The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-07-03

struggling IOr pOSltlOn llttle nlgner IMAM
that for which God intended them. The
bOndswoman wants to be mistress. Hagar
keeps crowding Sarah. The sman wheel Of
watch, which beautifully went treading
its golden pathway, wants to be the balance
wheel, and the sparrow, with chagrin, drops
into the brook, because it can not, like the
eagle, cut circle under the sun. In the
Lords army we all want to be brigadier gen.
erals The sloop says: "More mast; more
tonnage; more canvas. o, that were top
sail schooner, or full rugged brig, or Cunard
steamer" And so the world is filled with
cries of discomfort because we are not will
ing to stay in the place where God put US
and intended US to be. My friends, 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 wandering
Hagars and Ishmaels. God has given each
one Of us work to do. You carry a
scuttle of coal up that dark alley. You dis
tribute that Christian tract. You give
$4,000 to the missionary cause. You for
fifteen years sit with chronic rheumatism,
displaying the beauty of Christian submis-
sion. Whatever 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 it be to preach on a
Pentecost or tell some wanderer Of the street
of the mercy of Christ to Mary Magda-
lene; whether it be to weave a garland for
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 dresses to
fit her out for the sanctuary-do it and do it
right away. Whether it be a crown or q
yoke, do not idget. Everlasting 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
only wandering, and exile, and desolation,
and wilderness, for disconnected Hagar and
Ishmael.
Again: I find in this Oriental scene les
son Of sympathy with women when she
goes forth trudging in the desert. What q
great change it was for this Hagar. There
was the tent and all the surroundings OF
Abraham's house, beautiful and luxurious,
no doubt Now she is going out into the hot
sands Of the desert. o, what change il
was! And in our 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 administer to her happi'
ness. Plenty at the table. Music in the
drawing room. Welcome at the door. She
is led forth into life by some one who car
not appreciate her. A dissipated soul comes
and takes her out in the desertu Iniquities
blot out all the lights of that home circle
Harsh words wear out her spirit. The higt
hope that shone out over the marriage ALTA
while the ring was being set and the VOW
given and the benodiction pronounced
have all faded with the orange bios
SONS, and there she is to-day, broker
hearted, thinking Of past Joy and presen
desolation and coming anguish. Hagar il
the wilderness.
Here is a beautiful home. You can nc
think of any thing that can be added to il
For years there has not been the suggestion
of single trouble. Bright and happy chill
dren fill the house with laughter and song
Books to read. Pictures to look at. Lounge
to rest on. Cup of domestic Joy full an,
running over. Dark night drops. PILLOW
hot. Pulse flutter. Eyes close And tn
foot whose well known step on the door sill
brought the whole household out at even
tide, cryin q "Father Scoming," will neve
sound on the door sill again. A long, dee
grief plowed through all the ishtnessst
domestic life. Paradise LOST WldownoQd
Hagar in the wilderness
How often it is we see the weak arm Q
woman conscripted for this battle with tn
rough world. Who is she, going down tn
street in the early light of the morning, pal
with exhausting work not half slept GU
with the slumbers of last night, tragedies O
suffering written all over her face, her lus
terless eyes looking far ahead as though 70
the coming of some other trouble! He
parents called her Mary, or Bertha, or Agne
on the day when they held her up to tn
font, and the Christian minister sprinkle
on the infants face the washings of hol
baptism. Her name is changed now I hea
it in the shuttle of the worn-out shoes.
see it in the figure of the faded. calico.
find it in the lineaments Of the oe-begon
countenance. Not Mary, nor Bertha, no
Agnes, but Hagar in the wilderness. Ma
God have mercy upon woman in her tolls
her struggles, her hardships, her desolatior
and may the great heart of Divine sympath
inclose her forever.
Again | find in this Oriental scene tn
fact that every mother leads forth trement
Gus destinies. You say: "That isn't an ur
usual scene, a mother leading her child b
the hand' Who is it that she is leading
1shmael, you say. Who is Ishmael! A grea
nation is to be founded; a nation 40 stron
that IL is to stand for thousands of year
against all the armies of the world. EgyI
and Assyria thunder against il, bu
in vain. Gaulus brings up his army; an
his army is smitten. Alexander decide
upon campaign, brings up his host
and dies. For long while that natio
monopolizes the learning of the worlt
1t is the nation of the Arabs. Who founde
it. Ishmael, the lad that Hagar lie
into the wilderness. She had no idea sf
was leading forth such destinies Neiths
does any mother. You pass along the stree
and see pass boys and girls who will v,
make the earth quake with their influence
Who is that boy at Sutton Pool, Plymouth
England, barefooted wading down into Il
slush and slime. until his bare foot com,
upon piece of glass and he lifts it, blee'
ing, and pain struck That wound in Il
foot decides that he be sedentary in
life, decides that he be student II
wound by the glass in the foot decid,
that he shall be John Kitto, who sha
| provide the best religious encyclopedia IL
world has ever had provided, and, wit
his other writings as well, throwing ligl
, upon the word of God such as has con
from no other man in this century.
mother, mother, that little hand that wa;
ders over your face may yet be lifted
hurl thunderbolts of war, or drop benedi
| tions. That little voice may blaspheme CT
in the grog shop, or cry: Forward"
the Lords hosts, as they go out for the
, last victory. My mind today leaps thirt
4 years ahead, and see merchant prince
| Nn,u Xnrk Dna cfrolra of his non h,.;, 81,