The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-10-18
Coming TO Ones Self.

morning service. The truth, which
the whole chapter teaches, Of the Joy
in Heaven over rcpcntant sinners is
50 familiar to us that We listen TO it
almost with Indifference, but there is
one expression in the story Of the
lrodigal Son that cannot fail to strike
the most careless listener as remark
| able, although that beautiful parable
| has been 50 liackncycd. and SO parodicd
| by would BE- humorists as to have
been almost robbed Of its force and
effect After telling Of the riotous
| life Of the l'rodigal. and how it had
ended by reducing hin to such poy-
crty that hc sought the mcancst Of all
cmrloymcnts, and was fain to share
the coarse fooi Of the swine lie tend
ed, it says: "And when he came to
himself f-.' TO appreciate the full
meaning Of these words we must re-
member that the narrator is the Creator
Of man, and knows every thought and
feeling of mans heart, and lie it is
who tells US that man is not himself
when he is giving rein to the lowest
passions and appctitcs Of his nature,
and when nc places himself physically
and morally OH level with the beasts
that perish, and makes himself q
companion Of swine. And that is
only when recognizes his dcgra-
dation, and determines to arise from it
and to endeavor to return to his proper
station among men, and to his
fathers house that he comes to
himself" and is once more man.
AS we listen to the parable, how
distinctly the scene rises before the
mind = eye. Tho rough, uncultivatcd
country, with no human habitation in
sight, the level line Of the sea bound
ing horizon on one hand, and few
blue mountain peaks appearing on the
other; the herd Of swine feeding on
the husks, which have just been
thrown to them; and the poor, bcsottcd
youth, still dressed in the soilcd and
torn remnants Of the rich raiment Of
better days, seated at little distance
from his charges, vainly trying to
satisfy his hunger with a portion of
their wrctched food. With what
dull glance his eyes wander over the
dcsolatc landscape; how utterly hope
less seems his condition, and how poor
now seem to him the joys of that
riotous life for which he is paying SO
dearly by his present misery. His
thoughts wander back to boyhood days,
when his conscience was clear from
the dark stains that now rest upon it;
to that distant home, where he was
surrounded by every comfort and by
loving friends, and where he, the
youngest Of the family, was the pet of
the household, and especially of his
parents. Tie realizes as he had never
before done the depth and richness of
his fathers love, and the conviction
forces itself upon him that it is still
unchanged, despite all that he has
done to forfeit it. At this thought a
light comes into his face aud he
springs up with the resolution, 81 will
arise and 80 to my father He
has come to himself, his true self
once more. The demon that en-
thralled him is overcome and driven
out; he is once more in his right miud,
and he regards with horror and disgust
the life he has led since he left home
and wandered into this far country.
How many thousand times since
that simple story was first related in
distant Palestine, has it been enacted,
consciously or unconsciously, by re-
pentant prodigals; and. to the honor
of parental love be it said, that but sell
dom has the returning wandcrcr fail
ed to find in his fathers house the
forgiveness and the welcome he so
confidently counts upon. BY some
Merclful provision OF nature it is
always the weak, the deformed, the
erring or the disobedicnt child of the
family which is most tenderly loved
by the parents; as though the very
sorrows and anxicties he causes make
the love for him strike deeper root in
the parents heart. The other child
rem who are ever with him. who
are upright and moral and obcdient are
truly loved also, but it is for this
one prodigal that the tears fall and the
ccaselcss prayer goes up that he may
be lied not into temptation, but de-
livcrcd from evil
In some good women we see this
same protecting instinct shown in