The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-03-11
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
BY THE Rew FRANK DE WITT TALMAag. D. D.

to me her all, shall I desert her in the
dark hours of distressaa Nay, Naomi "
she says, 81 will not turn my back upon
thee whittier thou goest l will go, and
where thou lodgest. l will lodge; thy peo-
pie shall be my people, and thy God my
God" Could Ruth the true. Ruth the
noble, speak otherwise My friends. have
YOU these noble characteristics Of graft
tude? After person has been true and
self-sacrlfieing for you. after that person
has given TO you practically the whole Of
her life, are you going TO turu that per-
son adrift as soon as the dark clouds Of
adversely gather about her head? Are
you going to use the word friendship
as a synonym for sconvenience?" AS soon
as you think It is for your own best in
terests, are you going TO turn your back
upon your true friends, as the deceitful
Duke of Alva sent Admiral Hoorn and
Egmont to the block and as Napoleon
eXiled Josephine, the best friend he ever
hadP
Oh. the contemplate actions of which
some of us are guilty toward those who
have blessed US In the pastl The story Is
told that many years ago In the island of
Mauritius a poor old black woman, who
was a slave, worked and struggled at odd
hours and saved until after awhile she
got together enough money to purchase
the freedom of her daughter. All that
was a happy day for the old black wo-
man! She went to her ehild's house with
the good news and said: MY child you
are free!" With that she seated herself
by her daughter. But the story goes that
the daughter drew herself up and said
Woman, how dare you sit in my pres
ence? Do you not know that | am now a
free woman and You are still a slave
Rise at once and leave the ROOM" The
story at first seemed to me to be a far
fetched one, and yet after much consld-
Grafton, 1 doubt if it is. Almost every
day we can see ungrateful children act
ing thus to their parents and ngrateful
men and women turning their backs upon
those who have lifted them to their
thrones or started them ON the road to
success and happiness. Not thus was
Ruth. In Naomi's adversely she remem-
bered Naomi's past love. May God help
us to be true to those who have been true
to us in the troublesome years that are
gone!
True to Marriage Vows.
Ruth measures up to the full standard
of the test of human gratitude She does
more. She measures up to the full test
of her marriage VOWS. And when ] speak
thus / am placing that standard very
high. The marriage law of the east is
a far more difficult one to which to do
Justice than the marriage law of the west
Yet she obeyed those eastern laws to the
last letter. Let me try to contrast those
two laws for you.
When a young woman stands before the
marriage altar of our land and the Epis-
copal rector says: wilt thou have this
man to be thy welded husband, to live
together after Gods ordinance in the
holy estate of matrimony? wilt thou
obey him and serve him, love, honor and
keep him in sickness and in health and,
iforsaking all others, keep thee only unto
him so long as ye both shall live?" the
woman answers. Il will But that prom
isc does not mean the woman shall lose
her own identity in that of her husband
as 1t does in the east. That does not mean
that her mother-in-law and her husband s
family. in her affections. must take first
place as 1T does in the east BY the law
of the Scottish clan as soon as the
daughter of one clan married into the
family of another clan at once she ceased
to have any affiliation with the clan of
her father In India no sooner does a girl
marry than she goes Into the home Of
her mother-in-law and at once ceases to
have any association with the home OF
her childhood. Thus in one sense was 1t
WIFI lnt iieDItM anu N1OdDlllHll IudIIldkt
laws. When Ruth married she became
part of her husbands family Naomi be-
came her mother. And according to the
marriage laws of her time. she was in
duty bound to care for Naomi for better
or for worse. Cannot you and I learn a
mighty lesson for fidelity to our marriage
affairs of the west by Ruth's faithfulness
to the marriage laws of the east? The
simple fact is too many people look upon
the marriage altar simply as a trystlng
place and not as a sacred shrine. They
seem to think that the marriage ties are
not unbreakable bands of steel, but mere
gossamer threads, which can glitter for
little while in the sun and be snapped
at will. They are ready to plight their
roth and say. IT will wed thee for bet
ter" but they are not ready to say, II
will wed thee for worse"
Why, so lightly do some people think Of
their marriage VOWS that popular liter
airy man of England some time ago advo-
Gated the idea that marriage should not
be for life, but for only a term of ten
years. If at the end of a decade the
husband got tired of his wife because
she had lost the bloom of youth. or be-
cause her hair was streaked with gray,
or because the burden of supporting the
household was too great, or because, like
Brigham Young he might see the pretty
face of some other woman whom he
would like to make his favorlte, then the
marriage relationship could be terminated.
While on the other hand, II 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 decrease their expenses
so they could lift 1.-THE mortgage off the
home, then at the end of ten years she
could pack up her trunk and leave that
home and go off with the first worthless
character toward whom she had been
casting her firtatious eyes during these
ten years of her married life. Is that
right? All, no. that was not Ruth's idea
of marriagel When she married Naomi's
son she realized the full responsibility of
the relation. She was ready to meet those
responsibilities for better or for worse.
Old Fashioned Ideas.
Her ideas Of marriage were great deal
like the old fashioned ideas with which
our grandfathers and grandmothers were
welded. They may have started out with
little of worldly 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 1t, and the mothers needle sewed
tho garments for the little strangers.
When sickness came they nursed one an
other through 1t. 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 pros
perty. They sobbed together. They sang
together. They prayed together. Their
hodies side by side. are now sleeping In