The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1906-03-09

literary man of England some time age
advocated the idea that marriage
should not be for life, but for only q
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 because her hair was streak
ed with gray, or because the burden
of supporting the household was too
great, or because, like Brigham Young,
lie might see the pretty face of some
other woman whom he would like to
make his favorite then the mar
riage relationship could be terminated.
while, Oh the other hand, if the wife
! was frivolous, good for nothing CAD
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
lift 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 charac-
ter toward whom she had been casting
her fiirtatious eyes during these ten
years of her married life. Is that
right? All, no, that was not Ruth's
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 We're a great
deal like the old fashioned ideas with
which our grandfuthers and grand
mothers 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 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 we'll 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 we'll as her life to the service of
those human beings who were dear to
her. And unless you can have this
cOmmingling of the divine love with
the human love you cannot have either
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 intidel
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.
1t was sad, sad sight in one of the
homes of a city of the great and rich
country in the land of Moab. You
ought to know a little of the history OF
that land Its cities were as rich as
the cities of SOdOm and GOmorrah, and