Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-05-04

aGS3NSIEx A \ 10Se 10 SaIhcA -
GIg up; that was to be
left for the poor
VINO might happen to come along thdC
way. If there were handfuls OF gram
scattered across the field after the man
harvest had been reaped, instead Oh
raking it, as farmers do now, II Was
by the custom OF the land. lett Ill us
place, SO that the poor coming along
that way might CLEAN it, and get their
bread, But. you say, What is the use
of all these harvest fields 10 KUN anu
Naomi? Naomi is too old ana 1eepie
to so out and toll in the sun; ana can
you expect that Ruth, the young ana
the beautiful, should tan her cheeNs
and blister her hands in the harvest
field?
Boaz owns large farm, and he goes
out TO see the reapers gather III the
grain. Coming there, right behind the
swarthy, sun-browned reapers, ne BE-
holds a beautiful woman gleanlng-'a
woman more fit to bend to harp or
sit upon throne than to stoop among
the SuedNeS. AN, lndl Wa q"
day!
It was love at first sight. Boaz
forms an attachment for the womany
gleaner-an attachment full of INDY
ing interest TO the church OF God In all
ages; while Ruth. with an ephah. or
nearly a bushel of barley, goes nome
10 Naomi to tell her of the successes
and adventures of the day. That Rute.
who left her native land Of Moab III
darkness, and travelled through an un-
dying affection for her mother-in-law,
is i'll the harvest field of Boaz, is afil-
anced to one OF the best families in
Judah. and becomes in after time the
ancestress of Jesus Christ, the Lord OF
glory! Out of SO dark a night did
;here ever dawn so bright morn
ing?
learn. in the first place, from this
subject, how trouble develops charact-
er. X was bereavement, poverty and
exile that developed. illustrated, and
announced to all ages the subiimity Of
Ruth's character. That is a very I'M
fortunate man who has no trouble. 1t
was sorrow that made John Bunyan
the better dreamer. and Doctor Young
the better poet, and O'Connell the bet
ter orator, and Bishop Hall the better
preacher. and Hayelock the better sol
der. and I<itto the better encyclopae-
dist, and Ruth the better daughter-in-
Law.
I once asked an aged man in regard
to his pastor. who was n very brilliant
man, "Why is it that your pastor, so
very brilliant, seems to have SO little
heart and tenderness in his sermons?"
Well" he replied, "the reason is, our
pastor has never had any trouble
When misfortune comes upon him his
style will be different" After while
the Lord took a child out of the pas
tors house; and though the preacher
was Just as brilliant as he was before,
oh, the warmth, the tenderness of his
discoursesi The fact is, that trouble
is great educator. You see sometimes
a musician sit down at an instrument
and his execution is cold and formal
and unfeeling. The reason is that all
his life he has been prospered. But
let misfortune or bereavement come to
that man, and he sits down to the in
strument. and you discover the pathos
in the first sweep of the keys.
Misfortunes and trials are great ed
ucators. A young doctor comes into
a sick room where there is a dying
child. Perhaps he is very rough in
his prescription, and very rough in his
manner, and rough in the feeling of
the pulse, and rough in his answer TO
the mothers anxious question; but
years roll on, and there has been one
dead in his own house; and now he
comes into the sick room, and with
fearful eye he looks at the dying child.
and he says, "Oh, how this reminds
me of my Charlie!" Trouble the great
educator. Sorrow see its touch in
the grandest painting; ] hear it's trem-
or in the sweetest song; / feel its
power in the mightiest argument
Grecian mythology said that the
foundation of Hippocrene was struck
out by the foot of the winged horse
Pegasus. / have often noticed in life
that the brightest and most beautiful
fountains of Christian comfort and
spiritual life have been struck out by
the iron shod hoof of disaster and
calamity. / see Daniels courage best
by the flash of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS fur
mace. i see Paups prowess best when
! find him on the laundering ship
under the glare of the lightning in the
breakers of Melita. God crowns his
children amid the bowling of wild
beasts and the chopping of blood
splashed guillotine and the cracking
fires of martyrdom. 1t took the per-
secutions of Marcus Aurelius to de-
yelop Polycarp and Justin Martyr. 1t
took all the hostilities against Scotch
Covenanters and the fury of Lord
Claverhouse to develop James Renwick
and Andrew Melville, and James Nc
Kali, the glorious martyrs of Scotch
history. 1t took the stormy sea, and
the December blast, and the desolate
New England coast, and the warwhoop