The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-09-23

lusrating Gods ability and readiness to
rescue the oucast. His text was:
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a
well of water, aud she went and filled the
bottle with water, and gave the lad drink
Genesis XXI. l6.
The preacher said: Morning breaks
upon Beer -sheba. There is an early stir
in the house of old Abraham. There has
been trouble among the domestics. Hagar,
an assistant in the household, and her
son, a brisk lad Of sixteen years, have be-
come impudent and insolent, and Sarah,
the mistress of the household, puts her foot
down very hard and says that they will
have to leave the premises. They are
packing up now. Abraham, knowing that
the journey before his servant and her SON
will be very long and across desolate
places, in the kindness Of his heart sets
about putting up some bread and bottle
with water in it. 1t is very plain lunch
that Abraham provides, but warrant you
there would have been enough of it had
they not lost their way. "God be with
youw said old Abraham as he gave the
lunch to Hagar, and good many charges
as to Aow she should conduct the journey.
Ishmael, the boy, l suppose, bounded
away in the morning light. Boys
always like change. Poor Ishmaell He
has no idea Of the disasters that are ahead
Of him. Hagar gives one long, lingering
look on the familiar place where she had
spent so many happy days, each scene as
sociated with the pride and joy of her
heart, young Ishmael.
The scorching noon comes on. The air
is sitting and moves across the desert
with insufferable suffocation. Ishmael,
the hoy, begins to complain and lies down,
but Hagar rouses him up, saying nothing
about her own WEAKNESS or the sweltering
heat; for m others can endure any thing.
Trudge, trudge, trudge. Crossing the
dead level of the desert, how wearily and
slowly the miles slipl tamarind that
seemed hours ago to stand only just
little ahead, inviting the travellers to come
under its shadow, now is as far off as
ever, or seemingly so. Night drops upon
the desert and the travellers are pillowless
1shmael, very weary, suppose, instantly
falls asleep. Hagar, as the shadows
of the night begin to lap over
each other, hugs her weary boy
to her bosom and thinks of the
fact that it is her fault that they
are in the desert. A star looks out, and
every falling tear it kisses with sparkle.
A wing or wind comes over the hot earth,
and lifts the locks from the fevered brow
of the boy. Hagar sleeps ftfully, and in
her dreams travels over the weary day,
and half awakes her son by crying out in
her sleep: "Ishmaell IshmaelW
And so they so on day after day and
night after night; for they have lost their
way. No path in the shifting sands; no
sign In the burning sky. The sack empty
Of the -four; the water gone from the bot
tie. What shall she do? AS she puts her
fainting Ishmael under stunted shrub of
the arid plain, she sees the bloodshot eye,
and feels the hot hand, and watches the
blood bursting from the cracked tongue,
and there is shrek in the desert of Beer
sbeba:
ave shall diel We shall dep
Now, no mother was ever made strone
enough to hear her son cry for drink.
Heretofore she had cheered her boy by
and even smiled upon him when he felt
desperately enough. Now there is moth
ing to do but place him under a shrub and
let him die. She had thought she would
sit there and watch until the spirit of her
boy would go away forever, and then she
would breathe out her own life on his
silent heart; but as the boy begins to claw
his tongue in agony of thirst, and strug-
gle in distortion, and begs his mother to
slay him, she can not endure the spectacle.
She puts him under a shrub, and goes off
a bcw-shot, and begins to weep until all
the desert seems sobbing, and her cry
strikes clear through the heavens; and an
angel of God comes out on a cloud and
looks down upon the appalling grief, and
cries:
"Hager, what aileth thee?"
She looks up and she sees the angel
pointing to the well of water, where she
fills the bottle for the lad. Thank God!
Thank Godl
/. learn from this Oriental scene in
the first place, what sad thing it is when
people do not know their place and get too
proud for their business. Hager was an
assistant in that household, but she want
ed to rule there. She ridiculed and jeered
until her son, Ishmael, got the same tricks.
She dashed out her own happiness, and
threw Sarah into great fret; and if she
had staid much longer in that household
she would have upset calm Abraham's
equilibrium. My friends, one half of the
trouble in the world to-day comes from
the fact that people do not know their
place, or, finding their place, will not stay
in it. When we come into the world there
Is always place ready for us. A place
for Abraham. A place for Sarah. A place
for Hagar. A place for Ishmael. A place
for you and place for me. Our first duty
Is to find our sphere; our second is to keep
It, We may be born in a sphere far off
from the one for which God finally intends
us. Sixtus v. was born on the low ground
and was a swineherd; God called him
up to wave a scepter. Ferguson spent his
early days in looking after sheep; God
called him up to look after stars
and be shepherd watching the
hocks Of light on the hillsides of
Heaven. Hogarth began by engraving
pewter pots; God raised him to stand in
the enchanted realm of painter. The
Bhoemaker's bench held Bloomfield for
little while; but God raised him to sit in
the chair of philosopher and Christian
scholar. The soap boiler of London could
not keep his son in that business, for God
had decided that Hawley was to be one Of
the greatest astronomers of England.
On the other hand, we may be born in
sphere little higher than that for which
God intends US We may be born in cas-
tie, and play in costly conservatory, and.
feed high-bred pointers, and angle for
goldfish in artificial ponds, and be
familiar with princes; yet God may bet
ter have fitted US for a carpen ter's shop,