The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-01

! cape from death came When You as :,
little boy sge:e down b. the Old saw
mill fishing Your mother had forbid
den you to go into a boat.
| For some time yOu had been fi3hin :,
on tie shore. But tie waters out in
the middle Of the pond did look 50 in
viting The huge logs did look 50 big.
Then, with Your bare feet, You began
to run across them Then, when yG1
found Just the right place to cast your
line, yon dropped it. But after the
| first nibble Of a fish those big logs I'M
der your feet began to roll. Then the
other logs began to force them in.
Then those huge logs were closing over
your head when your little companion
! lay down fiat upon his stomach and cX-
| tended to you his tishin" 10" e. ! pull
ed you out just in tiMr ~. .r'rmaps
| your narrow escape fl .... . came
in some awful runaway. - n see
now the horses piunging an taking
the bits in their teeth You ca hear
| the crash as the wagon is -, tered
against Il tree. Or perhaps, like George
| WaShington'; mother. durin" 4 thun
derstorm you had a friend struck
dead before your eyes by the lightning.
| do not know what that early escape
was, but this | do know-tilere is
| hardly IL man, woman or child who has
not in youth come so near death as to
almost feel the cold air of the tomb
| tanning the cheek. Why, You We're 50
near death that just one step more
and you would have been over the
precipice or under the revolving wheel
| of the car Now, what was the rrAc
| ton of that sudden escape from death
in the early days of your youth?
The Reaction.
At first you began 70 tremble like IL
aspen leaf. You did not do this while
you were still looking into the yaWn-
| ing abyss of the grave. The grave
| opened and shut so quickly that You
| did not realize what was happening
| until all danger was past Then the
| cold sweat began to break out over
| you: your nerves began to twitch: you
began to say: 20 God, | never knew
| till now how near one could come -
| death and yet escape it. For Wh2!
| hast thou saved me-" And all through
| the succeeding days and nights lie
| Lord Jesus Christ seemed to he stand
| ing by Your side. saying: Il have say
| ed you that you might become my dis
| ciple God gave you divine revPla
| ton at that time, just as Christ ap
| peared unto Paul in the scene of my
| text, when he was taken UP into til"
| third heaven and knew not whether h."
| was in the body or out of the body.
| The next glorious revelation which
| came to you may have been a few
years later. when. under the power of
great gospel revival. you surrendered
your life to the Master. joined the
| church and sat at the table Of the holy
| back now. There is the little white
| church with its straight backed pewS.
| There is the choir loft in which your
sister used TO sing. There is the old
prayer meeting room below, which was
| used for the Sunday school before the
were the gravcstones You used to play
| among on week days and try to read
the epitaphs on Sunday, when the min
lister would persist i'll praying about
| everything, from the creation down to
| the president of the United States and
all others in authority.
The Influence of the EioIy Spirit.
If some one should ask you how that
revival started you could not answer.
Suddenly, without apy apparent cause.
the power of the Holy Spirit began to
descend. 1t was visibly felt through
all the country. One Sunday the old
| minister instead of giving out his text,
as usual, opened the service in words
| something like these: Brethren, have
tried to write Il sermon this week. but
it has been an impossibiity. Every
| time l entered my study the still, small
| voice of God kept saying: Down on
your knees and pray. Pray for my
people. Pray, pray, pray" And, my
dear people, l dare not disObey the
voice of God. AS l have been praying
y
| would turn this mornings service
into simple prayer meeting. Then
we will meet in the church during the
! coming week each night, and we shall
| pray for each other and for our dear
| ones" You remember how your mouth
opened wide with establishment. As
the different people arose one after the
| other to pray, you got tired and COM
| menced to wriggle in your seat. But
somehow a strange feeling of unrest
came over you when your dear mother
! arose to pray. You never heard her
pray in public before in your life. BU
when she com menced with q trembling
voice and said, 20 Lord, dear Master.
precious Saviour, come into our midst
| and take these little lambs into thy
arms" you could not keep back the
tears. You knew she was praying for
you.
Then that ride home! The old fami
| ly farm wagon never had a quieter
burden to carry than on that day
l