The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-09-24

that the world would long ago have
been saved II some Of the men out Of
the ministry were In it, and some OF those
who are In It wore out of It 1really thinh
that one-half the world may be divided
into two quarters-those who have not
found their sphere, and those who, havin 8
found It, arc not willing to stay there.
How many are struggling for . position
q little higher than that for which God In.
tended :hem. The bondswoman wants to
be mistress. Hager keeps crowding Sarah.
The small wheel Of watch which beauti.
fully went treading its golden pathway,
wants to be the balance.wheel, and the
sparrow with chazrin drops into the brook
because it can not, like the eagle, cut .
circle under the sun.
In the Lords army we all want to b
Brigadier Generals. The sloop says:
"More mast. more tonnage, more can.
vas. oh, that were q topsail schooner,
or a full-rigged brig, or a Cunard steam.
err"
And 50 the world Is filed with cries of
discomfort because we are not willing to
stay in the place where God put US and in.
tended rs to be. My frienis, be not too
proud to do any thing God tells you to do.
For the lack of right disposition in this
respect the world is strewn with wander
ing Hagars and Ishmaels. God has given
each Of us q work to do. You carry a
scuttle Of coal up that dark alley.
You distribute that Christian tract. You
give ten thousand dollars to the missions
airy cause. You for fifteen years sit
with chronic rheumatism. displaying the
beauty of Christian submission. What
ever God calls you to, whether it win
kissing or huzza; whether to walk under
triumphal arch or lift the sot out of the
ditch; whether 1t be to preach on a pen.
tecost or tell some wanderer of the street
of the mercy Of the Christ, or of Mary
Magdalene; whether it be to weave gar.
land for a laughing child on spring
morning and call her a May queen. or to
comb out the tangled locks of a waif Of
the street, and cut up one of your old
do it, and do it right away. Whether it
be a crown or yoke, do not fidget. Ever.
lasting hOnors upon those who do their
work, and do their whole work, and are
contented In the sphere in which God has
put them: while there is wandering, and
exile, and desolation. and wilderness for
disconnected Hagar and Ishmael.
9. Again, find in this Oriental scene q
lesson Of sympathy with woman when
What a great change it was for this
Hagar! There was the tent and all the
surroundings of Abraham's house, beauti-
full and luxurious, no doubt. Now she is
going out i2to the hot sands of the des-
ert. Oh, what change it was! And in
one day we often see the wheel of fortune
turn. Here is some one who lived in the
very bright home of her father. She
had every thing possible to admin
ter to her happness-plenty at the
table, music in the drawing
room, welcome at the door. She is led
forth into life by some one who can not
her. A dissipated soul comes
and takes her out into the desert. Cruel
ties blot out all the lights of that home
circle. Harsh words wear out her spirits.
The high hope that shone out over the
altar while the ring was being
set, and the vows given, and the benedic.
ton pronounced, have all faded with the
orange blossoms, and there she is to-day,
broken hearted. thinking of past joys, and
present desolation, and coming anguish. |
Hagar in the wilderness!
Here Is beautiful home. You can not
hfnk Of any thing that can be added to
L. For years there has not been the sug.
,estion of q single trouble. Bright and |
happy children fill the house with laugh. |
ter and song. Books to read. Pictures to |
look at. Lounges to rest on. Cup Of do. !
{, .estic Joy full and running over. Dark |
night drops. Pillow hot. Pulses futter. J
Eyes close. And the foot whose well known |
steps on the door-sill brought the whole |
out at eventide, crying: "Fath- |
er's coming" will never sound on the |
door sill again. A long, deep grief plowed |
life. Paradise lost. Widowhood. Hagar |
in the wilderness.
How often is it we see the weak arm of /
woman conscripted for this battle with |
the rough world. Who is she, going down
the street in the early light of the morn
ing, pale with exhausting work. not half
slept out with the SAUNDERS of last night,
tragedies of suffering written all over her
face, her lusterless eyes looking for ahead,
as though for the coming Of some other
troubls! Her parents called her Mary, or
Bertha, or Agnes, on the day when they
held her up to the font and the Christian
minister sprinkled on the infants face the
of holy baptism. Her name is
changed now. hear it in the shuttle of
he worn -out shoes. l see It in the figure
II the faded calico. find it in the Inca
nents of woebegone countenance. Not
Nary, nor Bertha, nor Agnes, but Hagar
n the wilderness. May God have mercy
,pon woman in her tolls, her struggles,
Ter hardships. her desolation, and may
he great heart Of divine sy mpathy inclose
Ter forever
8. Again, fiend in this Oriental scene
he fact that every mother leads forth tre-
nendous destinies. You say:
"That isn't an unusual scene, a mother
eading her child by the hand"
Who is that she is leading? Ishmael,
Tou say. Who is Ishmael? A great no
lion is to be founded; q nation so strong
that it is to stand for thousands of years
against all the armies Of the world.
Egypt and Assyria thunder against, it
tut in vain. Gaulus brings up his army.
md his army Is smitten. Alexander
decides upon . campaign, brings up his
losts. and dies. For a long while that
ration monopolized the learning of the
world. It is the nation Of the Arabs. Who
ounded it? Ishmael, the lad that Hagar
ed into the wilderness. She had NO idea
he was leading forth such destinies.
Jeither does any mother. You pass along
be street and see and pass boys and girls