Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-02-13
THE DAILY TRIALS.
TALMAGE- TELLS HOW HOUSEHOLD
PERPLExITIES BRING BLESSINGS.

The Manifold Duties of the Wife and
Mother Are Not Fully Appreciated.
Reward That Comes From Patient
and UnseIfsh Service.
copyright. 1899. by American Press Asso-
ciatiOn.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12-This dis
course of DR.. Talmage seems to open all
the doors of home life and rouses appre
citation of work not ordinarily recog
uized; text, Luke K, 40: ''Lord, dost
thou not care that my sister hath left
me to serve alone? Bid her therefore
that she help me.
Yonder is beautiful village home
stead. The man of the house is dead
and his widow has charge of the prem
Uses 1t is Widow Martha of Bethany.
Yes, l will show you also the pet of the
household It is Mary. the younger sis
Ser, with book under her arm, and in
her face no sign of care or anxiety
about anything. Company has come
Christ appearing at the outside of
the door makes some excitement in
side the door. The sisters set back
the disarranged furniture, arrange
their hair, and in a flash prepare
to open the door. They do not keep
Christ waiting outside until they have
newly appareled themselves or elabo-
rately arranged their tresses, and then
with affected surprise come out and,
pretending not to have heard the two
or three previous knockings, say,
'-Why. is that your" No, they were
ladies, and always presentab BILE, although
perhaps they had not on their best.
None of US always have on our best.
Otherwise very soon our best would not
be worth having on. They throw open
the door and greet Christ. They say:
-'Good morning, Master Come in and
be seatedl" Christ brought company
of friends with him, and the influx of
so many city visitors, you do not won
der, threw the country home into some
perturbation. | suppose the walk from
the city had been keen appetizer. The
kitchen department that day was very
important department, and [ think as
soon as Martha had greeted her guests
she went to that room. Mary had no
anxiety about the dinner. She had full
confidence that her sister Martha could
get up the best dinner in Bethany, and
she practically said: ''Now, let us have
a division of labor. Martha, you cook
and II sit down and learn.
The same difference you now some
times see between sisters. There is
Martha, industrious, painstaking, a
good manager, ever inventive of some
new pastry, discovering something in
household affairs. Here is Mary, fond
of conversation, literary, so full of
questions of ethics she has no time to
discuss questions Of household welfare.
1T is noon. Mary is in the parlor. Mar
tina is in the kitchen. It would have
been better for them to have divided
the toll, and then they could have di-
vided the opportunity of listening to
Christ But Mary monopolizes Christ,
while Martha swelters before the fire.
1t was very important that they have
good dinner that day, for Christ was
hungry, and he did not often have lux
urious entertainment. Alas, me, if all
the responsibility of that entertainment
had rested with Mary What repast
they would have had But something
went wrong in the kitchen. Either the
fire would not burn or the bread would
not bake or something was turned
black that ought to have been only
turned brown, or Martha scalded her
self, and, forgetting all the proprieties
of the occasion, with besweated brow
she rushed out of the kitchen into the
parlor, perhaps with tongs in one hand
and pitcher in the other, and she cried
out: Lord, dost thou not care that
my sister has left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me. -
81 Ill
scolding, l would rather have him scold
me than anybody else bless me. There
was nothing acerb in the Saviour's re-
ply. He knew that Martha had been
working herself almost to death to get
him something to eat, and he appre
ciated her kindness, and he practically
said: my dear woman, do not worry.
Let the dinner go. Sit down here on
this couch beside your younger sister,
Mary. Let us talk about something
else. Martha, Martha, thou art careful !
and troubled about many things, but f!
one thing is needful'
As Martha throws open the door I |
look in today, and see a great many |
household anxieties, perplexities, ia
tigues and trials. and about them am
going to speak if the Lord of Mary and |
Martha and Lazarus will help me by
his grace.
Household PerpIexitfes and Trials.
AS I look into that door, in the first |
place. see the trial of nonappreciation.
That was what made Martha so vexed |
at Mary. Mary. the younger sister, had
no proper estimate of the elder sisters |
fatigue. Just as now men having an |
noyances of store and factory and shop,
or at the Stock Exchange, come home at
night and hear of some household an