St. Paul daily globe., 1894-08-19

and a." al|ane h|anest eyes to tell her al Of hig
backsliding, and coihforted by the tears
that flowed without check down her soft
e9sfks-of his uncle's terrible anger aud
"Oh, how wicked, how wickedpy she
exclaimed at the end. "Poor old man,
70 al3 with such dgsadfql thoughts! 1t
anything but those fearful doctrines of
Gods wrath ana resentment. Oh,
IEonaS, II there is any God. what must
dc think of His creatures that can say
such thugs OF Himr'
Her tone was an awe-struck questions
Ing, and 1t thrilled him-this thought of
GOD. partently bearing. silently for
giving these lies and calumnies from
men He had made.
But the thought passed. God--"If
there was any Cod" Phyllis had said
with fearless lips - was far off and
face of a woman all wet with tears for
his trouble. Her voice was full of ten
derness-of that something of a moth
er's comforting that womanhood in
stlnctively uses. even In its babyhoOd,
with all hurt things. Was il not time
for him to tell her that he loved her and
that for him no other woman lived?
They quickly knew that they loved
! each other-lndeed, had known it long
| before.
Oh, silent Creator. Thy creatures
forget Thee in each other, and Thou art
glad. since. being denied of them in
| ThySelf, Thou mayeSt still draw near
| and give Thyself unseen in the very
human love for which they turned
| aside from Thee. for all love for an
other, all forgetting of self in love, is
surely of God.
THOMAS and Phyllis were married. 1t
was grief to hear that soon after the
marriage her father decided to return
to Maine. but it was blotted out in the
| new and absorbing interest of her new
| life: First, her husband, and, in course
OF time, her husband and child together.
hlled her life full The sober people of
the. village quite disapproved of the boy
and-glrl ways of the household. All
their work was play, and even after the
olrth OF the baby, as soon as he was old
enough TO be carried, their great delight
was to take long rambles, starting when
the dewy light broke across the shadowy
mead of De Priests mountain, and re-
turning late in the afternoon, their
lunch-basket empty and they them
selves thoroughly tired and happy.
But one morning Phyllis could not get
up. The doctor came and gave his di-
rectionS with compassionate glance at
Phyllis young face. repeating that she
must keep still. Phyllis still!-whose
swift movements and blithe voice had
filled the house with stir and life. But
day after day went on. and the fever
burned. and Phyllis lay still and listless
seeming TO have drifted away into some
place aloof, uncomprehended, awfully
remote
Doctor, will 1t always be like this?'
IL cannot tell-only if there is
change we may hope"
That very night. going to the side of
the bed, Thomas found her awake, and
noticed with trembling ea2crneSS the
recognition in her eyes.
"Are you tiredP" she asked. e.
He shook his head, not trusting HIM
self to speak.
II am glad 1 feel wakeful them"
He looked up questioningly.
II want to ask you-is it the medicine.
OF hearing the neighbors talk-about
religion and the unconverted that
makes me think such strange thingS?
Do you believe God is angry with me?
never meant to do wrong and yet, can
1t be true, Thomas?"
NO" he answered, "it Is not true.
They know nothing of Him. 1t is the
anodyne that gives you such disturbed
thoughts. dear"
1T may be-and am not afraid to
die"
She was silent so long that Thomas
thought she had gone to sleep, when
she again turned her face toward him,
asking earnestly:
What do you believe of God9"
He bowed his head inyOluntarlly. Old
phrases crowded info his mind. but he
sought for the living word.
II believe in God" he said at length.
''God, the Father and Savior of man, y
and he paused. for no other words came.
and these filled the silence of the
room as with a prayer. He had an
awed feeling, as If some one had been
called and was there, invisible, but felt
like the unseen life within him.
'Our Father" as she said it the baby
moved, and she put her hand, wasted
and feeble, on the little bare rosy foot,
with its curled-up toes. The little foot
felt soft and warm, and she smiled with
pleasure. He was beautiful child, full
of vitality and aglow with health.
Yes" she continued softly, ''since
the baby was born l have thought of
Him so. What needless, foolish girl 1
was till God gave me this little child!"
"fhere, dear, you need not fear to be
in His hands any more than the baby
fears TO be upon your breast"
II think [ can go to sleep now,". and
she did sleep with lovely smile upon
her lips of awakening life.
So Thomas and Phyllis were convert
ed-for, after all, what do the long
theolOgic phrases, conversion, regen-
eratlon, Justification" mean but love?
And love grows not only through miracle
and spiritual anguish, but the common.
things of daily experience, in which
God forever seeks and finds US. teaching
us to love him in loving each other.