The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-06-26

OF those who are in il were out of il. I
really think that one-half of the world
may be divided into two quarters-those
who have not found their sphere, and
those who, having found it, are not will
ing to stay there. How many are strug-
Cling for position little higher than
that for which God intended them. The
bondswoman wants to be mistress. Hagar
keeps crowding Sarah. The small wheel
OF watch which beautifully went tread
ing It's golden pathway, wants TO be the
balance wheel, and the sparrow with cha
grin 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
brlgader-generals. The sloop says:
More mast, more tonnage, more canvas.
Oh, that were topsail schooner, or n
full-rigged brig, or Cunard steamer"
And so the world is filled with cries OF
dlscontent because we are not willing TO
stay IN the place where God put US and
intended us to be. My friends, be not too
proud TO do anything 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 one OF US a work to do. You carry
scuttle OF coal up that dark alley. You
distribute the Christian tract. You give
$4,000 to the missionary cause. You for
fifteen years sit with chronic rheumatism,
displaying the beauty of Christian sub
mission. Whatever God calls you to
do, whether II win kissing or
huzza, whether 10 walk under
the ditch whether il be 10 preach on
a Pentecost or tell some wanderer OF the
street the mercy of the Christ of Mary
lIonfpI cna ufh a. har - 30 To
land for a laughing child on a spring
morning. and call her May queen, or 10
comb out the tangled locks of q waif OF
the street, and cut up one Of your old
dresses 70 CT her out for the sanctuary
do it, and do il right away. Whether il is
q crown or rake, do not fidget. Ever
lasting honors upon those who do their
work, aud are contented in the sphere in
which God has put them while there is
only wandering and exile and desolation
and wilderness for disconnected Haear
and Ishmael.
again, find in this Oriental scene
lesson OF sympathy with woman when she
goes forth digging Ia the desert. What
great change Il was for this Hagar There
was the tent and all the surroundings
OF Abraham's house, beautiful and luxu-
rious, no doubt. Now she 10 going ont
into the hot sands of the desert oh,
what n change il Wasl 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 90 administer 10 her happi-
ness. Plenty at the table. Music in the
drawing Welcome at the door.
She Is led forth into life by some one who
can not appreciate her. A dissipated soul
comes and takes her out in the desert.
lniquities blot out all the lights OF that
home circle. Harsh words wear out her
spirits. The high hone that shown out
over the marriage altar while the ring
was being set and the VOWS given and the
benediction pronounced have all faded
with the orange blossoms, and there she
is to-day, broken-hearted, thinking OF
past JOY and present desolation and com.
ing anguish. Hagar in the wilderness.
Here IL a beautiful home. You cannot
think OF anything that can be added 10 Il.
For years there has not been the sugges-
ton OF n single trouble. Bright and happy
children Gil the house with laughter and
song Books 10 read. Pictures to look
at. Lounges 10 rest on. Cup OF domestic
ioy full aud running over. Dark night
drops. Pillow hot Pulses Autter. Eyes
close. And the foot whose well-known
step on tho door-sil brought the whole
household ont at eventide crying Fathers
coming will never sound on the door
sill again. A long. deep grief plowed
through all that lightness OF domestic life
Paradise lost Widowhood Hagar in
the wilderness.
How often IL 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 morning, pale with
exhausting work, not half slept out with
the 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
trouble2 Her parents called her Mary
or Bertha or Agnes on the day when they
held her up 10 the font, and the Christian
minister sprinkled on the infants face.
the washings of a holy baptism. Her
name is changed now. hear il in tho
shuttle OF the worn out shoes. | see IL in
the figure Of the faded calico. find il 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 desolation,
and may the great heart OF divine svm-
pathy inclose her forever.
again: ! ind in this oriental scene the
fact that every mother leads forth tremen-
dous destinies. You say: THAT isn't an
unusual scene. a mother leading her child
by the hand" Who IL that she is lead
Ing? Ishmael, you say. Who is Ishmael?
\ great nation is 20 be found; a nation so
strong that IL is 20 stand for thousands OF
years against all the armies Of the world.
Egypt and Assyria thunder against it. but
ia 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 learning 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. Nor
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 il, bleeding
and pain-struck2 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 loot decides that he
shall be John Kitto, who shall provide the
best 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 thi5 century. O mother, mother, that
little hand that yandprz ot,or xscrr faco