The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-07-22

Text-Luke 1040. Lord, Carest Thou
that nv sister hath left me serve
aloneP Bid her, therefore, that she help
You ask why men are oftener preach
ed to than women. l reply, it is because
women are better than men do not
say this in compliment, or in a spirit OF
soft gallantry-for when women are bad
they are dreadful-but as a statistical
fact which can not be c~ontroverted.
They have fewer temptations to out
breaking sin; are naturally more reVer'
ential and loving; it is easier for them to
become Christians they are in the ma
iority in the church on earth; and l sup
pose if you count the women and child
rem of heaven, You would have counted
three.fourths of its population. But
see yonder a beautiful village homestead.
The man of the house is dead, and his
widow is taking charge Of the premises.
Come, let nee introduce you. This is the
widow Martha of Bethany, Yes, l will
introduce you also to the pet of the house
hold. This is Mary, the younger sister,
with a book under her arm, and her face
having no appearance of anxiety or per-
turbation. Company has come. Christ
stands outside of the door, and of course
there is a good deal Of excitement inside
the door. The d%isarranged furniture is
hastily put aside, the hair is brushed
back, and the dresses are adjusted as
we'll as, in 80 short a time, Mary and
Martha can attend to these matters.
They did not keep Christ standing at
the Goor until they were newly appar'
eled, or until they had deliberately arran'
ged their t%resses, then coming out with
their affected surprise, as though they
had not heard the two or three previous
knockiDgs, saying; "Why, is that your"
No. They were ladies, and were always
presentable, although they may not al
ways have had on their best; for lone OF
us always have on our best: if we did,our
best would not be worth having on.
They throw open the door and greet
Christ. They say: "Good morning,
master; come in and be seated" Christ
did not come alone; He had a group Of
friends with Him, and such an influx of
city visitors would throw any country
home into perturbation. l suppose also
the walk from the city had been a good
appetizer. The kitchen department that
day was a very important department,
and l suppose Martha had no sooner re-
Ceived the guests than she fed to that
room. Mary had no anxiety about do
mestic affairs. She had full confidence
that Martha could get up the best dinner
in Bethany. She seems to say: "Now,
let us have a division Of labor, Martha;
you cook and I'll cit down and be good"
So you have often seen a great difference
between two sisters. There is Martha,
hard. working, p~ains.taking, a good man.
ager, ever inventive of some new pastry,
or discovering something in the art of
cooking and housekeeping. There is
Mary, also, fond of conversation literary
and so engaged in deep questions of eth
les she had no time to attend to the
questions of household welfare. 1t is
noon. Mary is in the parlor with Christ,
Martha is in the kitchen. 1t would have
been better if they had divided the OPP.
portunity Of listening to Jesus; but Mary
moLopolized Christ while Martha SWEET.
cred at the fire. 1t was very important
that they should have a good dinner
that day. Christ was hungry, and he
did not often have a luxurious entertain.
ment, Alas, me! if the duty had devolv.
ed upon Mary, what a repast that would
have beenl But something went wrong
in the kitchen; perhaps the fire would
not burn, or the bread would not bake,
or Martha scalded her hand, or some
thing was burned black that ought only
to have been made brown, and Martha
has lost her patience, and forgetting the
proprieties of tie occasion, with sweated
brow, and perhaps pitcher in n hand
and tongs in the other, she rushes out
of the kitchen into the presence Of Jesus,
saying, lord, dost thou not care that
my sister hath left me to serve alone2'
Christ scolded not a word, If it were
scolding. / should rather have his scold.
ing than anybody else's blessing. There
was nothing acrid, He knew Martha
had almost worked herself to death to
get him something to eat, 80 he throws
a word of tenderness into his information
as he seems to say, my dear woman,
do not worry; let the dinner go; sit down
on this ottoman beside Mary, your
younger sister. Martha, Martha, thou
art careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful." As
Martha throws open that kitchen door |
look in and see a great many household
%perplexities and anxieties,
First, there is the trial Of non-appreci.
alton. That is what made Martha go an.
CRY at Mary. The younger sister had no
estimate Of the older sisters fatigues.
As now, men bothered with the ankle.
ties Of the store, and Office, or shop, and
coming from the Stock Exchange, they
cay when they get home: "0h, you be
over in Wall street these days; or in our
factory a little while; you ought to man
age eight, ten or twenty men, and then
you would know What trouble and anx
iety are" o, sir, the wife and mother
has to conduct at the same time a uni
versity, a clothing establishment, q res.