The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-01-21

good man travelling in the far ives
in The wilderness was overtaken b,
night and storm. and he put In at
cabin. He saw firearms along the beam
of the cabin. and he felt alarmed. ii,
did not know but that he had fallei
into a den of thieves. He sat Their,
greatly perturbed. After awhile tn,
man Of the house came home with CUR
| on his shoulder and set IL down In {
| corner. The stranger was still NOR,
alarmed. After awhile the man of ih,
house whispered with his wife, and the
stranger thought his destruction was
being planned. Then the man of the
house came forward and said TO th4
| stranger: stranger. we are a rough
and rude people out here, and we work
hard for living. We.make our living
by hunting, and when we come TO the
nightfall we are tired and we are apt 10
so to bed early, and before retiring we
are always in the habit Of reading a
chapter from the Word Of God and
making prayer. Ifyou don't like such
things. il you will just step outside the
door until we get through, III be great
~ obliged to you" OF course the stran-
ger iarried in the room, and the old
hunter took hold of the horns of the
altar and brought down the blessing of
God upon his household and upon the
stranger within their gates. Rude but
glorious Christian hospitality!
Again, this woman OF my text was
great in her kindness. toward God's
messenger. Elisha may have been a
stranger in that household but as he
found out he had come on Divine MIS-
sion he was cordially welcomed. We
have great many books in our day
about the Eardships OF ministers and
the trials OF Christian ministers. ]
wish somebody would write a book
about the joys OF the Christian minis
ter, about the sympathies all around
him. about the kindness, about the
genial considerations of him. Does sor-
row come to our home, and is there
shadow on the cradle. there are hum
dreds of hands TO help. and many who
weary not through the night watching
and hundreds OF prayers going up that
God would restore the sick. Is there II
burning, brimming cup OF calamity
placed on the pastors table? Are there
not many 10 help him drink of that cup,
and who will not be comforted because
he is stricken? Oh. for some body To
write IA book about the rewards of the
Christian ministry-about his sur
of Christian sympathy!
This woman of the text was only Il
type Of thousands of men and women
WHO come down from mansion and
from cot TO do kindness to the Lords
could tell you of some
thing that you might think a romance.
A young man graduated from New
Brunswick theological seminary was
called to village church. He had not
the means to furnish the parsonage.
After three or four weeks of preaching
u committee of the officers of the
church waited on him and told him he
looked tired and thought he had better
take a vacation of few days. The
young pastor took it as an intimation
that his work was done or not accept
al
end of few days came back when an
old elder said There is the key of he
parsonage. We have been cleaning il
up. You had better go up and look at
it, So the young pastor took the key,
went up TO the parsonage, opened the
door, and 10! it was carpcted, and there
was hatrack all ready for the canes
and umbrellas and the oyercoats, and
on the left hand of the hall was the par
lor, sofaed, chaired, pictured. He
passed on to the other side of the hall,
and there was the study table in the
center of the floor with stationery up
on it, bookshelves built, long ranges of
new volumes, far beyond the reach of
the means Of the young pastor many of
these volumes. The young pastor went
upstairs and found all the sleeping
apartments furnished, came downstairs
and entered the pantry, and there were
the spices and the cofrees and the
sugars, and the groceries for six
months. He went down into the cellar,
and there was the coal for the coming
winter. He went into the dining hall,
and there was the table already set
the glass and the silver ware. He went
into the kitchen, and there were all the
culinary implements and great stove.
The young pastor lifted one lid of the
stove and he found the fuel all ready for
ignition. Putting back the cover of the
stove, he saw in another part of it a
lucifer match, and all that young man
had TO do in starting to keep house was
TO strike the match. You tell me that is
apocryphal. Oh, no! that was my own
experience. Oh, the kindness. the en-
larged sympathies sometimes cluster
ing around those who enter the Gospel
ministry. ] suppose the man of Shunem
had TO pay the bills, but il was the
largc-hearted Christian woman of
Shunem that looked after the Lord S
messenger.
Again, this woman of the text was
great in her behavior under trouble.
Her only son had died on her lap. A
very bright light went out in that
household. The sacred writer puts II
very tersely when he says: HE sat on
her knee until noon and then he died.
Yet the writer goes on to say that she
exclaimed: ut is well!" Great in pros