The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 22

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- 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.