The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-02-08

prayer for the wandering boy, whom
she hopes to see come h2me be-
fore her departure; ard then
he trembling lips speak OF
the land of reunion where she expects
to meet her loved ones already trans
latedG and after telling the Lord in
very simple language how much she
loves Him. and trusts Hin, and hopes
to see Him soon, hear her pronounce
the quiet Amen" and she rises up-a
little more difficult effort than kneel-
ing down. And then she puts her
head on the pillow for the night, and
the angels of safety and peace stand
sentinel about that couch in the farm
house; and her face ever and anon
shows signs of dreams about the
Heaven she read OF before retiring. IN
the morning the days work has begun
downstairs, and seated at the table the
remark is made: Mother must have
oversight herself" And the grand
children also notice that grandmother
is absent from her usual place at the
IA bic. One of the grandchildren goes
TO the foot OF the stairs and cries:
''Grandml Their" But there Is nc an
swer. Fearing something is the mat
ter, they go no 10 see, and all seems
right. The spPctacles and Bible on
the stand, and lhe covers on the bed
are smooth. and the face is calm,
her white hair on the white pillow
case like snow on snow already fallen.
But her soul has gone up to look upon
the things that the night before she
had been reading of in the Scriptures.
What transporting look on her dear
old wrinkled facet She has seen the
King in his beauty" She has been
welcomed by the Lamb who was
slain" And her two oldest sons,
having hurried upstairs, look and
whisper, Henry to George, That is
religion" and George to Henry, YES,
that is religion!'
There is a man seated or standing
very near you. Do not look OF him,
for it might be unnecessary cmbarraSs-
ment. Only FEY minutes ago he came
DOWN OFF the steps of as happy a home
as there is in this or any other city.
Fifteen years $50, by reason of his
dissipated habits, his home was hor-
ror to wife and children. What that
woman went through with in or
der to preserve the respectability
and hide her husbands disgrace
is a tragedy which it would re-
quire Shakespeare or Victor Hugo to
write out in FIVE tremendous acts.
Shall tell it? He struck herl Yes.
the one who at the altar he had taken
with vows so solemn that they made
the orange blossoms trcmblei He
struck herl He made the beautiful
holidays "a reign of terror" Instead
of his supporting her, she supported
him. The children had often heard
him speak the name of God, but
never in prayer, only in pro
family. 1t was the saddest thing
on earth that l can think Ola de-
stroyed home! Walking along the
street one day an impersOnation of all
wretchedness, he saw a sign at the
door of a Young Mems Christian asso-
citation, Meeting for men only. He
went in, hardly knowing why he did
SO, and sat down by the door, and a
young man was in broken voice and
poor grammar telling how the
Lord had saved him from a dis
by the door said to himself: "Why
can not l have the Lord do the
same thing for me? And he put his
hands all atremble over his bloated
face, and said. 80, God, / want that! I
must have that" and God said, You
shall have it, and you have it nowI''
And the man came out and went home
a changed man, and though the chill
dren at first shrunk back, and looked
to the mother, and began to cry with
fright, they soon saw that their father
was u changed man. That home has
changed from Paradise Lost" to
Paradise Regained." The wife
sings all day long at her
work, for she is so happy, and the chill
dren rush out into the hall at the first
rattle of the fathers key in the door
latch to welcome him with caresses
and questions of what have you
brought me?" They have family
prayers. They are altogether on the
road TO Heaven, and when the
journey of life is over, they
will live forever in each others COM
Two of their darling chill
dren are there already, waiting for IA
Their and mother to come up. What
changed that man? What reconstruct
ed that home? What took that wife,
who was slave of fear and drudgery,
and made her queen on a throne of
p Election? / hear whispering all
this asscmblage. know what
you are saying: That's religion! Yes,
that's religion!" My Lord and my God,
give us more of it!
Why, my hearers, from all parts of
the earth, do you not ge this bright
and beautiful, and radiant, and bliss
fui, and triumphant thing for your
selves, go home telling all your neigh
boTs on the Pacific, or in Nova Scotia,
or in Louisiana, or Maine, or Brazil,
or England, or Italy, or any part
Of the round world that they may
have it, too; have it for the asking;
have it now! Mind you, do not start
from the pessimistic standpoint that |
David did, when he got mad and said |
in haste: "All men arc liarsl" or from
the creed of others that every man is
as bad as he can be. / rather think |
from your looks that you are |
doing about as well as you can in the |
in which you are placed, |
but l want TO invite you up into the
heights of safety, and satisfaction, and |
holiness, as much higher than those |
which the world affords, as Everest, |
the highest mountain in all the earth, |
is higher than your front doorstep.
Here he comes now. Who is it? |
might be alarmed and afraid If ] had |
not seen him before and heard his