The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 69

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

69

The Deaf Churchgoer.

Why did he come to service every Sunday, that
old man, of whom every one knew that he was
totally deaf? Was it a mere habit? Was it to see
the people, was it mere curiosity? Oh, no! The
old man with the quiet, solemn face looked neither
right nor left. His eyes were generally turned up-
wards, as if he saw something lovely there, as if he
were conversing with a friend who was bringing
him good tidings, and to whom he sent up thanks
in return. Of course,
this spiritual joy was
not always expressed by
his looks; sometimes he
sat in his place with
drooping head, as if
very tired.

On one occasion a
friend came to him and
wrote the following
question on a slip of
paper: “Do not the
services fatigue you
greatly, as you are not
able to understand any-
thing ?”

His reply
“Sometimes, yes; but,
nevertheless, I should
not like to miss one.
I attend for three rea-
sons: Tirst, because I
can express my rever-
ence towards God by my
presence in His house;
secondly, I can worship
Him in spirit, even if
my ear does not catch anything of the sermon — in
spirit I can sing with the congregation, by repeat-
ing the hymns I learned in my childhood; thirdly,
even a deaf churchgoer, if he is faithful in heart,
may influence another to attend services regularly.”

How much we may learn of this deaf church-
goer, to whom God had given such a fine spiritual
ear! — Hachange.

was:

——————_+e+——__——

Ir is simply impossible to combine these two
things: Being a believing Christian and living ac-
cording to the lust of the fiesh in sin and vices
against the conscience. (1 Cor. 6, 9; Gal. 5, 19—21.)

Luther.

Grinding at the Mill.

Grinding at the Mill.

It is a very simple mill that is used in Palestine
for the grinding of wheat. The mill simply con-
sists of two round stones—one placed upon the
other. In the upper stone a hole is drilled on one
side, into which a wooden handle is driven, and
another hole in the center, through which the grain
passes and is ground, by turning the upper stone
upon the lower.

When at work with the mill, two women sit
opposite each other on
a mat, with a cloth
spread under the mill,
on which the flour falls.
Both take hold of the
handle by which the up-
per is turned round on
the “nether” or lower
millstone, one of the
women throwing in the
grain, as occasion re-
quires, through the hole
in the upper stone.

The turning of the
hand mill is referred to
at several places in the
Bible. Matt. 24, Christ,
speaking of the coming
of the Son of Man at
the end of the world
and telling His Chris-
tians to watch and be
prepared for His sud-
den and unexpected
coming on the great
day of judgment, says
y. 41: “Two women
shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,
and the other left.”

Eternal Life.

God will not alter His record, “and this is the
record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son.” It is not because we do
this or that, but “because He liveth, we shall live
also.” Before one of Christ’s sheep can perish,
one must be found more mighty than God. “I give
unto them eternal life,” said Jesus, “and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of
my hand.”