Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-12-11
1H'sreilagg,

@sceilagg,
CLARA'S QUESTION.
Clara King laid down her bible on the
stand and looked out of the window. 1t
was the first day of November, and dull.
cold rain filled the streets with mud; few
Irish women were on their way to early
mass, and here and there a brown sparrow
hopped about looking for his food; other
wise there were brick walls. The outlook
was not pleasant. Clara was teacher in
one Of the city schools, working hard
weekdays, so hard THAT occupation kept
her from thinking that her father and
mother and sister all lay In Falmouth
graveyard, and what other relatives she
had less near and DEAR were scattered far
and wide. But this was Sunday, and as
she finished her morning reading and
looked out of the window while she wait.
ed for the bell to ring for breakfast, she
could not help dreadful sense of loneli.
ness settling down upon her heart. 1t is
true there was bible full ofcomfort for her,
but she was tired, lonely, chilly, and the
day was all gloom. She remembered it
was November, the month of Thanksgiv.
ing; and before her, rose like vision the
cosy, warm kitchen at her old home, her
mother making pies at the cross.egged
table; father filling the brick oven-al-
ways heated for that festive use-with
long wood shavings, Matty dressing up
the sitting-roOm with bitter.sweet and
ground pine, while she herself pared ap.
Piles, strained squash, or stirred the cram.
berry sauce on the stove; and without the
sea sparkled and roared close by, and the
low cedars on the Point rushed and
writhed In the keen wind Then she had
found the old red house small and incon.
venient, and longed to get away, to see
more people and lead less quiet and
monotonous life; now, she would have
anything she could give to be back there
with those three again. She would have
no Thanksgiving this year; she must stay
in her cheap boarding house, spend the
long day in her chilly room or the dark,
squalid parlor below, and have no ray of
light from past or future to be thankful
for. Nevertheless Clara was, and meant
be christian woman; the flesh is weak
many time when the spirit is willing,
and she had not learned the last, great. |
est lesson Of a christian life; that we
live by daily bread alone; that even
heavenly mama did not provide for the
morrow's food, only for to-day. She had
been reading the first four psalms, and
out of them but one clause of verse re-
mained with her.
"Who shall show us any goOd?"
She heard this over and over with curl. |
Gus persistency: thinking of what her life |
would probably be; long stretch of hard, !
lonely work, q homeless old age, death
among strangers. Bitter tears rolled
down her pale face as she entertained this |
spectral trouble, and pitied herself so
earnestly for that which as yet was not |
here. There are thousands like her,
poor child, thousands who borrow trouble, |
millions beside who have it without bor-
rowing: but Of these last she did not
think.
Strangely enough the minister who
preached that day in the church she habit. |
ualy attended took for his text the very
line that had haunted her. He acknowl- |
edged that this was common query
among the unhappy Of this world. but |
went on to say:
"If we cannot really find any good
which IS proposition | do not mean to |
dispute, since u person in the state of
mind which asks that question is unable
and unwilling both to see goodness, even
if it were found for them-let us look for
evil, There is enough of that lying about
us in every path; we are not any of us
all alone unhappy though we are apt
think so. If there is soul in this assem-.
bly, which has ever asked this question In
bitterness of spirit, then, oh, dear soul!
let me beseech you to begin this very dpr
and see what evil you CAP find lSside
your own, to keep 1t company. 30 ana
measure your sorrows by yop' nIelghoor S;
put plummet and line to next door or next
room miseries and fad out where in the
scale of human rretchedness you stand.
n il real comfort to the mind of man
to define and establish its position.
ifvou are once aware OF evil, you can do
something toward its mitigation, and your
own better experience will help you to
sympathize with others, it muy be to help
them; though that is scarce to be expect
ed from one who dsbelieves in good. This
is q good day to begin; it is almost time
for the feast Of Thanksgiving; and you
who are not thankful, since the day gives
you no occupation, ought at least
to discover others who are also
and tell them how
much less their sorrows are
than yours. If you are Christians, or
think you are, go and preach to them
these bad tidings of tribulation and see
what audiences you will have. Since you
do not accept the gospel for yourselves,
except in name. go and see how others
live without it. Yes! 90 fill your soul with
husks, and then come back, if you cannot
come till then to your Fathers house and
sit down and make merry in honor of your
repentance.
Clara heard no farther; this strange
outlook from her own standpoint so
and confronted her that she went
home astonished at herself, yet in u state
Of dependence still, for she did not know1
what to do, where to find another discour-
aged human being. She was direct,
creature, in the best sense
Of simple" and so the sermon came
home to her fVy herself, not for her neigh
bors. She looE'd about her at the tea
table that evening with q new insight;
was il possible that she could find unhap-
piness right ut0der her eyes. 1t might be
so, she thought, rs she looked at Miss AL
len, an elderly woman, who had q room
an tha fn,rfb ator.,. t,,ef ahava hos ans, 4