The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-11-28
TEE BOYHOOD OF CHRIST.

j.
haFper's Magazine for December.
Now is 1t not amazing that the youth of on,
who intended so well and actually did so much
who left Us the most pathetic of histories, VIII,
will remain forever the perfect standard of com
parative holiness, applicable alike to every
phase and circumstance OF human life, whose
hold upon men has already proven Him
prophet unto himself, and still goes on widening
and deepening--how wonderful, / say, that the
childhood Of such man should be so beggary
OF authentic incident. AS an argument, this
fact seems at first glance to justify the opinion
commonly held that the youth of the Savior ran
in course very much like that of the generality
Of poor Jewish children"
Il can't believe that, uncle said Puss. with a
show of indignation.
The old gentleman looked at her benignantly.
Nor can l." he said "Thsy say that Joseph,
to whom as a child CIR Lord was subject. was a
carpenter who piled only the humber branches
of the trade, and that Mary, his wife, spun the
fax and wool for the family and was a house
wife. These are the circumstances chiefly re.
lied upon TO support the theory that the condi-
ton Of the child was poverty. Now while ad-
NIT the circumstances. / deny the conclusion.
That Joseph was a carpenter signifies nothing
as tho law required every Israelite, rich or poor,
to follow some occupation. Then was it not
written CT the exemplar OF all the mothers in
Israel: She looketh well to the ways of her
household. and eateth not the bread
of idlenessF And if we may give
heed to accounts rot purely Scriptura,
Mary owned the house in Nazareth in which the
family dwelt; but. conforming to the Scriptures,
Il Is 20 be remembered that AMONGST the gifts of
the Magi there was gold. And please myself
thinking that there WAS enough Of it to support
the holy family while it was in Egypt. and after
ward In Nazareth. In my view. then. the child
was net born TO poverty. If anyone doubts the
conclusion. let him ponder the awful declaration
IN the Talmud: These four are accounted as
dead: the blind, the leper. the poor and the
chldiess.' AS to the social position of the fam
Nv, IL is enough to remark that. besides being
just man, Joseph was lineal descendant of
David the King"
They were neither rich nor poor, then, !" said
john"
only comfortable" Uncle Midas reioned;
then proceeded: Exactly the condition to allow
our Savior a marginal time in which to taste
something OF natural boysh freedom; to have
little playmates, run races with the youngest of
the foeks, deck himself from the anemone beds
on the hills and watch the clouds form slowly
about the summit of old Hermon. 1t must be
noted, however, that this period was shorter
with him than with our lads for the terrible
Talmudic rules fell upon him early, after which
there was small chance to enjoy boyhood accord
Ing to our indeas of its enjoyment. By
Whelming men, women and children with
duties, they put existence in iron
jackets. To neglect the rules or the least
IF them, was to invoke perdition. And besides
Uncle Midas drew his cray cap we'll down. and
meditsted a moment. II was about to say" he
then continued. that there was another cause
to cut short the jocund marginal period of our
Lord which must not be overlooked-a cause pc.
culiar to himself and. in my Judgment. more in
Auential even than the Talmudic rules His pre-
cocity was miraculous. AT time when other
children are nTuling in their mothers arms the
cells Of his understanding began to enlarge and
al with knowledge. The process must have
been like the gradual rise of water in the basin
of spring At all events, the knowledge was of
kind TO make him prematurely serious, and il
was not derived from books or schoolmasters."
you think the angels waited upon himF in
teFposed Nan.
The question was asked with such artlessness
that Uncle Midae, who had been talking with
self. characterization. looked at her half startled
~ did not think of being called upon to make
the admission my little friend" he said, ''but /
will--orly do not take me TO De modern spirit
ualist. You may have seen copies Of the most
beautiful OF the Virgin Mothers. Murillo did
but work according to his faith when he filled
che space about the central figure with faces of
attending spirits AT the feet of the Sistine
Madonna hey ond preadventure the most divine
~ perfect mother and child in group, there are
two little cherubs inimitaby suggestive of mis-
chievous urchins; but examine them close
~ next time, and what knowledge
countenances. Raphael painted them con
aTnore. meaning that he believed in them-and
go do l. | do not think such ministers go with
us common mortals. Goodness help them if
they do! That they went with the divine Child.
however, l am quick to believe. They watched
Him with jealous care; they foated on the
clouds above Him; they trod the air in His
chamber; they gave color, direction. purity and
strength 20 His thought His mother may have
taught Him the alphabet, but neither she nor
the teachers in the synagogue could have helped
Him 70 that other rarer aud higher learning in
the light of which the hearts of those about
Him were as primers for easy reading. Through
what human agency was it that before He was
3 msn He was master OF lore which Hillel had
not been able to obtain with all his one hundred
and twenty years of studious life?
Suppose by chance he came while child to
know the mysteries of his BIRTH The effects
would have been manifold, but OF one of them
am certain-al desire for pastime by childish
means would have then ended
"Then you believe he knew it all?" asked Puss
mpulsiyely-''knew it all when he was childF
"Wel" he answered. ''iet US see. He was
from the beginning in care of at least two per-
sons who could not have put their knowledge of
him away had they wished to do so. The world
has done injustice to- Joseph The fathers of
the church did better when they cannnnized
him. He held prodigious secret in his pos
session. ana was true 10 lt. VINO is thiSF
the rabbis asked when Christ began his mira
cles; and they answered themselves Oh
it is the carpenters son! The other person was
Mary the mother. After all that has been said
and written of her appearance. her devotion
her sanctity-her womanliness makes her as in
comparable amonhst women as her son is incon-
parable amongst men. / am somewhat rigid in
my idea that worship is due to God alone; never
theess. it would have been hard for me to refuse
20 fall in and march with Cyril in his great dis
pute with Nestorius. and am sensible of kind
ly feeling for Pope Gregory the Great, because
he at length settled the dispute by making it
lawful to write Holy Mother of God after Mary's
name. Neither have any disposition to quarrel
with the devotional habit the peasants have
of stopping to kneel before the Mother
as she appears above the rural al
ters the waysides of Italy On the
quay of the Bosporus AS one approaches Thera
pia there is an arched vault Of an ancient ruin.
in which poor hunehh hacked Greek keeps
candle always burning before wretched picture