The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-10

Tut MIMI MY BO6QEI religion sustained
me when I was left a poor widow with
six fatherless children to support Ny
religion has given me hope and courage
when 1 have had to stand by the brink
of an open grave. My religion has made
me a purer, truer, Drawer woman 10 face
the struggles OF life. That sir, Is what
my faith In Jesus Christ has done for
me. What have your inhdel beliefs done
for your" The infidel could not answer.
The whole audience realized that the
Christian woman was speaking out OF
her own lifes experience. So the might
lest witnesses for God are those whose
Christian testimonies are the ourgrowths
of the many, many years that are gone.
The aged Christian influences for good
those who are near to him be-
cause he Is able to lavish upon them a
wealth Of boundless fervent tender
Christian affection. While we are young
and even middle aged we spend most of
our time in doing for others rather than
in showing the sweet manifestation of
our affections We are like Martha,
who went into the kitchen to cook Jesus
a dinner, rather than like Mary, who sat
at the feet of Christ.
When Jesus, sad and weary, longing sore
For loves sweet service, sought the sis
ters door,
One saw the heavenly, one the human
guest,
But who can say which loved the Master
best?
While we are young or middle aged
we are like the busy merchant. who
spends most of his time in the store and
the office in order to earn money enough
to support his children, rather than like
the old grandfather and the grand
mother, who spend most of their time
In spelling their grandchildren until at
last the married daughter turns and says:
Father and mother. l believe you love
my children better than you ever loved
me when 1 was young. Anyway, you pet
them far more than you ever petted
me-" Many a mechanic has but little
time to fondle or caress his own children.
He has to leave home for work before
the children are out of bed. He does not
return until late at night, when the
babies have again been tucked away IN
their cribs.
A Mighty Influence.
Editor Brown said that 1t took him
nearly a fifth of a century to find out
how much his father loved him When
he was a boy at home his rather was
always busy earning money to support
the family. Some times he was self-ab-
sorbed, gruff and stern and seemingly
harsh. But after awhile his fathers
health broke down. Then the boy felt
he ought to leave home, as there was
too many mouths to fill from his fathers
scanty savings. The morning he left
the old man walked down the road with
him. Then the feeble old father put his
hand upon the young mans shoulder,
and tears came into his eyes and his lip
quivered as he said: MY boy, 1 don't
want you to leave home. AS long as l
have a crust Of bread, my child l am
ready to share It with you. You hao
better come back" Then" said Editor
Brown, 'for the first time in my life I
realized the immensely of my fathers
love. All THAI day a sweet throated
songster kept singing in my heart: He
loves me. He loves me. Father loves
me. Yes, he loves me- And when some
years later, an evangelist compares
Gods love to a fathers love 1 arose In
that meeting and gave my heart to God.
knew that my earthly father loved me-"
So the Christians old age is the time
when he can best demonstrate the
wealth of his affection for those who are
near and dear to him and when he can
best influence them for gooo.
The statement that the aged Christian
can exercise a mighty influence for good
over the lives of those VINO are nearest
and dearest to him is especially true If
those dear ones in turn have children of
their own. l do not believe q man ever
fully appreciates the love of a parent
until he himself is married and has ba-
bies about his own family table. 1t is
only after a man has had the worries
and the anxieties of his own home troub-
ling his heart, 1t is only after he has
stood by the side of the cradle and
nursed his baby boy through the awful
sickness of diphtheria. 1t Is only after
he has got his own family burial plot
and has dug therein little grave for
one of his own babies, that ne begins to
fully appreciate what his father and
mother In their time have done ror him.
The Spirit of Reverence.
The aged Christian is able to inspire
the spirit of reverence IN the hearts VI
many with whom he comes in contact.
This spirit is a growth, and not an act.
1t Is a germ seed which often takes
years and years to develop, and not an
entity which springs into being at a
jump or bound. 1t generally starts
away back In the nursery. If the child
learns to respect his mother, tnen 1t is
very easy for him to learn as a boy to
respect his Christian employers. II
young man respects his Christian en-
ployers, then 1t is very easy for him as
a middle aged man to learn 10 respect
the aged Christian servants who for
years have been living at the Divine
Masters feet. If the middle aged man
respects Gods aged Christian servants
then 1t is very easy for him to learn to
respect the God whom those Christians
serve and to communicate that respect
to others.
Thus God uses your physician weak
nesses and your mental helplessness for
a purpose. When he sees you, an aged
Christian parent, being tenderly careo
for in your old age by a loving son;
when he sees that son giving to you the
best room In the house and the easiest
armchair and the softest bed; when he
sees that son trying to make your last
days upon earth happy and peaceful,
then we can imagine him saying: That
young man who Is caring so tenderly for
his aged Christian parent is capable of
great love for me and my children. The
young man who is true to his old mother,
by my grace, will always be true to me.
/ will honor him because he has honored
one of my aged servants Did not Goo
say in his Ten Commandments. Honor
thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long in the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee?"
Honor Old Age.
A beautiful German story relates how
one day a little girl named Jeanette
witnessed a great army review. Thou
sands upon thousands of spectators
crowded around the stand, before which
the emperor was to watch tbs passing
regiments. While Jeanette vas seated
in the stand she saw an old feeble wo-
man trying very hard to get where she
mt.