The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-01-15
TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE SIGNED BY
SCORES At CENTRAL UNION CHURCH
Continued from Page ~

and he Ia sorrowlng. II he - still
spared TO you. won't YOU write your
dear old father n letter. God bess
you oh. God give us love and COM
/ passion and splendid charity that we
may reach out and save sons from the
world. and give them back to their
dear fathers and mothersl We are
such curious people. We have SORROWS
and don't say anything ABOUT them.
| Jesus didn't say anything about his
sorrow. He knew they were going to
betray him, and kill him, and nail him
to the cross, but he didn't say anything
about It, God bless you, no; he just
grieved and suffered. We are like him,
we poor curious people. We hide away
our SORROWS, and won't let them out,
and people don't know we have them,
and they have to approach us very
gently lest they startle us. The poor
old broken fathers don't say anything
about the sorrows that are breaking
their hearts. Maybe their neighbors
will say, How fast the captain is falI-
ing or, How feeble the captain IS
getting to be. He has been growing
old ever since the boy went away.
That is all that the world knows of
the great sorrow that is turning the
dear old fathers hair white, and bend
ing his poor STOPPING shoulders lower
with the years.
iii tell you about an experience
had once. There was big family of
good people, but they had bad boy.
So bad they never mentioned his name
to their friends, and his picture had
been carried upstairs, because people
would see ii and ask painful questions.
The girls didn't want to go out into
society, because people would ask
about Edward, and the bad boy cast
a sorrow over the whole house. One
time he came into meeting, and his
father begged me to speak with him.
did, and glory to God, my words
touched his heart, for he had a great
big heart, had this spoiled boy. He
came up and signed the pledge, and he
was a great big fellow, as strong as
an OK.
How that dear family rejoiced and
how they wept and laughed and hung
around poor Maynard Ned, for he was
reformed again. l went to my room
at the hotel, and about 2 o'clock in the
morning there was a knock at my
door. L thought the house was on fire,
or something, and l jumped out and
opened the door, and who do you think
was there? Why it was that great big
fellow that had signed the pledge and
he cried and said he had got a message
and wanted to show it to me. 1t was
from his wife. She had been gone from
him a long, long time, but when the
dear mother knew her son was con-
Verted she sent message, and back
over the wires came a word of love
and encouragement. The big fellow
never touched another drop, and now
he is living happily with a dear little
wife and his babies. God bless them!
There was once a girl down east
that left her home and strayed into
hayward path. She would not come
home, though her dear mother pleaded
and her fathers head was bowed in
sorrow. For long time she strayed,
and her name had ceased to be spoken
in the household. But the mother, the
dear little mother, had not forgotten,
and she found way She found out
where the girls room was and she
went and had a picture taken, and took
1T to the daughters room. She said to
herself, My poor little girl will come
home some night and she will see her
mothers face looking at her from the
wall. and she will come home That
was just what she did. One miserable
night the poor Maynard girl came in
and while she was shaking the water
off her dress she saw the face of her
her. 1t was little, miserable heart
broken cry-and that night she crept
to the door Of her old home. She tried
the door, and it was unlocked! Then
she went in and slipped into her moth
er's room and kissed the dear wrinkled
lace. Ine mother threw her arms
around her long-lost daughter and was
oh, so glad
when the girl asked how it was
that the door was unlocked, the little
mother said, 1 knew you would come
home sometime, little one, and I did
not want my daughter to find the door
locked You will stay with us, won't
you, dear? And she did. Oh, there
is great strength in love-it is the
a
faith in Jesus, and don't care to what
depth of degradation vice and SIN has
dragged human being, glory be to
God! that strength is enough to prevail
against the gates Of Hell. Come up
here tonight, every one of you, and
sign the pledge. Come right now,
while you have the courage. God is
love-. my brothers, and love is what
you need. God bless you"