The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 114

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114

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Matthew 5, 14.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hid.”

These words, taken from the Sermon on the
Mount, are addressed to Christians. Christians are
to be lights, lights in this sin-darkened world.
They are to give light to others. Only Christians
can be lights. They have light. They know Jesus.
They know the way to heaven. They know God’s

Word. ‘Therefore Jesus tells His Christians, en-
lightened as they are: “Ye are the light of the
world.”

How can we be the light of the world? How
can we shine? First let us talk for our Savior
and His Church. Let us by word try to lead the
unconverted into the glorious light of the Gospel.
Then, too, let us live right. Let us perform good
deeds and thus shine. Says the Lord: “Let your
light so shine before men that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.”

Along the railroad tracks are little lights — red
lights, green lights. They make no noise. But
they do their work—they shine. On the coasts
of our country are innumerable lights which make
no noise. But they shine. They safely guide the
ships into the peaceful and quiet harbors past
dangerous rocks and shoals. So we, by our lives,
in the office or in the factory, in school or at home,
in the kitchen or in society, in stores or on the
streets, wherever we may be, are so to live and
conduct ourselves that people, by ORG us, may
be guided into the right course.

“Ye are the light of the world.” As lights we
are to shine. And Jesus asks nothing impossible
of us. He does not even say: “Shine brightly,
brilliantly.” He does not say: “Be a big light.”
What He wants us to do is to use the light that is
in us, be it much or little. If we, then, cannot be
great lights like the sun or the moon, let us be
little lights like the stars. If one or the other
cannot even be a brilliant star, let him be a small
star and only twinkle. But do use the gift that
God has given you to be a light in your station
and calling. ‘This is what the Savior asks in
Matt.5,14. Let us write this little message in
our hearts and with God’s help be shining lights
in the darkness of this world, guiding others to
Jesus, heaven, and happiness eternal.

Selma, Ala. G. A. Sonarmpr.

- tion in China at the present time.

China, Chinese, and Things Chinese.

(Concluded.)

Now let me tell you a little bit about the cus-
toms of China. In China it is the woman who
wears the trousers and the man who wears the
long gown. Although she wears the trousers, she
is virtually a slave. Foot-binding among women
is still done in practically all of China. When
a little girl is about two years old, the mother takes
the foot and bends it backward until the instep
breaks, and then she ties a bandage around it, in
that way crippling the foot and keeping it as
small as possible. According to Chinese customs
a woman’s foot must not be longer than three

A Chinese Village School.

inches., This, of course, brings untold pain and
agony to the Chinese girls, which stays with them
to their death. Thousands of them die of gangrene
poisoning. Many a little girl is spared this agony
by an early death immediately after her birth.
The Chinese believe that a woman has no soul.
A little girl born into a family which is poverty-
pinched means that there is just one more mouth
to feed. If the little girl is put to death, the rest
of the family gets just that much more to eat.

I told you before that the Chinese civilization
reached a point of stagnation, in which it remained
until a few years ago. That brings us to the situa-
The question
is so comprehensive that I almost fear to touch it
at all; but because it is a question of the day,
I cannot but give you the interpretation of current