The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1894-05-11

Christ" There is a widows heart,
that first was desOlated by bereave-
ment, and since, by the anxieties and
trials that came in the support of a
family. 1t is sad thing to see
man contending for a livelihood
under disadvantages; but to see deli
cate woman, with helpless little ones
at her back, fighting the giants Of pow
erty an1 sorrow is more affecting. It
was a humble home, and passers-by
knew not that within those four walls
were displays of courage more adj
mirable than that of Hannibal cross
ing the Alps, or the Pass of Their
mopalae, or Balaklava, where Into
the jaws of death rode the six hum
dred." These heroes had the whole
world to cheer them on, but there
were none to applaud the struggle in
the humble home. She fought for
bread, for clothing, for fire, for shell
ter, with aching head and weak side
and exhausted strength, through the
long night by the brook of Jab-
box. Could it be that none would
give her help? Had God forgotten to
be gracious? MOI contending, soul.
The midnight air is full of wings, COM
ing to the rescue. She hears it now,
in the sough of the night wind, in the
ripple of the brook Jabbok-the prom
ise made so long ago ringing down the
sky: "Thy fatherless children, will
preserve them alive; and let the wild
ows trust in me!' Some one said to a
very poor woman: 'How is it that in
such distress you keep cheerful?" She
said: 'I do it by what call cross
prayers When / had my rent to
pay and nothing to pay it with, and
bread to buy and nothing to buy
it with, used to sit down and cry.
But now I do not get discouraged. If
go along the street, when / come to
the corner of the street / say: The
Lord help me;' then go on until come
to another crossing of the street, and
again say: The Lord help mel'' And
so I utter a prayer at every crossing;
and since / have got into the habit of
saying these cross prayers have been
able to keep up my courage"
Learn again from this subject that
people sometimes are surprised to find
out that what they have been
struggling with in the darkness is
really an ''angle of blessing" Jacob
found in the morning that this strange
parsonage was not an enemy, but
od-dispatched messenger to promise
prosperity for him and his children.
And so many a man, at the close of his
trial, has found out that he has been
trying to throw down his own blessing.
If you are a Christian man, I will go
back in your history and find that the
grandest things that have ever hap
pened to you have been your trials.
Nothing short of scourging, imprison-
ment and shipwreck could have made
Paul what he was. When David was
through the wilderness, pursued by
his own son. he was being prepared to
become the sweet singer of Israel. The
pit and the dungeon were the best
schools at Joseph ever graduated. The
hurricane that upset the tent and
killed Jobs children prepared the man
of Uz to write the magnificent poem
that has astonded the ages. There is
no way to get the wheat out
of the straw but to thresh it.
There is no way to purify the
gold but to burn It. Look at the peo-
pie who have always had it their own
way. They are proud, disc ontented,
useless and unhappy. If You want to
find cheerful folks, go among those
who have been purified by the fire.
After Rossini had rendered "Will-
lam Tell" the FIVE hundredth
time company of musicians
came under his window in Paris
and serenaded him. They put upon
his brow a golden crown of laurel
leaves: But, amid all the applause and
enthusiasm. Rossini turned to friend
and said: 81 would give all this bril-
liant scene for few days of youth and
love" Contrast the melancholy feel
ing of Rossini, who had everything
that this world could give him, TO the
joyful experience of Isaac Watts, whose
misfortunes were innumerable, when
he says:
The Hill OF Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the Heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets. -
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry,
We are marching through Immanuels ground
To fairer worlds on high.
L: is prosperity that kills, and trou-
Dte LnaG saves. w nll6 the lSTdeIll6S
were on the march, amid great priva-
tion and hardships, they behaved well.
After awhile they prayed for meat;
and the sky darkened with a great
flock of quails, and these quails fell lP
large multitudes all about them; ard
the Israelites ate and ate, and stuffed
themselves until they died. Oh, my
friends, it is not hardship. or trial, or
starvation that Injuries the soul. but
abundant supply. 1t is not the vulture
of trouble that eats up the Christian
life; it is the quailsl You will yet find
out that your midnight wrestle bg the
brook Jabbok is with an angel Of God,
come down to bless and save.
Learn again that, while our wrestling
with trouble may be triumphant, we
must expect that it will leave its mark
upon us. Jacob prevailed, but the
angel touched him and his thigh bone
sprang from its socket, and the good
man went limping on his way. We
must carry through this world the
mark of the combat. What plowed
those premature wrinkles in your face?
What whitened your hair before it was
time for frost? What silenced forever
so much of the hilarity of your house
hold? Ahl it is because the angel of
trouble hath touched you that you go
limping on your way. You need not
be surprised that those who have passed