Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-06-28

Own Sphere in Life and Then to Zee,
in 1t.
Subjcct-"people Who Have Lost Their Way
Tcrt-"And God opened her eyes, and she say
| a we'll of water; and she went, and filled the
bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. =
Gen xxi, 49,
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 as
sistant in the household, and her son. &
brisk lad of is years, have become i'm
pudent 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. It is a
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 you!" said old Abra-
ham as he gave the lunch to Hsgar, and
good many charges as to how she
should conduct the journey. Ishmael.
the boy, suppose bounded away in the
morning light. Boys always like a
change. Poor Ishmael! 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 associated
with the pride and joy of her heart
young Ishmael.
The scorching noon comes N. The
air is sitting and moves across the
desert with insutferable sufocation.
1shmael, the boy. begins to complain,
and lies down, but Hagar rouses him up,
saying nothing about her own weariness
or the sweltering heat; for mo;hers can
trudge. Crossing the dead level of the
miles slip. A tamarind thai 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 pillow
less. lshmael, very weary, I suppose,
instantly falls asleep. Hagtr, as the
shadows of the night begin to lap over
each other-Hagar hugs her weary boy
to her bosom and thinks of the fact that
it is her fault that they are in the desert.
star looks out, and every falling tear
it kisses with q sparkle. A wing of wind
comes over the hot earth and lifts the
locks from the fevered brow Of the boy.
Hagar sleeps fitfully, and in her dreams
travels over the weary day, and half
awakes her son by crying .olt in her
sleep, "Ishmael! Ishmael!" Ard so they
go on, day after day and night after
night, for they have lost theirway. No
path in the shifting sands, no sign in
the burning sky. The sack empty of the
What shall she do? AS she puts her
fainting Ishmael under a stunted shrub
of the arid plain, she sees the blood
shot eye, and feels the hot hand. and
watches the blood bursting f:om the
cracked tongue, and there is shrek in
the desert of Beer sheba: I'VE shall
die! we shall diet" Now, no mother was
ever made strong enough to hear her son
cry in vain for drink. Heretofore she
had cheered her boy by promising a
speedy end of the journey, even smiled
upon him when he felt desperately
enough. Now there is nothing to do
but place him under q shrub and let him
die. She had thought that she would
sit there and watch until the spirit of
her boy would go away forever, and then
she would breath out her own life on
his silent heart; but as the boy begins to
struggle in distortion, and beg his
mother to Stay him, she cannot endure
the spectacle. She puts him under a
shrub and goes off bow shot, and be-
gins to weep until all the desert seems
sobblng, and her cry strikes clear
through the heavens; and an angel of
God comes out on cloud and looks
down upon the appalling grief and
cries: Hagar, what aileth thee?" She
looks up and she sees the angel point
ing to we'll of water, where she fills
the bottle for the lad. Thank God!
Thank God!
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.
Hagar was an assistant in that house
hold, but she wanted to rule there. She
lshmeel, got the same tricks. She
dashed out her own happiness and
threw Sarah into great fret; and if she
had stayed much longer in that house
hold she would have upset calm Abra-
hams 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. place fer Hagar. A place
for 1shmael. 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. sextus was born on the low ground,
AMI was a swineherd; God called him up
to wave scepter. Ferguson spent his
early days in looking after the sheep;
God called him up to look after stars,
and be shepherd watching the focks
of light on the hillsides of Heaven. Ho-
garth began by engraving pewter pots;
9od raised him to stand in the en-
chanted realm of painter. The shoe
lsaa,S ha,ataL laGlt =