The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 46

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. strongest and most useful workmen.

46 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Love Your Enemies!

A colored man in the West Indies, called Caesar
by his master, had gained his freedom and had also
become a Christian. By his faithful service he had
won the entire confidence of his master, who took
him along to the slave market to help select the
They had
already secured their number, when Caesar yet dis-
covered an old worn-out man, and at once asked
his master to buys. him too. The master wondered
why. “O massa,” said Caesar, “you must have
him.” At last the master consented and bought
the old man.

Soon after ard the old man took sick, and
Caesar nursed him as a loving child would nurse its
parent; he waited on him, washed him, fed him,
and was with him every spare-moment. Of course,
every one soon noticed this, and the master also
observed it. He therefore asked Caesar, “What is
the old man to you? You care for him so tenderly.
Is he perhaps your father ?”

“No, massa, he is not my father,” said Caesar.

“Ts he perhaps some other relative?”

“No, massa, he is no relative.”

“Ts he your friend?” ' ,

“No, massa, he is not my friend.”

“But who, then, is he?” asked the master again.

Tears were now seen in Caesar’s eyes as he said:
“He is my enemy. When I was yet a child, this
man tore me from father and mother, sister and
brother, from country and home, and sold me into
slavery. But I have read in God’s Word, ‘If thy
enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to
drink.”

The Worth of a Good Mother.

It is as strange as it is true, that a vast number
of young people, having good mothers — excellent
Christian mothers — do not half appreciate the real
worth of them. Many a young man owes his suc-
cess in life to the prayers and molding influence
of his godly mother; and he ought to be very thank-
ful to God for such a mother and prize her very
highly.- A certain chaplain related this story some
years ago:

It was just after the battle of Williamsburg,
where hundreds of brave men had fallen, never to
bear arms again, that a soldier came to my tent,
and said, “Chaplaim, one of your own boys is badly
wounded, and wants to see you right away.” Hur-

riedly following the soldier, I was taken to the hos-
pital, and found, on a bed, a fine-looking young
man, pale and blood-stained from a wound above
the temple. I saw at a glance that he had but a
few hours to live on earth. Taking his hand, I said
to him, “Well, my brother, what can I do for you?”
The dying soldier looked up in my face and, placing
his finger where his hair was stained with blood,
said, “Chaplain, cut a big lock, from here, for
mother; for mother, mind, chaplain.” I hesitated
to disfigure him so. He said, “Don’t be afraid,
chaplain, it’s for mother, and nobody will see me in
the dead-house to-morrow. Now, chaplain,” said
the dying man, “I want you to kneel down by me,
and return thanks to God.” “For what?” I asked.
“For giving me such a mother. O chaplain, she is
a good mother; she taught me to look to Jesus;
her teachings comfort and console me now. And,
chaplain, thank God that by His grace I am a
Christian. Oh! what should I.do if I were not
a Christian? I know that my Redeemer liveth.
His finished work has saved me. And, chaplain,
thank God for giving me dying grace.” I knelt by
the dying man, and thanked God for the blessings
He had bestowed on him—the gift of a good
mother, a believer’s hope, and dying grace to bear
testimony to God’s faithfulness. Shortly after the
prayer, he said, “Good-bye, chaplain. If you ever
see mother, tell her it was all well.”

That young man had a large appreciation of
the worth of a good mother, and thankfully recog-
nized her blessed influence in leading him to accept
her God as his God, even unto death.

God’s Providence.

The Rey. T. Charles, who was well known as
a pious and useful minister in Wales, once had a
remarkable escape from death. In one of his jour-
neys to Liverpool his saddlebag was, by mistake,
put into a boat different from that in which he in-
tended to go, which made it necessary to change
his boat, even after he had taken his seat. By this
change, so contrary to his intentions, he was gra-
ciously preserved; for the boat in which he meant
to sail was lost, and all its passengers were drowned.

Ir is an art above all human arts that a man
should have the grace truly to acknowledge himself
a sinner, and yet grasp the grace of God, in spite
of His wrath. — Luther.

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