The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 14

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14

The Lutheran Pioneer.

=o SSS LL

Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother.

In the north of Europe is a mountainous coun-
try called Sweden. Its winters are long, snowy,
and cold. Its summers are short, but very lovely
and sweet-aired, especially in the valleys between the
high mountains.

The people who live in that country are noted
for their industry and contentment. One morning,
a long time ago, a certain king of Sweden, called
Gustavus the Third, was riding through a village
in one of the beautiful valleys, not far from Stock-
holm, the capital city. As he rode along he saw
a young girl filling a pitcher with water that gushed
from the cool rocks which overshadowed the road-
side. He stopped at the fountain and asked the
girl for a drink. She knew not the stranger, but
gracefully stepped forward and lifted the pitcher
to his lips as he sat upon his horse. She was evi-
dently very poor, but her kindness, so tenderly ex-
pressed upon her face, and her artless politeness,
attracted the king’s attention and touched his heart.
Judging by her appearance that she was a child of
poverty, he told her, that if she would go to the
city with him, he would find her a nice and pleasant
home.

“Ah! good sir,” said the girl, “God placed me
here, and I am not anxious to change my position
in life. I am content, and if I were not content, it
would be impossible for me to accept your kind
offer.”

“Indeed! Why not?” said the king in some
surprise.

“Because my mother is poor and sick,” said
the girl.

‘And you stay at home and take care of her?”
asked the king.

“T am her only help and companion,” said the
girl, looking upon the ground with a genuine mod-
esty that won the sympathies of the royal stranger.
“J am happy in my lot, and am thankful that I

can take care of:and ‘comfort the one so dear to me.
No offer, however tempting, could make me leave
my dear mother.”

‘Where is your mother?” asked the king, be-
coming more and more ‘interested in the noble girl.

“In that hut, by the side of the road,” said she,
pointing toward the humble dwelling. It was a
low, thatched building, covered with moss and vines,
very neat and clean, but so old and weathetworn
that it gave but a poor shelter in time of cold and
storms.

The king alighted from his horse, and went with
the girl into the hut, to see her mother. He found
her sick and suffering, lying upon a bed of straw,

a pale, thin woman, looking forward to the grave —

only as a bed of rest —sweet rest. The king was
almost overcome at the niuane| sight, and said,
while tears came into his eyes,

“T feel sorry, mother, to Anal you so poor and
so sick.”

“Yes, yes, my dear sir,” said the woman, in a
feeble voice; “but I am so glad that God has given
me a loving daughter. She is always trying to
relieve me, and is my constant comforter. May
God in His love remember her and bless her — my
dear, dear child!” and her voice was choked back
by sobs, and her face was covered with tears.

The good king wept with ‘the poor widow.
Surely, the angels in heaven rejoiced over that mect-
ing in the lonely hut. He gave the daughter a purse
of gold, and directed her to a better house, where
she and her mother might be comfor pe saying,
as he left, — :

“Go on, my young friend, in your way of duti-
ful love and care, and you shall not be in want
while I have means to help you. I am your king. —
Farewell !”

< And the king never forgot the poor family. He
had a sum of money sent to the woman regularly
for her support; and at the mother’s death he gave
the daughter a handsome fortune.

Young readers, remember the Fourth Com-
mandment, which is the first commandment with
promise : — “Honor thy father and thy mother, that
it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long
on the earth.”

>

St. Matthew’s, Meherrin, Va.

This church is located near the village of Me-
herrin, which is partly in Lunenburg and partly in
Prince Edward County. At this place the old
Richmond and Danville Railway is crossed by the
new Virginian Road, from Roanoke to the sea.

Climate and soil here are fairly good for farm-
ing. Most of the land, however, is neglected and
is growing forests and bushes. A number of Ger-
man Jutheran families from the North live in the
country. round. They are a source of hope, both
for tilling the soil and for the future of the Lu-
theran church in this part of Virginia.

Our colored people do a little farming; but
most of their work is where they can find employ-