Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1893-08-21

every church that would maintain large
Christian influence in community cul-
ture Sabbath by Sabbath this beautiful
grace of Christian hospitality.
A good man travelling in the far west,
in the wilderness, was overtaken by
night and storm, and he put in at a
cabin. Hesaw firearms along the beams
of the cabin, and he felt alarmed. He
didnot know but that he had fallen into
den of thieves. He sat there greatly
perturbed. After awhile the man of
the house came home with gun on his
shoulder and set it down in a corner.
The stranger was still more alarmed.
After awhile the man of the house
whispered with his wife, and the stran-
ger thought his destruction was being
planned.
Then the man of the house came for
ward and said to the stranger: "Stran-
ger, we are rough and rude people out
here, and we work hard for living. We
make our living by hunting, and when
we come to the nightfall we are tired,
and we are apt to go to bed early, and
before retiring we are always in the hab-
it of reading a chapter from the word
of God and making prayer. If you
don't like such things, if you will just
step outside the door until we get
through I'll be greatly obliged to you"
OF course the stranger tarried in the
room, and the old hunter took hold of
the horns of the altar and brought down
the blessing of God upon his household
and upon the stranger within their gates.
Rude but glorious Christian hospitality
WELCOME GODS MESSENGER.
| Again, this woman in my text was
great in her kindness toward Gods mes
senger. Elisha may have been a stran-
ger in that household, but as she found
out he had come on divine mission he
was cordially welcome. We have a
great many books in our day about the
hardships of ministers and the trials of
Christian ministers. wish somebody
would write book about the joys of
th7 Christian minister-about the sym
pathies all around him, about the kind
nesses, about the genial considerations
of him.
Does sorrow come to our home and is
there a shadow on the cradle, there are
hundreds of hands to help, and many
who weary not through the long night
watching, and hundreds of prayers 60
ing up that God would restore the sick.
Is there burning, brimming cup OF ca
lamity placed on the pastors table, are
there not many to help him to drink of
that cup and who will not be comforted
because he is strickenp Oh, for some
body to write book about the rewards
of the Christian minister-about his sur
roundings of Christian sympathy
This woman of the text was only a
type of thousands of men and women
who come down from the mansion and
from the cot to do kindness to the Lords
servants. suppose the men of Shunem
had to pay the bills, but it was the large
hearted Christian sympathies of the
women of Shunem that looked after the
Lords messenger:
Again, this woman in the text was
great in her behavior under trouble.
Her only son had died ON her lap. A
very bright light went out in that house
hold. The sacred writer puts it very
tersely when he says, HE sat on her
the writer goes ON to say that she ex-
knees until noon, and then hedied." Yet
claimed, ''It is welll" Great in prosper
ity, this woman was great in trouble.
THE SAHARA OF SORROW.
Where are the feet that have not been
blistered on the hot sands of this great
Sahara? Where are the shoulders that
have not been bent under the burden of
grief? Where is the ship sailing over
CLASSY sea that has not after awhile been
caught in a cyclone? Where is the gar
den of earthly comfort but trouble hath
hitched upi fiery and painting team and
gone through it with burning plowshare
of disaster? Under the pelting of ages
of suffering the great heart of the world
has burst with woe.
Navigators tell us about the rivers, and
the Amazon and the Danube and the
Mississippi have been explored, but who
can tell the depth or length Of the great
river of sorrow made up of tears and
blood rolling through all lands and all
ages, bearing the wreck of families and
of communities and of empires-foam-
ing, writhing, boiling with the agonies
/ or O,UUU ye5fA Luna anu OOSOPoAl oANa
Vesuvius have been described, but who
has ever sketched the volcano OF suffer
ing retching up from its depths the lava
and the scoria and pouring them down
the sides to whelm the nations? Oh, if
could gather all the heartstrings, the
broken heartstrings, into harp / would
play on it dirge such as was never
sounded.
Mythologists tell US Of Gorgon and
Centaur and Titan, and geologists tell us
of extinct species of monsters, but great
er than Gordon or megatherium, and
not belonging to the realm Of fable, and
not of an extinct species, is monster
with iron jaw and iron hoofs walking
across the nations, and history and po-
etry and sculpture, in their attempt to
sketch it and describe it, have seemed to
sweat great dro-s Of blood.
/ CHRIs.lAE FoRTITUDE.
But, thank God. there are those who
can conquer as this woman of the text
conquered and say; tbs well! Though
my property be gone. though my chill
dren be gone, though my home be broker
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