The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 38

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

38 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Light in Darkness.

“All things work together for good to them that love God.”
Rom. §, 28.

How weary and how worthless this life at times appears!
What days of heavy musings, what hours of bitter tears!
How dark the storm-clouds gather along the wintry skies!
How desolate and cheerless the path before us lies!

And yet these days of dreariness are sent us from above:

They do not come in anger, but in faithfulness and love;

They come to teach us lessons which bright ones could not
yield,

And to leave us blest and thankful when their purpose is ful-
filled.

They come to draw us nearer to our Father and our Lord,
More earnestly to seek His face, to listen to His Word,
And to feel, if now around us a desert land we see,
Without the star of promise, what would its darkness be!

They come to lay us lowly, and humbled in the dust,

All self-deception swept away, all creature-hope and trust;
Our helplessness, our vileness, our guiltiness to own,

And flee, for hope and refuge, to Christ, and Christ alone.

They come to break the fetters which here detain us fast,
And force our long reluctant hearts to rise to heaven at last;
And brighten every prospect of that eternal home,

Where grief and disappointment and fear can never come.

Then turn not in despondence, poor weary heart, away,

But meekly journey onwards, through the dark and cloudy
day;

Even now the bow of promise is above thee painted bright,

And soon a joyful morning shall dissipate the night. .

’ Thy God hath not forgot thee, and, when He sees it best,

Will lead thee into sunshine, will give thee bowers of rest;

And all thy pain and sorrow, when the pilgrimage is o’er,

Shall end in heavenly blessedness, and joys forevermore.
From the German of Spitta by Jane Borthwick.

A Lesson from the Catechism.

The late Rev. M. Frommel related the following
instructive incident from his pastoral experience:
I once asked a woman in my first charge, ‘“How
are you getting along?’’ She began to pour forth
‘a volley of complaints about her difficulties and tri-
als. I allowed her to finish, and then said to her,
‘Well, my dear woman, I guess we shall have to
repeat the Catechism together. I’ll ask, and you
answer.”’ '

‘Do you believe that you are a sinner?’’

‘Yes, I believe it; I am a sinner.’’

‘‘How do you know this?”’

‘trom the Ten Commandments; these I have
not kept.”

‘<What have you deserved of God by your sins?”

‘Hig wrath and displeasure, temporal death,
and eternal damnation.’?,

“Ts that true which you just now said???

‘‘Why certainly, it is true, pastor.”

‘And still I see that you have daily bread, have
clothing and shoes, house and home, have a kind
husband and healthy children, have Jesus for your
comfort and the Holy Spirit for your light, have
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, forgiveness of sin,
and the hope of everlasting life. Let me tell you,
your lot is much better than you deserve.”’

With these words I left the woman. After a few
weeks I passed the house again.

“‘Well, how are you getting along now?”’ I said
to the woman. 7

With a beaming face she replied, ‘‘Oh, much
better than I deserve, pastor.’’

She had learned her lesson well, and may all
that are in the habit of complaining learn the same

lesson.
: SS

A Chinese Slave Girl.

Ah-I was a Chinese girl, who, at the age of eight
years, was sold into slavery by her parents for the
sum of thirty dollars. According to custom in such
cases, her name was changed, and the parents
promised not to entice her away, and if she ran
away, agreed to find her and restore her to her
owners. Then a contract was written out, and the
names of the contracting parties were signed to it,
and their thumb-marks added. These are made by
dipping the end of the thumb into ink and pressing
it upon the paper, a kind of seal which the Chinese
say cannot be counterfeited, as no two thumbs will
make the same impression. -

Poor Ah-I! Her life had been hard at home,

_ for her parents were poor, but they had not been

unkind to her. Now she was very badly treated.
She was half-starved, and had to search the filthy
gutters for food; and when her cruel mistress was
not pleased with her, she would pinch her flesh with
red-hot pincers.

But the time came when her parents heard the
story of Christ’s love, and became Christians. Then
they heard of the sufferings of their child, and be-
gan to make efforts to redeem her. Two married
daughters contributed a part, and the missionaries

made up the rest, and Ah-I was brought back from -

her cruel mistress. Then she was placed in the
mission school, where she was very happy, and
learned so well that she became an assistant teacher
in the school. She has since been married into a
Christian family, where she has a kind mother-in-
law, and a good husband.— Has not Ab-I reason to
be thankful for the Gospel? — Ez.