Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-03-10

take first place as IL does In the east.
soon rs the daughter Of one elan mar
ricd into the family Of another elan at
once She ceased To have any utilization
with the elan of her father In India
no sooner does a girl marry than she
goes into the home Of her mother-in-
law and ut once ceases 10 have any as
sociatiun with the home of her child
hood. Thus in one sense was IL With
the Hebrew and Moabitish marriage
laws. When Ruth married she be-
ZANE part of her husbands family.
Naomi bc,anc her mother. And ac-
wording 10 the marriage laws Of her
time She was in duty bound Ia care for
Naomi for better or for worse. Cannot
YOU and | learn a mighty lesson for
fidelity 10 our marriage affairs ~ the
west by ltutli's faithfulncss TO the
marriage laws of the castI The simple
fact is too many people look upon the
marriage altar simple as trystng
place and not rs II sacred shrine They
seem Ia think that the marriage ties
are not unbrrakahlr bands Of steel but
mere gosSaiurr threads. which can
glitter fnr n little while In the sun and
he snapped NJ will. They are ready TO
plight their troth aud say. Il will wed
thee. for better" Int they are not rcady
10 say. Il will wed thee for worse"
Why. So lightly do some people think
Of their mnrriagc VOWS that a popular
literary man of England some time ago
advocated the idea that marriage
should not be- for life, but for only
term of ten years. If NJ 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
cd with gray. or because the burden
Of supporting the household was too
/ great or hccaIse. like brigham Young.
he might Sc the pretty face of some
other woman whom he would like to
make his faVOritc. then the mar
riagc relationship could Ice terminated
while. on 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 hooks. or plan how they could de
crcaS" their expenses So they could
| lift the mortgage of the home. then
ut the end Of ten years she could pack
/ up her trunk and leave that home and
| go on with the first worthless charac-
! ter toward whom she had been casting
her llrtatiuls eyes during these ten
| years of her married life Is that
right: Ah, no. that was not Ruth's
idea Of marriage. When she married
| NaonI'S son She realized the fun re
| sponSihiity of the relation. She was
ready to meet Those responsibilities for
better or for worse
The old Fashioned Idous.
Her ideas of marriage were Il great
deal like the old fashioned ideas with
/ which our grandiuthcrs and grand
mothers wcr" welded They may have
started out with little of world.
goods, but they had Il big balance in
the bank Of trust When they started
| housekeeping they were both ready
and willing Ia put forth their hands to
lit the common burdens The babies
came. and Tie fathers hammer and
saw made the crib, and the mothers
foot rocked ii. aud the mothers needle
scw"d the garments Tor the little
strangers When sickness came they
nIrScd 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 sobbcd together They sang to-
gcthcr. They prayed together Their
bodies. side 10y 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 Ruths marriage
pledge 10 Naum's son May God help
us To be true to our marriage VOWS
May we hr true for our own sakes and
true for the sakcs of those whose hap
pincsS is dependent upon our faithful
ness To that pligllrd troth. But Ruth
measures M full To her religious stand
ard rs Well as to her love test and her
mental test She stands before us the
noble example of Il woman who has
surrendered her heart To the true God
rs well as her life 10 the service Of
those human beings who were dear to
her And unless YOU can have this
comnmgling of the divine love with
the human love you cannot have either
man or Wuman meet the fun require
mcntS which God or the world has de
maudcd OF them. Some time ago II
was my privilege 20 spend holiday
with three children who had an mfidel
aud skrptic for Il father The mother
was dead They were three beautiful
children They were cXquisitely dress
ed Their manners were perfect But,
though they were only children. YOU
could see and feel something was lack
lng la their makeup The spiritual
part of their lives was stunted They
had learned io love man. hut they had
not learned To love Jesus christ Not
thus was Ruth She measures fun TO
al