The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 66

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66 The Lutheran Pioneer.

The Other Side.

Jesus tells us that a certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who
stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance
there came down a certain priest that way; and
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Leyite, when he was at the place,
came and looked on him, and passed by on the other

side. (Luke 10, 30—32.)

The other side! It is a well-trodden way. How
many there are that walk on the other side!

What is wrong with “the other side’? . Much

wrong, indeed! ‘True, neither the priest nor the
Levite did anything to hurt the poor wounded
traveler. It was the robbers that had wounded
him almost to death. The two men who passed by
on the other side did not strike him, nor cast stones
at him, nor take anything from him. Yet, in not
showing kindness and in not helping the wounded
sufferer, they really treated him cruelly, although
they did nothing to hurt him bodily. We may do
great wrong to ‘others by failing to do for them the
duties of love which we owe to them. There are sins
of omission as well as of commission — sins of not
doing as well as of doing. “To him that knoweth to
do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin,” says
the apostle.

Men do not think seriously of such sin as they
pass by on the other side. They pass by human need,
doing nothing to relieve it. They see others in
trouble and distress, but they offer no help. They
pass by on the other side.

They hear of the spiritual need of ello anen
who are without God and without hope in this
world—the greatest of ‘all needs—sick and
wounded by sin unto death. But no Macedonian
ery for help touches their hearts. No appeal of
missionaries or Mission Board opens their pocket-
books. They pass by on the other side.

Ah, it is a well-trodden way — the other side!
Remember, we are indeed our brother’s keepers.
Tt will not do for us to say that we did our brother
no harm. The question is, Did we do him the good
that his condition required ?

We go our ways in life too much alone;

We hold ourselves too far from all our kind;
Too often are we deaf to sigh and moan —
Too often to the weak and helpless blind;

Too often, where distress and want abide,
We turn away and pass the other side.

The other side is trodden smooth, and worn

By footsteps passing idly all the day;

Where lie the bruised ones, and the faint and torn,
Is seldom more than an untrodden way.

Too oft our selfish hearts our footsteps guide,
And blindly lead us on the other side.

It should be ours the oil and wine to pour

Into the bleeding wounds of stricken ones;

To take the smitten, and the sick and sore,
And bear them where a stream of blessing runs.
Instead, we turn our eyes — the way is wide;
And calmly pass upon the other side!

We are so blind and deaf! Adown the years,
Humanity is calling each and all,

In piteous accents, born of pain and tears.

I pray you, listen to the thrilling call!

You may not, in your selfish pride,

Pass guiltless on the other side.

6-6

What a Woman Should Be and Not Be.

An old preacher said there were three things a
woman should be and not be at the same time.
First, she should be like the snail, always keeping
within her own house; but she should not do like
the snail, which carries all it has upon its back.
Secondly, she should be like an echo, and speak
when she is spoken to; but she should not be like
an echo, which always manages to have the last word.
Thirdly, she should be like the town clock, and
always keep time and regularity; but she should
not be like the town clock, which speaks so loud
that all the town can hear it.

‘‘Safe in the Arms of Jesus.’’

The Rev. Hannington, the well-known mission-
ary of Central Africa, who was taken by the natives
and imprisoned, and afterwards put to death, made
this last record in his journal: “My headman led
me out on pretense of showing me the Nile, when
suddenly twenty ruffians set upon us. They threw
me to the ground and took my valuables. ‘Twice I
nearly broke away from them, and then grew faint
with struggling, and was dragged by the legs over
the ground. In spite of all, and feeling that I was
about to be murdered, I sang, ‘Safe in the arms of
Jesus,’ my tormentors exulting at the agony of my

_ situation.”

Ir God bids us carry a burden, He also carries
it. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on His
shoulders.

Le SOE STI