Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-11-30

employment those so near and dear to
us that we went to them I'm childhood
and told them all our griefs and all our
joys. and they sympathized with copi-
Gus tears and resounding laughter.
Mothcrs' Mistakes.
But no one can take mothers place,
and IL is an awful mistake that that
mother makes who sacrifices home du-
ties foe any church meeting. however
important. or any hospital. however
merciful. or any outside benefcence,
however glorious and grand. Not I'M
Outstanding this. we mistake when we
try to give statistics as to how many
Christians there are in our churches
and In the world. We uuderstate the
facts. We look over our church au-
diences on the Sabbath or our week
night service and conclude that they
represent the amount OF picty In that
neighborhood. oh, mol There arc
many most consecrated souls that are
not found In churches. Look into those
houses with large families Of children
and little or no hired help. For much
OF the year there Is some one i'll. and q
special. guardian care is requisite. How
churches and prayer meetings when
most of the family are down with scar
let fever or have colds that threaten
now one kind of disease and now an.
other? That mother watching Mt home
as much pleascs the Lord as the moth
or who ut church takes the sacrament
or In the mission school tells the waits
OF the street how they may become
sons and daughters Of the Lord Al.
mighty. That mother at home is de-
riding the destiny of the state by the
way she leads TINT boy into right
thinking and acting and is deciding
the welfare OF some future home by
the example she Is setting that girl. and
though the world does not appreciate
the unobserved work heaven watches
and rewards. On the other hand. you
have known women who are of at
meetings humanitarian and philan-
thropic planning for the destitute and
the outcnst while their own children
went unwasbed and unkempt. their gar
ments needing repairs. their manners
impudent and themselves a general
nuisance TO the community In which
they live.
The book Of Samuel gives q photo
graph of Mephibosheth lame In both
feet. When we see any one lame in
one foot or lame I'm both feet, we al
ways wonder by what accident he was
famed. Perhaps it may have been In
battle for his country, or he may have
been run over by some reckless driver
or some explosion did the damage. So
you wonder how Mephibosheth became
lame In both feet. The Bible for good
reason gives us the particulars. 1t tells
us that when he was a child his nurse
dropped him. She must have dropped
him very hard, for he never again got
over the effect of that fall. Long after
the accident we find him at King Dn-
vid's table, but still our attention Is
called TO the fact that his feet were
crippled, though so long before his
nurse dropped him. And mark you
that today In all departments of life
there are those crippled In habits, Grip
pied I'm morals, crippled for all time.
The accident happened I'm this way:
Their mothers were gadabouts and
neglected their homes, and the work OF
training them was given over to incom-
petent nurses, and the nurses let them
fall into bad habits, told them deprav-
Ing stories and gave them wrong no.
lions OF life and practically ruined
them. But Mephibosheth was taken
by King David Into the palace and
seated ut the royal table, SO by the
grace of the heavenly King those IN
fortunate ones may yet be seated at
Il In no l. rl.,o
though the nurses did drop them so
that morally they were lame I'm both
feet.
One bad habit these gadabouts, mas
culine or feminine. are sure to get, and
that is OF scandal distribution. They
hear so many deleterious things about
others and see so much of wrong bella.
vior that they are loaded up and loaded
down with the faults OF others. and
they have their eyes full and their ears
full and their hands full and their
mouths full OF defamation. The wom-
an who Is endowed OF gossip can so
easily unite her bonnet strings and sit
down TO spend the afternoon. A man
can afford you a cigar as n retainer IL
you will patiently hear all he has TO
say about those who cannot pay their
debts or are about TO fail or are guilty
or moral mishap or have aroused suspi-
cion OF embezzlement All gadabouts
are peddlers, who unpack In your pres
ence their large store OF nux vomica
and nightshade. Such gadabouts have
little prospect OF heaven. IL they got
there. they would try to create jealousy
among the different ranks OF celestials
and make trouble among the heavenly
neighbors and start quarrels seraphic
and would be on perpetual run, now
down this street and now up that, now
In the house OF many mansions and
now In the choir OF the temple and now
on the walls and now In the gates until
they would be chased down and pushed
out into the pandemonium OF backbit-
ers and slanderers after jeremiah had
addressed them In the words, why
gaddest thou about so much To change
thy wayT
Surrender to God.
Now, what is the practical use of the
present discourse? This: Whereas SO
many have ruined themselves and ru-
ined others by becoming gadabouts
among occupations. among religious
theories. among churches, among
neighborhoods. therefore resolved that
we will concentrate upon what is
right thought and right behavior and
waste no time in vacillations and indie
cisiops and uncertainties, running
about In places where we have no bust
ness TO be. Life is so short we have no
time to play with 1t the spendthrift.
Find out whether the Bible Is true and
whether your nature Is immortal and
whether Christ is the divine and orly
Saviour and whether you must have
him or be discounted and whether
there will probably ever be a more aus
picious moment for your becoming his
adherent and then make this ~ O'Clock
at noon OF Nov. % the most iilustrious
minute that you will ever have passed
since the day of your birth until the
ten millionth cycle OF the coming eter-
nifty, because by complete surrender OF