Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-12-25
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- A Preacher -
y Among the People. =

A CHTRSTMAS DXpERtENCB

1t was Christmas morning, but the
world looked cold and dreary to me.
My duties had'been very exacting and
there was a dull pain in my head whom
l awokc The 5praylous day was Sun
day and in addition /, to the regular
services which il fcll TO my lot to con-
duct, l had gone to tho city work.
house and spoken to the, seven hund7
red inmates that were imprisoned
there. The scenes and suggestions at
tepdant upon that service haunted me.
l,bad spoken there a number of times
before, but on those occasions had
not gone from a Cheering Christmas
service where the faces were all happy
and hearts all glad, and the contrast
between life outside prison walls and
that inside had never seemed quite So
great as,it did on that day. What to.
say to those unfortunate and deluded
souls that would put a ray of hope and
Christmas cheer into their lives was
n6 easy pfdblem to solve. Whether l.
Fgb1ved II Or not shall probably never
know. h.
took for my subject The Father
hood i6f God" and tried to make it
clear to them that no matter how far
he wandered from lone, nor how
much he degraded himself, the prodi-
gal was sun his fathers son aud re-
turn to the parental roof was possible.
When began telling them that, how
ever much obsoured by foul deeds'H
selfish life, there isl in the lneasE,ofl
every man the divinen spark that ,GAn
4 stitutes him brother of Jesus and
son of God, and makes noble 'liSihg
possible amid the most discOuraglng
conditions, it seemed to me the dull
despairing look on nearly all their faces
gave place to one of light and hope.
Possibly this was all due to my own
| highly wrought Imagination, and yet
the superintendent may have been
right when he told me | had not spok-
en- in vain.
However that may be. / was unable
to break the spell that settled upon me.
Seven hundred men and women, Gre
ated in the image of God, shut in and
clothed in dull humiliating prison garb
at Christmas time! That distressing
thought clung to me all the way home,
attended me at the evening meal, dis
turbed me in my sleep, and unwelcome
guest though it was, thrust itself upon
me the moment | awoke on Christmas
morning.
1t seemed as though | was utterly
unable to see any other than the dark
est and most degraded side of life.
was almost ready to agree with the
prophet and cry out, "the whole head
is sick and the whole heart faint
When, in ,-.e midst of my lamenta-
tions | asked, ''is there no balm thai
is adequate. Is there no physician
who can heal the hurt of the people?'
the sad scenes of the previous day
seemed to array themselves before
me in ghostly hideous forms, jeeriny
at my sorrow, and eXulting over the
fact that many sons and; daughters o.
God were far from their Fathers
/, house and in NEED of help. It may
have been cheering and encouraging
to the prisoners, hut M. sermon had
borne no helpful fruit for myself. Life
. looked darker and more and more for
! bidding to ME after, preaching it thar
before, and On Christmas morning the
myriads of besotted and and prodiga
= inmates, seemed. to array themselve.
| before me in such manner as to blinC
me to all the rest OF the world. In my
exhausted and depressed condition
could see, nothing but the deeds of sci
: fshness and injustice that was SURF
, would be enacted on that day il
looked as though | had become hope.
lessly pessimistir inside of twenty-foul
hours. Just then SchOpenhauer might
have found in me an easy convert t.
his declaration that, Human life mus
be some kind of mistake"
But my pessimism, like that OF many
others who think ruin everywhere i'm
, pends, was in large measure the sorry
fruit of disOrdered digestion and ov-
er-wrought nerves, and the black
cloud that hung over me was destined
to be banished much quicker than il
came. My gloomy thoughts were in
terrupted by ominous sounds that
came from an adjoining room. The
children were waking, and, in anoth-
er moment, the Whole house was ring
ing with their joyous shouts. The
mother-what volumes of devotion
and self-sacrifce are suggested by that
| single wOrd-thc mother had looked
well to the temperature Of the room
and when the door was thrown open
all three of the little ones, stiH in theil
night-clothes but anxious TO see what
Santa Claus had brought them, came
trooping in.
Raising myself up languidly, and
resting my head on my hand watch
ed the Interesting. scene. The little
girl, -.ue 10 the mother instinct, threw
her arms about theIdol that he'd .heah
put in convenient place for hen &c
find it, went and sat down in her, Ii /,
tie chair and began rocking. her face
all the while beaming with delight
The second son soon found the har-
monica for which he had. looking uI
the chimney and shouting at the tor
of his voice, asked Santa Claus a great
many times, and he bega. capering
about the room, now playing and now
I shoRtingpGoFp joy, The first born was
not long in discovering the little desk
and the chair upon which. he hadlset
his heart, and which he felt sure, san
"a CLAUS would bring him, and with
one glad shout he sprang toward them
There was a blackboard on the lid OF
the desk, and, finding a piece of chalk
inside, the boy seated himself and in a
moment was as much absorbed in
writing his name as though that was
The sole thing for which Christmas
came. But other things kept appear
ing. There were books with interest
! ing pictures, lettered blocks and a
| globe on which the different countrles
! OF the world were portrayed. Al
these Rsd to be shown to papa" and
| when tpe globe appearedHhc had. to
point odt the countries iAfWAiGh lions
and tigers and elephants and The diC-
ferent races of people live
! cannot tell inst ghowM all came
about, but when next I bethought my
self, I was up and dressed, the clouds
and the headache we're gone and