The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-04-02
LOST IN THE DESERT.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Draws Lessons
From Mothers Trials.
Finding Ones Sphere and Keeping It
sympathy with Women Tho Destinies
OF Mothers Set Forth--A Well
In Every Wilderness.

WIN lulfnHRe uTdWS bOIue SJuTJllIR
lessons from an oriental story, and
points TO wells of comfort in unexpect'
ed places. The text is:
And God opened her eyes. and she saw q wei
OF water; and she went and Allied the bottle
with water and gave the lad to drink.--Genesis
XXI, 10
Morning breaks upon Beersheba.
There is an early stir in the house OF
old Abraham. There has been trouble
among the domestics. Hagar, an as
sistant in the household, and her son,
brisk lad of l6 years, have become
impudent and insolent, and Sarah, the
mistress of the household, puts her foot
down very hard and says that they
will have to leave the premises. They
are packing up now. Abraham, know
ing that the journey before his servant
and her son will be very long
and across dcsolate places, in the
kindness of his heart sets about putting
up some bread and bottle with water
in it. 1t is very plain lunch
that Abraham provides, but warrant
you there would have been enough of
it had they not lost their way God
be with you!" said old Abraham, us he
gave the lunch to Hagar and Il good
many charges as to how she should
conduct the journey. Ishmael, the
boy, suppose, pounded away in the
morning light. Boys always like a
change. Poor Ishmael! He has no
idea OF the Disasters that are ahead of
him. IIagar gives one long, lingering
look at the familiar place where she
had spent SO many happy days, each
scene associated with the pride and
joy of her heart, young Ishmael.
The scorching noon comes on. The
air is Sliding and moves across the
desert with insufferable suffocation.
lshmacl, the boy, begins to complain
and lies down, but Hagar rouses him
up, saying nothing about her own
WEAKNESS or the swcltering heat; for
mothers can endure anything. Trudge,
trudge, trudge Crossing the dead
level of the desert, how YEARLY and
slowly the miles slip! A tamarind that
seemed hours ago to stand only just a
little ahead, inviting the travellers to
come under its shadow, now is as far
Off as ever, or seemingly SO. Night
drops upon the desert, and the trav-
elers are pillowless. Ishmael, very
weary, suppose, instantly falls asleep.
Hagar, as the shadows of the night be-
gin to lap over each othcr-IIagar hugs
her weary boy to her bosom and thinks
of the fact that it is her fault that they
IRE in the desert, A star looks out,
and every falling tear it kisses with a
ell L., A r A
the hot earth and lifts the locks from
the fevercd brow of the boy. Hagar
sleeps fitfully, and in her dreams trav-
els over the weary day, and half
awakes her son by crying out in her
sleep, '1shmael! Ishmacl!"
And SO they go on day after day and
night after night, for they have lost
their way. No path in the shifting
sands; no sign in the burning sky.
The sack empty of the flour; the water
gone from the bottle. What shall she
do? AS she puts her fainting Ishmael
under a stunted shrub Of the arid plain,
she sees the bloodshot eve, and feels
the hot hand, and watches the blood
bursting from the cracked tongue, and
there Is n shrek in the desert of Beer
sheba: I'VE shall die! We shall die."
Now, no mother was ever made strong
enough to hear her son cry in vain for
drink. Heretofore she had checred
her boy by promising a speedy end of
the journey, and even smiled upon
him when she felt desperately
enough. Now there is nsthing to
do hut place him under SHRUB
and let him die. She had thought
that she would sit there and watch un-
til the spirit of her boy would go away
forever, and then she would breathe
out her own life on his silent heart;
but as the boy begins to claw his
tongue in the agony of thirst and strug-
gle in distortion, and begs his mother
to Stay him, she can not endure the
spectacle. She puts him under shrub
and goes off bow -shot, and begins to
weep until all the desert seems sob
bling, and her cry strikes clear through
the heavens; and an angel of God
comes out on n cloud, and looks down
upon the appalling grief and cries:
up, and she sees the angel pointing to
n well of water, where she fills the bot
tie for the lad. Thank God! Thank
God!
learn from this oriental scene, in
the first place, what a sad thing it is
when people do not know their place,
and get too proud for their business!
lIagar was an assistant in that house
hold, but she wanted to rule
there She ridiculed and jcered until
her son, Ishmael, got the same tricks.
She dashed out her happiness and
threw Sarah into great fret, and if
she had stayed much longer in that
household she would have upset calm
Abraham's equilibrium. My friends,
one half of the trouble in the world to-
day comes from the fact that people do
not know their place, or, finding their
place, will not stay in it. When we
come into the world thc,e is always
place ready for u.s. A place for Abra-
ham. A place for Sarah. A place for
Hagar. A place for Ishmael. A place
for you and place for me.
Our first duty is 20 find our sphere;
our second is to keep it. We may be
born in sphere far off from the one
for which God finally intends us. Six
tus v. was born on the low ground,
and was swinehsrd; God called him
up to wave a scepter. Ferguson spent
his early days In looking after sheep;