The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-17
OLD OFFICERS TO SERVE
(COncIuded from sixth Pnwea

Gods. We note that in this immediate
connection is the parable of the vineyard.
Around this the Master had set a hedge.
defining its boundaries, dgged wine press
and built tower, thus furnishing all the
means for its successful culture, and let
it out to husbandmen. Doubtless the
women of that household cared we'll for
the vines about their threshold which gave
them greatful shade and abundant fruit. 1t
was not in their thought to look beyond
their own dooryard. This hedge of the Mas
ter'S setting did not concern them, nor did
and read of the marriage feast to which
certain honored guests We're hidden, but I'M
fortunately there We're other and mere i'm
portant matters demanding their thought
and care They excused themselves from
the royal company to attend to their farms
and merchandise. to buy and SELL to gather
into families and stamp upon parents, chill
dren and the home the image and super
scription of Caesar. This may be considered
surface brand, but it strikes through TO
the heart center. The value of the coin was
fixed by the stamp upon it and because OF
the image and superscription, the Master
said: 1t is not mine. but Caesars: give it
to him. Christ wants only His own. whose
image and superscription do we bear? To
him that overcometh, | will write upon him
the name of my God and mine own new
name And I saw an hundred and forty
four thousand having the name of the Lamb
and His Father written on their foreheadS
These are they which follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goeth. These We're puc-
snafsd INTRO from od and unto the e amb
in their mouth is found no lie; they are
without blemish.'
THE HOME FIRST.
"If we can rightly determine how many
seeming needs of the average Christian
home bear Caesars mark, we can more
Justly estimate the apprehension which
magnifies the possible neglect of the home
because of other appealing claims which
press for a share of the heart-life of Chris
tan mothers In the honorable estate in
Cod bac nIaCpd she is and
ever will be, the maker and keeper of the
home from which, according to her power
or purpose, she radiates light in varying de-
grees as from that of the taper with rays
scarce strong enough to define her place in
the home to the great revolving beacon
light which floods her own hearthstone with
brightness and joy and Zines afar 30 open
the blind eyes and bring them that sit in
darkness out of their prison house That
the true interests of the home and its in
mates should be the primary consideration
of those who have it in charge is unques
tionable. To wisely adjust it's claims and
judiciously discriminate as to the compare
tive Importance of each, is often
perplexing question. But of even more
Importance is the question of faithful
stewardship. both in and outside of the
home. 1t should be a subject of prayerful
v.
Master. These We ought to have done and
not left the others undone
IF any of my sisters have ever had the
| privilege of sharing in building new nome,
| whether cottage or mansion, they doubtless
recall with pleasure the glad experience
| even though results were possibly not just
| as they desired. In the beginning how care
| fully the estimates were made to secure as
| much room and comfort together with
arehteetqTa 6du'y as peSn bgders
| were consulted and plans carefully studied
| The foundation to be laid deep and strong
| the living rooms and domestic department
| to be first provided with necessary con-
| veniences, then the adornment With what
| eager interest the progress OF the work was
| watched and how many happy hours were
| spent in prospective placing of the various
/ articles of furniture, adjusting the DAINTY
| draperies and even adding the nnlshlng
! touches. And when you allotted the rooms.
| do you remember the one that gave you
| the most pleasure of all, because you knew
| it was to be a hearts ease to so many
| tired ones? Whether you called it the
| prophets lodge or the chamber of peace,
| it was to be the cheeriest and most at
! tractive retreat in the house, with the sort
est and whitest bed. easy chair ana lnvlt-
| ing couch; the bright open fire, with slippers
and dressing robe at hand, few cholce
| books and the latest periodicals, literary,
| missionary and religious, together win
/ writing conveniences on the ample table
! and the furnished sewing basket adding a
| COW home touch to the whole. You had a
| royal reason for placing your choicest com
| forts here. for at any time the Master might
| saw L will abide at your mousse To-
| day' L was a stranger and We took me in
| 1t may be He came as a weary WORKING
! girl, or a toil-worn woman, or a young man
! bearing heavy yoke in his youth, TO Wnom
| your invitation for a few days of recreation
| came as a life-giving tonic 1t may be as a
| discouraged mother with her frettlng pane
which had been Graded between gloomy
| CITY walls to whom a week in such maven
| OF rest was an untold blessing. 1t may be
a care-burdened missionary worker. or a
| tired preacher, with nerve force exhausted,
| or. most honored of all. 1t may De
! one whose life has been given to service
| on the foreign field. with experience con-
! centration of the Christ love, good to as.
simulate who shared the rest and quiet OF
| your God-given home More times than
| YOU knew, perhaps, you have entertained an
| angel in the guise OF a stranger
"'And tho their angel names you did not
Though in their faces human want you
They were God-given to this world of men:
| God sent TO bless it, in its hours of need.
"Thou shalt love the stranger as myself,
| for We were strangers in the land of
Eeypt.' You could not always arrange to
have spare room for the social visits OF
your friends. who came from homes OF lei
| sure and plenty, and you rarely had time
| for entertaining fashionably, but you failed
| not to keep the Masters guest chamber
| ready, let Him come in what form, or at
| what hour He might.
| HOME BUT TEMPORARY
1--WE commend the provident care which
makes the home conducive to the welfare
and happiness of the family and gives it
the brightness and joy which should char
! acterize a Christian home above all Others
| but in it's secure retreat we are apt to for
| get that it is but a temporary shelter for
| the temple Of the soul-a scaffolding, as it
| were, which gives us a foothold while we
erect our spiritual and everlasting building
| The Christian mother is the head workman
under the Master Builder, making all things
subservient to the ultimate end. saving the
souls of the household, and through them
saving other souls-all giving the loving
| obedience of a ready and intelligent service
| rendering unto God the things that are
| Gods
'In the midst Of absorbing domestic care
| it is not easy to always subordinate the less
| to the greater and to keep quickened con-
science in the lead. Let us look a moment
! at the daily life Of an average Christian
mother or one who takes her place in the
| home. Within twenty feet of my window
as l write | see and hear much of the labor
| care and utter self-abnegation of a young
| mother, not unlike thousands of others even
| in our own favored landau intelligent
| woman of fair culture and education, a
comfortable home and kind husband who
| boards with her. l am charitable enough
| to believe that he would tarry with them
| occasionally, If there was a place or time
| in the home not wholly surrendered to the
| children except when they are asIeep-a pc
! riod with the little ones, hardly long enough
| to rest the exhausted mother, who with the
| first STRINGS of wakefulness, responds with
| the patience known only to mother love
Yes darling mammals coming oh! the
| compass of a mothers love-a never-dying