Newport weekly independent., 1902-10-24

1 ried the words of sympathy and hope of better life. are all suddenly dig nified with new light and new mean ing, as it is understood that Christ looked upon the service rendered them as done unto Himself.
 The charm of the childhood fairy stories fingers with me still. What intense fascination there was in the tale of the rich and good fairy who could appear in whatsoever form he chose and bestow his gifts upon those whom he had tested. With what impatient anxiety we followed the good and bad characters in the story as they met the good fairy disguised as an old man, hungry and in need; or, as poor, helpless, de- formed child; and saw the one rem der the kindly service that brought the bestowment of the rich gift, and the other selfishly withhold and thus lose the favor of the visitor from fairyland. With bated breath we have paused in our reading at the critical testing point and exclaimed: "Oh, if they only knew that it was a rich and good fairy standing there instead of that poor, helpless, needy old man!" How we have just ached to step into the story and tell the secret before it was too late and the opportunity of winning the fairy's gift had been lost.
 The fairy stories are not true, but there are Bible stories which are true and can equal any fairy story Tn the charm of it's plot and in the unexpected and miraculous reward of goodness. Take for instance the story of Elijah, the prophet. and the widow of Zarephath. In the time of sore famine the man of God visited her and asked her to give to him the last handful of meal in the bar rel and the last drop of oil which she had m the house. Day by day she and her little son had watched the scanty provisions grow less and less. The mothers heart was torn with anguish as she saw her darling slow " starving to death. Each day the cake she baked was smaller in size, that the meal and oil might last the longer. At last, with but enough left for one more meal, she feels herself race to face with death, for she knows not how more meal and more oil can be obtained. But there is enough meal and oil for the day and, because of this, death is one day far ther otf. And while she is gathering fuel with which to cook the last meal. along comes this stranger from another city. and asks for her all And, inspired by the spirit of Godly fear and unselfishness, she feeds Elijah, when To! the barrel of meal continues to yield it's daily supply and the cruise of oil fails not during all the long days of that terrible famine
 Take Luke's account of that walk to Emmaus. The two sorrow-strick- en disciples plodding along the road- side compVning together over shat tered hopA A stranger appears and breaks irs their conversation. I have often~ thought that if that incl dent had occurred in this day of de- nominational prejudice and religious self-pride the stranger would have been dismissed long before Emmaus was reached, and the two unsuspect- ing disciples would never have seen the Saviour's face. Perhaps the two disciples were at first disappointed because the privacy of their grief was violated, but with kindly patience and forbearance they do not rebuff the stranger and are soon lost in the soul-stirring conversat tion. Even after the city was reached they might have lost the greatest blessing if the hos pitality of their hearts had not gone out to the stranger and they had not invited him in to dine. A good many excuses might have been given for not extending such hospitality. They had been away from home and noth- ing was prepared for meal, or pride might have shut the door of hospital ity so that the scantiness of the fam fly larder might not become known. or fretful housewife might have eXerted such an influence over that home as to make it risky business for the husband to bring home unex- pectedly the guest to a meal.
 There is nothing in Luke's story to indicate that there was the least selfish motive on the part of the two disciples ill inviting the stranger in. They wanted to give him shelter and food because he needed them. "And they constrained him." And inasmuch as they did it unto this stranger who was in need, behold! ere the meal is concluded they discover that the service has been rendered unto Christ Himself. How it exalted their