The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-07-27
SPIRITUAL HUNGER.

SPIRITUAL HUNGER.
DO Not Neglect to Give Comfort to Your
Furnishing Neighbor.
There are some wants and sensations
OF which the young and old are far more
conscious than of others, and there are
others to which all alike are keenly
alive. One of the very first causes of
restlessless and cries with an infant is
hunger And sooner or later il becomes
the portion of nearly every living being
to suffer from hunger of some kind.
Physical craving for food may become
mighty, terrible want, eventually
starving the body out of existence
The craving of an unsatisfed soul can
kill the body too. Dying for lack of
food may well move humanity to tears;
starving soul is something over which
it seems as if angels might weep.
There is no lack of instances on rec
ord where people of unwarrantable
pride or great sensitiveness have starved
to death rather than make their wants
known. And mistaken as the pride
was, and unfortunate as the degree of
sensitiveness, yet great pity and regret
wells upon the heart when such dcplor-
able cases come to light. Nor is there
always an absence of sharp self-re-
proach at hearing the piteous fact A
case comes readily to mind where a
lady of education and refinement was
discovered to be on the verge of star
walton, and when with sobs of distress
her sister asked why she had not dis
closed her condition, and so received
help she replied YEARLY: "You might
have known" Surely the forgiveness
of a just God will be needed when
culpable ignorance keeps back the
help we must feel is required at
our hands, The query Am l my
brothers keeper?" was answered once
and forever away back soon after the
creation of the world, answered by an
indignant Creator. We always are
''keepers" of each other to a certain
extent.
But sad and dreadful as physical
hunger must always be, yet soul hun
ger, the dreary longing for love, SYM
pathy and kindness which haunts and
beggars many a lonely life, is a kind of
suffering which none can appreciate
brit the unfortunate ones doomed to
pine under the sorrowful need. 1t
never becomes necessary for the
charitably inclined to go out hunting
up cases of poverty and distress. 1t
rarely happens that one must go very
far from the homestead gate to find
those who are thankful for all
the food and clothing there is
to spare. And just so, there is rarely
any need of trying to find" the
poor unfortunate whose half-starved
soul is yearning and longing for little
sympathy, few words some little drop
of comfort. 1t may be that some one
reading these lines may think compla-
Gently Thank God | never helped in
crease the hunger of such a soul" Wait
moment! Do you remember edging
away from that sad-eyed woman at the
church sociable the other night, because
you so dreaded hearing her recount her
trials and losses again? Very true, as
you say, no one has a right to become
simply pail and drag on anybody else
because the way in life seems darkened
forever. Truth is, the stricken heart is
so hungry it will cry out in spite of at
tempted repression. How long would it
take to say just few loving, sympa-
Chzing words? Do you realize such
words would be full of Christ.
1t is not only in the lowly dwellings
of the poor that starving souls are
found. Everywhere! midst all classes
and nearly all conditions, walk I'M
satisfied, eager, hungry souls. God
pities all alike. Says Guthrie: above
the anthems of the celestial choir Je-
hovah hears our feebles. cry; and amid
the glories of the upper sanctuary
Christ's eye turns less on the glittering
crowns His redeemed ones cast at His
feet than on His people here, fighting
in the field of battle, weeping in this
vale of tears. Therefore let us pray on,
nor cease praying till we cease living. y
Here indeed is comfort. the old unfail-
ing source of true consolation.
Yet the promises we know to be al.
ways open TO the unfortunate and the
unhappy in no way exonerates us from
personal duty to one another. George
Macdonald teaches: ''Hold fast to God
with one hand, and open wide the other
to your neighbor." While looking to
God for blessings on your own lot, dc
not neglect TO give what comfort you
can to the hungry souls close at hand
Let no one despair. An unsleeping
eye watches the struggles of His earth
bound children. Trust Him. only trust
Him, and soon every hungry soul shall
be abundantly atisfied.-Christian al
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