Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-02-10

do the thing which we do not like tc
do. Accu toned to ease and 10 free
dom. 1t seemshard to give them up TO,
an hour. This is mistake both as re.
gsres our relations to our family and
also because 1t involves for Ia loss OF
spiritual rower. We need to keen a
close wetch over all selfish irlulgen-
ces, cur luxurious instincts, IL we will
teoch IN our homes the beauty of
seH-gacrifice. A little hardship now
and then is good diet fer the soul
"The angel CT self.renunciation IN
quote from Elizabeth Stuart Phelps,
''if admitted to intimate ccmrnnion-
ship, will prove the most noble and in
spirirg of friends" But, saws one
| thsre is no virtue in sacrifice unless
scne object IS to be gained, that is.
some visible. material, or spiritual
benefit to others. True. we do cast
cortemptuous glances ut st. Simeon
S.y,tes on his pillar and the Indian
ecvctce making long pilgrimage with
HI, Shoes full of nails, but there is af-
ter all something finer in the saint on
his column and the ignorant but faitI-
full son Of Buddha than in the soul that
never rises above daily luxurious liv-
ing, that cannot deny itself for day
or an hour.
But unselfishness should not end in
the home, although it must begin
there. That is the place to cultivate /
worldwide sympathy. All human
needs, every progress and reform, must
enter there. A mans house may be
his castle, but it need not be provided
with moat and drawbridge, and a port
cullis that oDens but to few. The
true home like the cities of refuge in
ancient Israel. should have wide gates
standing open. If the Father has Civ
en- to you and to me homes full of
beauty and ease light and warmth, it
is that we may bring into them some
times those standing without
in darkness and cold and SOL
titude. Hospitality is not mat
ter of choice. 1t is in the
Apostolic Epistles a reiterated COM
mand, and well we know that it does
not mean five o'clock teas and din
ners to our intimates. 1t Is something
broader than that and calls for some
surrender of self. but its reward is
large-so large that it is wonder that
we do not more often try to secure it.
How averse we are Ito entertaining
strangers, how difficult it is to find a
home that will receive over night
missionary, student, representa-
tive of some society, and yet how often
such an one when received proves
himself truly IAN angel unawares.
For the cost of dinner, the slight
trouble Of a nights lodging, you and
your children may hear tales of far-off
lands, may have your souls fired with
the story of great sacrifice and mar
velous achievement, or may have
glimpse into some rare and lovely
soult. Such entertainment often re-
peated becomes liberal education and
one we cannot afford to miss. Bring,
therefore, to your fire:ide, in simple
fashion as you can, the workers in the
worlds harvest fields. those who are
about their Fathers business. the lone
ly ones, the sad, and the tempted. A
simple meal, an hours chat, may mean,
how much! There is the boy away
from home learning a trade or profess
sion-glve him a plate at your Sunday
dinner-t table--it will he heaven to him
compared with the restaurant that pro-
vides his daily bread, and may save
him from who knows what Ask the
teacher to your Saturday night supper,
and give her little music afterwards |
she does not get that in her not very
congenial boarding place Each and
every ont will leave with you in return
that will warm your heart
and increase your knowledge and
broaden the life of your home and the
culture of your children. Susan
Coolidge repeats this message for us in
her Doem entitled "a True Home:
What is home? A guarded space
Wherein a few, unfairly blest.
Shall sit together, face to face.
And bask, and purr, and be at rest? |
Can it be this-the longed-for thing
Which wanderers on the restless
foam,
beggars, birds on wing,
Aspire to. dream of. christian
"home?"
Mo- Art may bloom, and peace and
bliss;
Grief may refrain and death forget;
But if there be no more than this
The soul of home is wanting yet.
Dim image from far glory caught,
Fair type of fairer things to be,
The true homes rises in our thought
AS beacon for all men to see.