The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 67

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

67

OO ————

Two Stories.

“And they brought young children to Him, that
He should touch them; and His disciples rebuked
those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it,
He was much displeased, and said unto them,
Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and
forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of
God. And He took them up in His arms, and put
His hands upon them, and blessed them.” So runs
“the sweet story of old;” but you have heard it so
often, dear children, I am afraid you don’t stop to
think how very sweet it is.

Listen to another story, oh, so different! A Chi-
nese mother said to her child, “You have done
wrong; your god is very angry with you. Come
to his temple, and pray to him, that he may not
send dreadful punishment upon you.”

And such a god! His eyes that could not see,
his ears that could not hear, his lips that could not
speak, were all made of cold, hard metal; and he
sat on a huge block of stone. His limbs were im-
movable; and he could not take the children in his
arms, if he would. Yet to this god the boy must
come, even though too young to sit alone. His
father held him in a proper position, and taught
him to repeat, over and over again, some prayer, of
whose meaning he had no idea; while his grand-
father and grandmother looked on to see that all
was done as it should be.

Now, dear children, when your mammas have
tucked you in your little white beds at night, when
you have said, “Now I lay me down to sleep,” and
“Our Father,” won’t you offer one short prayer for
the heathen children, that they, too, may know and
love your blessed Savior? — Well Spring.

A Strange Idol.

Near Peking, the capital of China, there is a
small temple close to the road. If you enter the
temple, no idol is to be seen as in other Chinese
temples. But a large log or block of wood is seen
lying on the floor. ‘That block is the object wor-
shiped in this temple.

How did the Chinese get the idea to worship a
block of wood as a god? Let me tell you.

Some years ago that log of wood was hauled
by mules to the city of Peking. At the spot where
the temple now stands the log sank into the ground
which had been softened by heavy rains. It could

not be moved, and learned men were called to give
advice. They declared upon their honor that the
log was possessed with an evil spirit and that it
would therefore be best to let it lie and build a
temple over it and worship it as a god. This was
done, and now several priests enjoy the benefits of
the sacrifices offered to this strange, queer idol by
the poor blind heathen.

An Emperor’s Testimony.

In an account of a conversation which he
recently had with the German Emperor William,
a pastor represents the Emperor as saying:

“TI often read the Bible; I like to read it every
night. The Bible lies on a table at my bedside.
I find the most beautiful thoughts expressed in it.
The Bible is to me a fdéuntain from which I draw
light and strength. In the hours of sorrow and
depression I seek consolation therein. I cannot
understand how life can be lived without real com-
munion with the Almighty. All must go through
Gethsemane.”

Late Kindness.

“Mother, mother, you have always been so good
to us!” said a son, sobbing at the deathbed of his
mother. ;

The dying mother raised herself up in bed and
said: “You have never told me that before, John!”

Let us be kind in time and show our apprecia-
tion before it is too late to.do much good or any
good at all. — :

A husband carefully and tenderly placed a flower
in the pale, still hand of his dead wife, when some
one remarked, “That is the first flower he ever
gave her.”

The living, and not the dead, need our kindness.

A New Light.

“T have been a member of your church for thirty
years,” complained an elderly Christian to his pas-
tor, “and when I was laid by with sickness for a
week or two, only one or two came to visit me.”

“My friend,” said the pastor, “in all those thirty
years how many sick have you visited?” ” :

“Oh,” he replied, “it never struck me in that
light.” ;