The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-08-25

it of reading 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 stran-
ger in that household, but as she found
out he had come on divine mission he
was cordially welcome. We have
great many books in our day about the
hardships of ministers and the trials Of
Christian ministers. wish somebody
would write a book about the joys of
thu 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 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 stricken? 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
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 he died" Yet
claimed, at is wellw 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 Gua chat has not after awhile been
caught in cyclone? Where is the gar
den of earthly comfort but trouble hath
hitched upits 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
Of 5000 years? Etna and Cotopaxi and
Vesuyius 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 l
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 biologists 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 drops Of blood.
CHRISTIAN FoRTITUDE.
But, thank God, there are those who
can conquer as this woman of the text
conquered and say: "Itis well! Though
my property be gone, though my chill
dren be gone, though my home be broken
up, though my health be sacrificed, it is
we'll, it Is well!" There is no storm on
the sea but Christ is ready to rise in the
hinder part of the ship and hush it.
There is no darkness but the constella-
tons of Gods eternal love can illumine
it, and though the winter comes out Of
the northern sky you have sometimes
seen the northern sky all ablaze with
auroras that seem to say: Come up this
way. Up this way are thrones of light,
and seas of sapphire, and the splendor of
an eternal heaven. Come up this way"
We may, like the ships, by tempest be tossed
On perilous deeps, but cannot be lost.
Though satan enrage the wind and the tide,
The promise assures us the Lord will provide.
heard an echo Of my text in very
dark hour, when my father lay dying,
and the old country minister said to him,
"Mr. Talmage, how do you feel now as
you are about to pass the Jordan of
DEATH" He replied-and it was the last
thing he ever said 81 feel we'll; l feei
very well; all is well" lifting his hand
in benediction, speeches. benedic-
ton, which l pray God may go down
through all the generations. 1t is we'll!
IF course 1t was we'll.
Again, this woman of my text was
great in her application to domestic du-
ties. Every picture is home picture,
whether she is entertaining an Elisha, or
whether she is giving careful attention
to her sick boy, or whether she is appeal