Milford chronicle., 1906-03-02

]
be snapped at win. They are ready to
plight their troth and say. "I4yill wed
thee for better" but they are4ot ready
to say, Il win wed thee for 9rse."
Why. so lightly do some peA8le think
Of their marriage vows that a popular
literary mHn of England some time ago
/ advocated the idea that marriage
should not be for life. but for only
| term of ten years. If at the end Of
decade the husband got tired Of his
wife because she had lost the bloom Of
youth or because her hair was streak
ed with gray, or because the burden
Df supporting the household was too
grelt OF because. Ike Brigham Young,
he m 'ght see the pretty face of some
other woman whom he would like to
MAKE his favoriie. then the mar
riaee relationship could be terminated
while. on the other hand. if the wife
was a frivolous. good for nothing gad-
about and she got tired of her husband
because he liked to sit at home and
play with the children, or work over
his books. or plan how they could de-
crease their expenses so they could
lft the mortgage off the home then
at thc end Of ten years she could pack
up her trunk and leave that home ana
go OF with the first worthless charac-
Ter toward whom she had been casting
her lhtatious eyes during these ten
years Of her married life. Is that
right? All no, that was not Ruths
idea Of marriage, When she married
Naomi's son she realized the full re-
sponsibility of the relation. She was
ready to meet those responsibilities for
better or for worse.
The Old Fashioned Ideas.
Her ideas of marriage were a great
deal like the old fashioned ideas with
which our grandfathers and grand
mothers were welded. They may have
started out with little of world.
goods. but they had a big balance in
the bank of trust When they started
housekeeping they were both ready
and willing to put forth their hands to
lift the common burdens. The babies
came, and the fathers hammer and
saw made the crib, and the mothers
foot rocked it, and the mothers needle
sewed the garments for the little
strangers. When sickness came they |
nursed one another through it, When |
financial trouble and want came they !
starved together and made the OLD |
clothes do. Side by side they met the |
storms of trouble. Side by side they |
smiled in the sunshine of prosperity |
They sObbed together. They sang to-
gether They prayed together. Their |
bodies, side by side, are now sleeping |
in the little country graveyard, and |
their spirits are now side by side in |
heaven together. For better or worse"
read their plighted troth. For better |
or for worse" was Ruth's marriage |
pledge to Naomi's son. May God help |
us to be true to our marriage VOWS. |
May we be true for our own sakes and |
true for the sakes of those whose hap |
piness is dependent upon our faithful
ness to that plighted troth. But Ruth
measures up full to her religious stand
ard as well as to her love test and her
mental test She stands before us the /
noble example of a woman who has
surrendered her heart to the true God
as well as her life to the service of
those human beings who were dear to /
her. And unless you can have this |
commngling of the divine love with |
the human love you cannot have either 1
man or woman meet the full require |
ments which God or the world has de- |
manded of them. Some time ago IT /
was my privilege to spend holiday |
with three children who had an infidel |
and a skeptic for a father. The mother
was dead. They were three beautiful
children. They were eXquisitely dress !
ed. Their manners were perfect. But, |
though they were only children, you
could see and feel something was lack |
ing in their makeup The spiritual
part of their lives was stunted, They
had learned to love man, but they had
not learned to love Jesus Christ. Not
thus was Ruth. She measures full to
the test of human love. She also meas
ures full to the divine test. Let me
draw a figurative picture Of what
mean,
In the Land OF Moab.
It was a sad. sad sight in one of the
homes of a, city of the great and rlch
country in the land of Moab. You
ought to know a little of the history Of
that land. It's cities were as rich as
the cities Of Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the inhabitants of these cities were just
as vile as the Sodomites. They were
not only idol worshipers, but worse.
Their worship was similar to that
which was celebrated in the temple OF
Baal. In this home are three weeping
widows. Naomi is there and Orpah
and Ruth Like pure, spotless dia-
monds, glittering amid the filth of
swine trough, is the purity Of this
home compared to the vileness and sin
all around it, Naomi now is speaking
to her girls those beautiful words
found in the book Of Ruth: "And Ma
onii said unto her two daughters-in-