The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1902-05-29
NO. IA.

the elder brother. The bond of a
belief in common Saviour certainly
ought to help the members of
church family to bear with each 9TH
er's weaknesses. Worldly societies
help their unfortunate members. I
am told that the masons not only
bury their dead; they care for living
masons who need help. They have
certain signs and handclasps.
AS grow older l am the more dis
posed to judge the spiritual condition
of truly religious church member
by the way he treats those who have
gone astray. He is more apt to con-
denim himself than he is to accuse
his unfortunate brother. When q
Sunday school pupil goes astray, the
truly good Sunday school teacher
says: "Ah! that is too bad! I won
der if I did my full duty? Perhaps,
if I only had called on the lad and
invited him to my home and had seen
where he spent his evenings, this aw-
full sin would not have happened. I
must not be too hard upon the lad.
Yes. 1 too, am to blame"
When minister goes astray, the
truly good elder does not upbraid
him. Ah, no! He knows too much
about the weakness of human nature
to do that. The old member of ses-
sion will sit by the fire, with tears
streaming down his furrowed cheeks,
reproaching himself when he says:
Here I have been a professed fol-
lower of the Lord for 40 years.
ought to have looked after the young
man; 1 ought to have been his guide
and protector" When Peter played
the coward and denied his connection
with Christ, the Saviour did not call
a meeting of the apostles for a. her.
esy trial and make Peter demit the
ministry. By His treatment of Pc
ter's sinful act Christ taught the les
son of forgiveness and mercy for
the penitent wrongdoer. He reor-
dained Peter to 60 forth and feed His
lambs. "Bear We one another's bur-
dens and so fulfill the law of Christ"
is especially an appropriate lesson
for Christians to learn who take no
interest in the welfare of fellow
Christians who are the members Of
the household of faith.
1t isn't the thing you do, friend,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you bit of heartache
AT the setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you didn't write,
The flower you might have sent friend.
Are your haunting ghosts at night.
But my text clearly means also
that every one should try in manful,
womanly, Christian fashion to bear
his own burdens. We are very apt
to think that our own troubles are
heavier to bear than any other per-
sons troubles. But if we were al
lowed, as in the old legend, to go to
the plain of affliction and deposit
there our own SORROWS, and were
compelled instead to take up the sor-
rows of some one else, in all prob
ability we would carry away from
the mountain of difficulty the burden
pack which our backs have been ac-
customed to carry. Now, we cannot
help our brother to bear his burdens
by trying to pile upon his stalwart
shoulders our own burdens in addi-
tion.
Let us return to the good old coun.
try times when every one helped every
other person in the community. In
those good old times every one was
ready to halve friends sorrows as
well as double friends joys. When
the wedding bells began to ring the
young girls, the friends of the bride,
used to come from the, village and
decorate the church altar with the
wild flowers which they had picked.
Friends would sew the wedding gar
ments, friends would serve the we'd
ding sake; friends would help the
young people furnish the new home;
friends would bear the burdens, the
happy burdens of joy. Then, when
trouble came, the same friends would
come in and help the invalid; they
would pour out the medicine; they
would close the eyelids in the last
sleep; they would sit up all night long
with the dead; they would sew the
shroud and carry the casket and dig
the grave. The same friends would
throw into the grave the sods which
would fall upon the coffin lid. The
same friends would raise the head
stone Friends, the same friends who
once plucked the orange blossoms,
would plant the cypress.
Let us be to each other friends Of
that kind. Together let US help one
another over whatever difficulties may
beset. We have a share to bear, and
as we bear it we fulfill the law of the
gospel, which, in the language of my
text, says: Bear We one another's
burdens and so fulfill the law Of
Christ" There lies the merit, in bear
ing not merely our own, but an
others; in lifting up from the bowed
and STOPPING shoulders the heavy load
under which the bearer is ready to
sink. Reach out your strong hand Of
helpfulness and with a stout heart
| give mighty heave, and the added
burden will seem light in your grasp.
Do it, and the sunshine of heaven will
irradiate many a darkened home. Do
it. and countless multitudes will be led