The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-09-03
Each DaY it's Verse.

Each Day it's Verse.
In an old German village in the heart
of Bavaria, in a queer old house, that
looked as if it had never been built, but
had sprouted and grown, and had never
been pruned, one day sat by her sunny
deep window an old frau, who herself
looked as if she had not only grown, but
ripened and then been preserved, hike a
prune or a Nc, into something sweet and
GOOD, that would keep for ever.
She was knitting now, and had been
knitting always, and it seemed she might
Continue to knit, as well, if not little
better than not, till the end OF time. |
dare say she had covered miles of hands
and feet in her lifetime, and made them
warm. How much Of her had gone into
needle and yarn, who can tell?
But other things are knitting and are
knitted day by day. Heads and hearts
and souls are knitted all the time.
So, as the needles flashed in the light
old Mathilde said, No day without Its
verse.
Before her sat a young girl as fair OF
face as apple bloom; white and pink and
red blended from cheek to brow, and yell
low strands of hair lay down her waist.
A great Bible lay in her lap, from which
she was about to read. Now she paused
and listened, and lifted her clear, blue,
untaught eyes. -.
They are Master Luther's words,
said Mathilde. and good words they are,
my Madchen, true as the sun.
"'Stitch by stitch,
Minute by minute,
Verse by verse,
that Is the way all good work comes.
ono day without its verse, turned
the Gospel of our Lord into the German,
for every soul to feed upon and be made
strong"
The woman paused. The young girl
went on reading the wonderful old words
OF Inspiration that have thrilled millions
of hearts down through all the centuries
to this dav. She read Let not your
hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Fathers house
are many mansions. If it were not so l
would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. Whittier l go yeI
know, and the way We know.
At every added sentence the old frau
swaved back and forth, and muttered,
Yes. YES. yes. That is enough, my
Madchen, forto-day-enough and enough,
and more than enough. To-day we will
have, Let not your heart be troubled,
and our hearts will not be troubled
They Will be quiet as the warm sunlight
falling in the window, mtroubled as the
birds fitting hither and thlther through
the vines without. We children Of the
Christ may not be afraid, or dismayed, or
discouraged. when He saith, Let not thy
heart be troubled Aye, It's a precious
verse, for He stands on the other side be-
vond our seeing, and sees the things we
NAV not see. and knows the things we
NAV not now know, and so He whispers
all the day. Let not thy heart be trou-
bled. for He knows the worst that can
come to any one is not fatal, no, not II
this old body is tied to the stake and the
flames consume it, and she dropped her
knitting and uphfted her two hard old
bands-"not fatal so long as this is Sc
cure, and she laid her hand on her heart
and her aged face was lit with strange
radiance. For as Master Luther learn
ed, The Just shall live by faith, why
therefore be troubled? why? And when
he had learned that lesson, he goes on
and on, with every day its verse, its
blessed verse, until all are in our hands
too. Tomorrow, child, we will think
about the many mansions, and after that
about the Comforter, even the Spirit of
truth, which in troubled times bring toI
the remembrance the precious words a
poor old head cannot always hold when
other things crowd in.
80, so, so! little by little, stitch by
stitch, day by day, and verse by verse,
does every thing 60 on, and truth is the
same for ever, as the trembling leaves
and the bursting flowers, and the waters
with the breeze across 1t.
Little Madchen turned her blue eyes
out of the easement and wondered what
GOOD Mathilde could mean, and wondered
Too why she liked to be beside the old
frau and read the good Book to her
And she wondered too if she would know
all about it from first to last. And then
She thought Maybe l shall, if l go stitch
by stitch in patience and in love,