The Portland daily press., 1892-12-17

anu Une SOOu Ie Will hecp. aLotHSI PIT
ture.
God. our Mother, wanted to set forth
the duty Of neighborly love, and it is
done by a picture. A heap of wounds on
the road to Jericho. A traveller has been
fighting robber. The robber stabbed
him and knocked him down. Two min
listers come along. They look at the poor
fellow, but do not help him. A traveller
comes along-a Samaritan. He says
"WhoaF' to the beast he is riding and
dismounts. He examines the wounds;
he takes out some wine, and with it
washes the wounds, and then he takes
some oil and puts that in to make the
wounds stop srnarting and then he tears
off. a piece of his own garment for a
bandage. Then he helps the wounded
man upon the beast and walks by the
side, holding him on until they come to
d tavern. He says to the landlord,
"Here is money to pay the mans board
for two days; take care of him; if it costs
anything more charge it to me, and l
will pay it, Picture. The Good Sa-
marian, or Who Is Your Neighbour
GODS MoTHERLY LOVE.
Does God, our Mother, want to set
forth what a foolish thing it is to go
away from the right, and how glad di-
vine mercy is to take back the wanderer?
How is it done? By picture. A good
father. Large farm with fat sheep and
oxen. Fine house with exquisite ward
robe. DISCONTINUED boy. Goes away.
Sharpers fleece him. Feeds hogs. Gets
homesick. Starts back. Sees an old
man running. It is father! The hand
torn of the husks, gets ring. The foot,
infarned and bleeding, gets sandal.
The bare shoulder, showing through the
tatters, gets q robe. The stomach,
gnawing itself with hunger, gets a full
platter smoking with meat. The father
cannot eat for looking at the returned
adventurer. Tears running down the
face until they come to smile-the
night dew melting into the morning.
No work on the farm that day, for
when bad boy repents and comes
back promising to do better, God knows
that is enough for one day, Sand they
began to be merry Picture Prodigal
Son Returned from the Wilderness" So
God, our Mother, teaches us everything
by pictures. The sinner is lost sheep.
Jesus is the bridegroom. The useless
man a barren fig tree. The Gospel is a
great supper. Satan, a sower of tares.
Truth, mustard seed. That which we
could not have understood in the alb
stract statement God, our Mother, pre-
sents to us in this Bible album of pic
lures, God engraved. Is not the divine
maternity ever thus teaching us?
] remark again that God has a moth
er's favoritism. A father sometimes
shows a sort Of favoritism. Here is
boy-strong, well, of high forehead and
quick intellect. The father says, 81
will take that boy into my firm yet,' or,
81 will give him the very best possible
education" There are instances where,
for the culture of the one boy, all the
others have been robbed. A sad favor
itisna, but that is not the mothers favor
tie. l will tell you her favorite.
There is a child who at two years of
age had fall. He has never got over
it. The scarlet fever muffied his hear
ing He is not what he once was. That
child has caused the mother more anx-
ious nights than all the other children.
If he coughs in the night she springs
out of a sound sleep and goes to him.
The last thing she does when going out
Of the house is to give a charge in regard
to him. The first thing on coming in is
to ask in regard to him.
Why, the children of the family all
know that he is the favorite and say:
Mother, you let him do just as he
pleases, and you give him a great many
things which you do not give us. He is
your favorite." The mother smiles; she
knows it is so. So he ought to be, for if
there is any one in the world that needs
sympathy more than another it is an in
valid child, weary on the first mile Of
life's journey-carrying an aching head,
weak side, an irritated lung. So the
mother ought to make him a favorite.
God, our Mother, has favorites. "Whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth' that
is, one whom he especially loves he chas-
teneth.
God loves us all, but is there one
weak and sick and sore and wounded
and suffering and faint2 That is the
one who lies nearest and more perpetual
ly on the great loving heart of God.
Why, it never coughs but our Mother
God-hears it. 1t never stirs weary
limb in the bed but our Motherhood
knows of it. There is no such watcher
as God. The best nurse may be over
borne by fatigue and fall asleep in the
chair; but God, our Mother, after being
up year Of nights with suffering
child, never slumbers nor sleeps.
IN THE FURNACE OF AFFLICTIoN.
"Oh," says one, II cannot understand
all that about af1ictionw A refner of
silver once explained it to Christian
lady, II put the silver in the fire, and
keep refining it and trying it till can
see my face in it, and then take it out.
just so it is that God keeps his dear
children in the furnace till the divine
image may be seen i'll them; then they
are taken out of the fire. ':Well," says
some one, IF that is the way that God
treats his favorites, do not want to be
a foyorita -