Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-01-05

and see the letters and thank God that
we are 365 miles nearer home. We
| ought not to go around with morbid
feelings about our health or about an
| ticipated demise. We ought TO be liv-
ing not according to that old maxim
which | used to hear in my boyhood,
that you must live as though every
day were the last; you must live as
though you were to live forever, for
you will. Do not be nervous lest you
have to move out of shanty into an
Alhambra.
One Christmas morning, one of my
neighbors, an old sea captain, died.
After life had departed, his face was
! illuminated as though he were just
going into harbor. The fact was he
had already got through the MAR
rows" In the adjoining room were
the Christmas presents waiting for his
distribution. Long ago, one night
when he had narrowly escaped with
his ship from being run down by
great ocean steamer, he had made his
peace with God, and kinder neighbor
this side of heaven. Without a mo-
ments warning. the pilot of the
heavenly harbor had met him just off
the light ship. The captain often
talked to me of the goodness of God,
and especially of a time when
was about to go in New York harbor
with his ship from Liverpool, and he
was suddenly impressed that he ought
| to put back TO sea Under the protest
of the crew and under their very threat,
he put back to sea, fearing at the same
time he was losing his mind, for it did
seem so unreasonable that when they
could get into harbor that night, they
should put back to sea. But they put
back to sea and the captain said to his
mate, lyon call me at 10 o'clock at
night" At 10 o'clock at night the cap
| tain was aroused and said: What does
this mean? l thought | told you to
call me at 10 o'clock. and here it is 10. F"
Why" said the mate, Il did call you
at 10 o'clock. and you got up looked
around and told me to keep right on
this same course for two hours, and
then TO call you at II o'clock" Said
the captain, as it possible? have no
remembrance of that"
At IL o'clock the captain went on
deck, and through the rift of the cloud
the moonlight fell upon the sea and
showed him shipwreck with one hum
dred struggling passengers He helped
them off. Had he been any earlier or
any later at that point of the sea he
would have been of no service TO those
drowning people. On board the cap
tain's vessel they began TO band to-
! gether as to what they should pay for
the rescue and what they should pay
for the provisions. All" says the
captain, my lads, you can't pay me
ANYTHING; all have on board is yours;
] feel too greatly honored of God in
having saved you TO take any pay"
Just like him. lie never got any pay
except that of his own applauding con-
science. On, that the old sea captains
God might be my God and yours. Amid
the stormy seas of this life may we
have always some one as tenderly to
take care of us as the captain took
care of the drowning crew and the pas
sengers And may we come into the
harbor with as little physical pain and
with as bright hope as he had, and if
it should happen to be n Christmas
morning when the presents are being
distributed and we are decorating the
birth of him, who came TO save our
shipwrecked world, all the better for
] H..
present could we have than heaven?