Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-05-30

the most dangerous enemy hate has TO
combat. Love Is the duelst which VIII
disarm many n fatal adversary Love
Is the shield which can blunt or snap
every plunging spear. Love Is the daz-
cling light which can WOO a smile from
many a scornfui lip and the tear OF re-
morse from many flashing eye.
My brother. the difficulty with you
and myself is we have been fighting
our enemies with the wrong kind of
weapon. We have been fighting fire
with fire, hate with hate, bitterness
with bitterness, SANDER with SANDER.
death with death. But now Jesus has
| given TO us n new way to conquer our
enemies. We must disarm hate with
| love; we must submerge Islander with
| forgiveness: we must answer a curse
with q prayer: we must offer to the
! clipched fist an open palm; we must
J extend to every enemy n helping hand.
| Surely this idea is the Interpretation OF
the words. ''Whosoeyer shall smite thee
upon thy right cheek. turn TO him the
| other also" "Whosoever shall compel
thee to go with him one mile. go with
| him twain"
In ancient times. so goes the story,
! Roman commander at the head OF his
legion went forth TO capture a great
city. With rattle of chariot wheel and
flashing OF spear and defiant standards
and signaling bugle blast the Invading
army approached the city wall. Much
10 their surprise, they found every gate
wide open. The merchants were work
| ing in their stores. the women were
working in their kitchens, the farmers
were IN their fields. The Roman COM
mander asked in surprise of the inhab-
| itants who came forth to greet him:
Where are your soldiers? We have
come TO fight" "We have no soldiers"
WAS the answer of the Inhabitants
Eve are people of peace. We well
| come you to our homes. We will care
! for you as long as you wish to stay"
"Well," answered the Roman COM
mander. "if there are no soldiers to
fight we shall march on" The Roman
army came to battle with sword and
with spear. They were conquered by
love. So our enemies have been for
ears attacking the walled and forti-
fed citadels of our hearts. If we would
| open the barred gates of love to those
enemies and lower the drawbridge of
affection, we would capture nearly all
of our foes by the power of love. The
twain mile may have it's thistles and
| thorns and stony highways, but most
of those thorns cam be blanketed with
the roses of Sharon. Most OF those
pebbled pathways can be covered over
with soft quilt of grass which once
4 nj hn nf hA &~Do 80
| which WAS cut the beam of the cross.
| What True Love Means.
The twain mile is the place where
Jesus becomes to every Christian n
treasured, loving personality. Well
substantiatcd is the fact that love
grows as much upon what we do for
Others as what others do for us, upon
what we are ready to give as upon
what we are ready TO receive. In order
to have true love. we must be ready to
lose our lives before we can have those
lives come TO their true development.
| We must be ready to die IL we want to
| truly live as we ought to live.
| Why is n mothers love the purest of
all earthly love? Because the baby di-
rectly does so much for the mother
oh. no. There never was n bigger ty-
rant who ever welded sceptcr than
n little baby I'm the average home.
From the time the child is born until
grown IT practically does nothing for
the mother. The mother is always do
ing something for the child. From the
advent some one has to keep tending
the child. The mother feeds IL, dresses
1t. cares for il. For the first year. nj
least, the mother has n Juggling silver
cord OF affection. with one end attached
10 the crib and the other end attached
to her heart. She practically lives by
the side OF that child for weeks and
months. Then. when the baby is sick.
who nurses 1.-THE graduate from the
school for trained nurses? Oh. no. The
trained nurse may come in and help.
The person who for weeks never takes
on her clothes, the person who is nj
ways by the side OF the crib and sees
that the medicines are given regularly
the person who is anxiously touching
the fevered check. is the mother. the
sacrificing mother.
Why is love generally purer and
deeper and wider In the poor mans
home than in the rich mans palacci
Some people may declare that this
statement Is untrue, but IL you have
been around as n pastor rs much ms
some ministers you will find that such
n statement is true. The reason that
love Is generally sweeter and purer in
the poor mans home is not because the
poor man naturally has a bigger heart
than the rich man. but the poor man
has TO daily sacrifice for his wife and
children. When Christmas comes
around, in order to have a Christmas
tree, perhaps the. father himself has
to go without an overcoat. When his
sons are TO be sent TO college, In al
probability the poor man will have tc
run into debt He has to work over
time. He has to live in q small house
upon side street. His love feeds up
on bis sacrifices. So, my brother, il
you and / want to love and truly love
Christ, we must be willing to do some
thing for Christ. We must give our
selves body, mind and soul to his serv
Ice. We must be ready to travel FOL
him the twain mile. 1t Is because some
OF US are not ready to travel this twair
mile that Christ's teachings seem harsh
and narrow and perhaps unsympa
: thetic.
Companion of the Twain Mile.
Some years ago, in the mountains oil
North Carolina, q rich lady was riding
along in her carriage. Being overtaker
by thunderstorm. she found shelter
In farmers home. The place was
livery humble. AS in many poor homes
there seemed to be healthy children
everywhere, but there was also one
crippled child. The rich lady said Il
: the mother, "Can nothing be done fol
that child?" 'sNo," answered the moth
er, nothing can be done. The viIlag,
doctor said the great surgeons in New
; York might help him. OF course We
have no money to send him there
The rich lady pitied the child. She
took him to New York. While there
. the surgeons Strengthened out the Grip
pied limbs. But though the little chile
was at that time cripple, yet on ac
ID