Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-06-27

ais. Inc SIoop says: more mast: more
tonnage; more canvas. o, that were a
topsaiI schooner. or full-rigged brig, or a
Cunard steamer" And so the world is
filed with cries of discomfort because we
are not willing to stay in the place where
Sod put rs and intended us to be. My
friends. be not too proud TO do any
thing God tells you to do. For the
lack OF u right disposition in this
respect the world is strewn with wander
ing Hagars and IShmaeis. God has given
each one of US work TO do. You carry
scuttle of coal up that dark alley. You
distribute thai Christian tract You give
5000 to the missionary cause. You, for
fifteen years, sit with chronic rheumatism,
displaying the beauty of Christian SUBJ
mission. Whatever God calls you to.
whether it win Kissing or huzza; whether
TO walk under triumpha arch or lift the
sot out OF the ditch; whether it be to
preach on the Peatecost, or tell some wan
derer of the street of the mercy of the
Christ of Mary Magdalen; whether it be
to weave a garland for a laughing child
on a spring morning and call her May
queen or to comb out the tangled locks of
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 crown or yoke, do not fdget. Ev-
erlasting honors upon those that 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 discontented Hagar and IshmaeL
Again: I find in this Oriental scene a
lesson of sympathy with woman when she
goes forth trudging in the desert. What
great change it was for this Hagar.
There was the tent and all the surroun d.
ings of Abraham's house, beautiful and
luxurious no doubt Now she is going out
into the hot sands Of the desert o. what
a change it was! And in our day we often
see the whsel 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 happin 4ss.
Plenty at the table. Music in the draw
ingroom. Welcome at the door. She is
led forth into life by some one who can
not appreciate her. A disappointed soul
comes and takes her out in the desert. In
iquities blot out all the lights of that home
circle. Harsh words wear out her spirits.
The high hope that shons out over the
set and the vows given and the benedic-
tion pronounced. have all faded with the
orange blossoms and there she is to- day,
broken hearted, thinking of past joy and
present desolation and coming anguish.
Hagar in the wilderness.
Here is beautiful home. You can not
think of any thing that can be added to it.
For years there has not been the sug-
gestion of a single trouble. Bright and
happy children fill the house with laughter
and song. Books to read. Pictures to
look at. Lounges to rest on. Cup of do
mestic joy full and running over. Dark
night drops. Pillow hot. Pulses flutter.
Eyes close. And the foot whose well known
steps on the door sill brought the whole
household out at eventide, crying: "Fath-
er's comingw will never sound on the
door sill again. A long, deep grief plowed
through all that lightness of domestic
life. Paradise lost! Widowhood! Ha-
gar in the wilderness!
How often it is 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
a sleep out of slumbers of last night,
tragedies of suffering written all over her
face, her lusterless eyes looking far ahead
as though for the coming of some other
trouble? 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 washings of a holy baptism. Her
name is changed now. l hear it in the
Snuff of the worn out shoes. / see it in
the figure of the faded calico / find it in
the lineaments of the woe-begone coun-
tenance Not Mary. nor Bertha, nor
Agnes, but Hagar in the wilderness. May
God have mercy upon woman in her tolls,
her struggles, her hardships, her desola-
ton, and may the great heart of divine
sympathy inclose her forever.
Again: find in this Oriental scene the
fact that every mother leads forth tre-
mendous destinies. You say: THAT isn't
child by the hand" Who is it she is lead
ing? Ishmael, you say. Who is I>hmae:
A great nation is to be founded; a nation
so strong that it is to stand for thousands
of years against all the armies of the
world. Egypt and Assyria thunder
againstit; but in vain. Gaulus brings up
his army; and his army is smitten.
Alexander decides upon a campaign,
brings up his hosts and dies For a long
while that nation monopolizes the learn
ing of the world. 1t is the nation Of the
Arabs. Who founded it? Ishmael, the
lad that Hagar led into the wilderness.
She had no idea she was leading forth
such destinies. Neither does any
mother. You pass along the street, and
see pass boys and girls who will yet
make the earth quake with their influence.
Who is that boy at Sutton Pool, Plymouth.
England barefooted, wading down into
the slush and slime. until his bare foot
comes upon piece of glass and he lifts it,
bleeding and pain struck? That wound in
the foot decides that he be sedentary in his
life, decides that he be a student That
wound by the glass in the foot decides
that he shall be John Kitto, who shall
provide the bes: religious encyclopedia
the world has ever had provided, and,
with his other writings as well. throwing
a light upon the word of God such as has
come from no other man in this century.
0, mother, mother, that little hand that
wanders over your face may yet be lifted
to hurl thunderbolts of war, or drop bene-
dictions. That little voice may blaspheme
God in the grog shop, or cry: Forward %
to the Lords hosts, as they go out for
their last victory.
NY mind to-day leaps thirty years
ahead. and / see a merchant prince OF
New York. One stroke Of his pen brings
a ship cut of Canton. Another stroke of
his pen brings a ship into Madras. He is
mighty in all the money markets of the
world. Who is he? He sits to-day beside
you in the tabernacle. My mind leaps
thirty years forward from this time and
find myself in a relief association. A
great multitude of Christian women have