were expensive. He
borrowed 50 florins to provide for the five mem-
bers of his family. That was soon spent, and
the famine still prevailed. His children often
found their bowls of soup empty before they
were satisfied.

One Sunday afternoon in the middle of May
Andrew and his family walked out to inspect
his potato patch, hoping soon to be able to
find potatoes on the vines. However, there
was no sign of potatoes yet, and the weaver
was much worried.

‘‘We must borrow more money; but when
will I be able to pay all these debts I am mak-
ing? Oh, where will this thing end?”

His pious wife ‘said: ‘Andrew, it is easy
enough to trust in God when there is plenty ;
but should we not trust in Him in the hour of
need? Don’t you remember the old hymn:

If thou but suffer God to guide thee,

And hope in Him through all thy ways,

He'll give thee strength whate’er betide thee,

And bear thee through the evil days;

Who trusts in God’s unchanging love

Builds on the rock that none can move.’” 5
_ Andrew was silent. On returning home he
sat down in his small room to read in the Bible

that lay on the table. He had purchased this
book a year and a half before from a peddler.
It was bound in leather and had wooden lids
with brass clasps. He opened it and began to
read the 23d Psalm: ‘‘The Lord is my Shep-
herd, I shall not want.’’ But he thought of
his empty purse, his debts, and the hunger of
his children, and began to shake his head.
He read on: ‘‘He restoreth my soul’’—. He
reached the foot of the page and turned the
leaf. The next word didn’t fit to what he had
beenreading. He soon noticed that two leaves
were pasted together. Carefully he cut them
apart, and there, to his great surprise, he found
a strange piece of paper with a large ‘‘50”’ in
each corner.
but she, too, had no idea what it was. The
next day he took it to a merchant, who said,
“Why, Andrew, where did you get that? That
is an English note worth 550 florins ($250.00).

After the weaver had recovered from his
surprise he told how he came into possession
of the Bible.

The merchant said: ‘‘Surely, God has done
this.’? He advanced the weaver 20 florins, and
the next day had it all in cash.

Hiller hunted up the peddler, who said that
he had purchased the Bible from a wounded
sailor, who had since died, but that he had no
idea that the note was concealed between the
leaves. ‘‘The money is yours, Hiller; I have
no claims on it whatever,’’ said the peddler.

Full of joy the weaver and his wife hastened
home. They paid off all their debts, and loaned
small sums to their suffering neighbors. The
following year the crops were better, and they
were able to buy a small home. They were
happy, now fully convinced of God’s fatherly
care.

—s +a or eo

“Take Me On Shore.”

A godly minister had a careless and idle
son, who left his home and sailed to a foreign
land. His-sorrowful parents could only pray
for him and send him good advice. The ship
which bore their boy reached a distant port,
and was waiting to take a fresh cargo, when
the sailors went on shore, and brought back
with them a little native boy who could play
some curious kind of music.

He amused them for along time; but at last
he said, ‘‘You must now take me on shore.”’

The sailors told him that he must not go yet.

‘Qh, indeed, I cannot stay any longer,”’
replied the little black boy. “And I will tell
you why. A kind Christian missionary has
come near the village where I live. From him
I have learned all I know about Jesus Christ.
This is about the hour when he meets us
under a tree to tell us more; I want to go
and hear him.’’

The sailors were overcome by the boy’s en-
treaties, and at once rowed him ashore.

The minister’s thoughtless son was struck
with the words of the little heathen boy. He
felt condemned by them. = =. © ss

He hastened to his wife with it, |-

‘*Here am I,’’ said he to himself, ‘‘the son
of a minister in England, knowing far more
about Jesus than that poor boy, and yet caring
far less for Him! That little fellow is now
earnestly listening to the Word of Life, while
Lam living quite careless about it.”’ ;

In great distress of. mind he retired that
night to his hammock. “There his father’s in-
structions came back to his thoughts, and re-
minded him how he might seek and find that
salyation he so much needed. He became a
sincere Christian; and great was the joy in his
English home, when the happy tidings reached
his parents. — Foreign Missionary.

“What Will You Say, Sir?”

We know not what a word may bring
forth; hence it is our business to sow beside
all waters, praying Him who controls all
hearts to use our words to the best advan-
tage. The following shows how God may
direct the arrow:

“While Hopu, a young Sandwich Islander,
was in this country, he spent an evening in
a company where an infidel lawyer tried to
puzzle him with difficult questions. At length
Hopu said: ‘I am a poor heathen boy. It is
not strange that my blunders in English should
amuse you. But soon there will be a larger
meeting than this. We shall all be there.
They will ask us all one question— namely,
Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Now,
sir, I think I can say, Yes. What will you
say, sir?? When he had stopped, all present
were silent. At length the lawyer said that
as the evening was far gone, they had better
conclude it with prayer, and proposed that
the native should pray. He did so; and as
he poured out his heart to God the lawyer
could not conceal his feelings. Tears came
from his eyes, and he sobbed aloud. All
present wept, too, and when they separated,
the words, ‘What will you say, sir?’ followed
the lawyer home, and did not leave him till
they brought him to the Saviour.””

—s—--P oo

True .Courtesy.

General Lee was on the cars going to Rich-
mond one day, and was seated at the end
farthest from the door. The other seats were
filled with officers and soldiers. Anold woman,
poorly dressed, entered at one of the stations,
and, finding no seat, and none having been i
offered to her, approached the end where the
general was seated. He immediately rose and
gave her his seat. Instantly there was a gen-
eral rising, each one offering his seat to the
general. But he calmly said, ‘tNo, gentle-
men; if there was no seat for the infirm old
woman, there can benone for me.”’ The effect
was remarkable. . One:after another got out
of the car. The seats seemed to be too hot
for them, andthe general and the old lady —
soon had the car to themselves.

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