The Caucasian., 1907-08-06

| love any one more. But you did not
| truly know what love was Life for
| you n the time was a picnic in the
woods. You Thought mostly about
| what you were 10 eat aud drink and
| where YOU were to ike and what Jolly
| companions We're to be Your associates.
| 1on married that girl When you
married her sou thought your honey
| moon was to hc the never ending life
| Of tee in j flower garden, finding
| nectar whenever YOU went But that
| honeymoon was Of very short tlura-
! ton. After awhile came the strug-
| giles OF life and the storms and the bit
| ter trails. Then that merry compan-
| lon Of your youth changed. She stood
by Your side in the crisis. She stood
near YOU in the sickroom. When
death invaded your home her hand
joined yours in placing the flowers
about the open caskct S'lt literally
poured out her life for tun
Real Lovers Now.
Now, in the evening twilight of
life, 1t is not 50 much the beau
tifui face that you love, or the mer
ry laugh, or the golden curls. but
1t is the tender, true, faithful heart of
that woman by your side who has
shared your troubles as we'll as
doubled your joys. Though she may
not talk Of love as much now as she
did when a girl, yet you are never
happy unless she Is in touch with you.
When evening comes and you are sit
ting by the library table. the book is
never interesting, nor does the fire In
the hearth burn brightly enough, nor
do the children play right. unless she
Is on the other side of that table. You
who have been married for a quarter
of Il century, you know what II Is to
have devoted. unseliish companion
by your side. You know what II is to
have that love pour out its life's blood
for yOu. Like the aged poet, you can
sing this sweet love song in your Old
age:
Oh. no. not even when first we loved
Vert thou as dear as now thou art;
Thy beauty then my senses moved
But now thy virtues bind my heart.
Although my heart IN earlier youth
Might kindle with more wild desire.
Believe me, 1t has gained In truth
Much more than 1t has lost In fire.
The flame now warns my inmost core.
That then but sparltled DER my brow.
And. though seemed to love thee more
Yet, oh. | love thee better now.
Real Love For Christ.
Well, that is my idea of the Chris
tian life. In the beginning we accepted
Christ from selfish motives. Perhaps
we were In some great religious meet
ing, and the evangelist was pfrturing
the tortureS OF the lost. We became
so frightened that we grlpped the
church pew for fear we should fall
over the precipce of eternal doom
But after we accepted Christ with
such n low motive the Christ love be
gan to grow upon us. We see how he
has been protecting us and how he
has been leading us. We see In an
other place how he has clothed and
fed us. When death came into our
home we saw his great tears Of com
passion and love. Even in our financial
distress or social persecution he was
always by our side Then we began to
realize how good and kind and loving
he Is. AS we grow in grace we are
never happy unless we feel his pres
ence near We talk to him as we do to
dear friend. We find ourselves say
ing: Jesus. thou knOwest best. Thou
art leading me. o Master, thy love
passeth all understanding. Keep me
close to thy heart Let me never stray |
away from thy touch" Church mem
bers. are you strangers to the raptur
Gus JOY of The close cOmpaniOnship o. |
this divine association! Then you have
never reached the higher development |
of the Christian life. Believe me. |
there is Something yet for you to pray !
for and struggle for In your Christial |
experience Do not think today Of |
Christ as an enemy. Think Of Jesus
as an ever present personal, tender
loving friend. That can be one Of
your greatest joys Of the Christian
life. He can he a friend who vii
never leave your side.
But the true Christian finds In the
higher spiritual life more than this
divine companionship. No sooner do
we truly become one with Christ than
we enter into the elevating associa-
tions of the best and purest men and
women living upon the face of the
earth today. We enter into a holy as
sociation with those who have felt the
divine touch and who have been re
created and made over and been
stamped with the divine image. These
of God are different from all
other men and women, for they arc
with the power of the spiri'
filed life.
Fun and Religion.
But says some church member.
II do not want to live in prayel
all the time. / do not want
to be singing psalm tunes morning.
noon and night. Sanctified peorl'
may be all right in their places, but n
steady diet of angels food nauseates
the stomach. like to frolic and
play other kinds of games. l like to