The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-12-31

| dEucndlF Sue Is praying Tor The Wei
fare of the children. Have you not
had such praying grandmother? Can
you not see her sweet face now and
her moving lips? Can you not feel her
spiritual influence about you. even
though she has been dead for many
years? Can you not cry out, as did
the psalmist of old. "The Lord giyeth
the word. but the Christian grand
mothers that publish the tidings are a
great host?"
Friends of the Pastor.
But there is another proper name in
the epitaph upon the Old New England
| tombstone you must not pass over.
This Christian wife and mother was
not only Sarah to her husband.
Eunice to her children, Il Lois to her
| grandchildren, but she was a Lydia to
| Gods ministers Who was Lydia:
You may find all about her in the six
| teenth chapter of Acts. When Paul
and Silas went to Philippi this woman,
who was disciple of Jesus Christ, met
| them. Lydia took them to her home.
| cared for them and looked after and
respected them because they were
| Gods ambassadors. And so our Chris
| tan mothers and grandmothers not
| only looked after US, but were always
| the friends of our pastors. They used
| to say to us, My child, you cannot
| respect Gods house unless you respect
| his messengers" Don't you remember
| how, during all the church troubles of
your childhood and young manhood,
| your Christian mothers We're always
the friends Of Gods ministers? Don't
you remember how. when the visiting
ministers used to come to your native
| village, they We're always entertained
| at your mothers home? Don't YOU
remember how rcproyingly your moth
| er spoke at the dinner table when
your older brother one Sunday made
| fun of the morning sermon? And
| though you are an old man today, yet.
| through the example of her early faith
| fulness to her village pastor, you have
| always been a stanch friend of your
pastors.
In this day. when ministers are too
often estimated from the commercial
standpoint it is Il blessed sight to find
our Lydias. The church OF the Lord
Jesus Christ loses spiritual power
when she looks upon Gods ambaSSa
doris simply from Il mercenary stand
point, as when Il man buys Il house or
a piece of land Thank God for the
Philippian woman who extended the
hospitality of her home to tired Paul
Thank God today for the multitude Of
women who are so true to their
churches and their pastors all over the
land. Are not the Lydias, who are
spreading Gods tidings, a great host?
The Duties of Martha.
But there is still another name upon
that New England tombstone "A
Martha to her guests" We all know
who Martha was. We can all see her
bustling about the kitchen. We see
her hot, flushed face and her anxious
look. We hear her mutter, "Oh what |
shall do with so many guests coming
to dinner and nothing yet prepared:"
Because Christ rebuked her for lack
ing lone thing we are apt to forget |
how DESTROYS she was to put all her |
friends at ease and make her home a |
haven of rest for Jesus and his friends. |
And yet as Martha bustles around |
does she not remind you of your Chris
tan mother working in the old home? |
Can you not see her striving to put the |
friends of your father and the friends i
of her children at their ease and to |
make the home a haven of rest for all
the associates of her dear ones?
And then your mother was a Dorcas
to the poor. All, yes, you did not real
lie how much she was doing for the
poor and the helpless until after she
died! When you turn to the ninth
chapter of Acts and read how, after
Dorcas' death, the women gathered in
the outer room and began to show the
garments she had made and to tell |
about the many errands of mercy she
had gone on it seems as though Luke
were writing about the obsequies of
your own mother. Your mother was
a plain woman and lived in small
sphere, as some people might suppose,
but no house would have been large
enough to hold that throng And the
beautiful part of that gathering was
that not only the rich came, but the
poor as we'll. Those who attended Your
mothers funeral were all mourners.
They did not come perfunctorily; they
came because they wanted to come
Can you not see those mourners now:
Can you not see that old man hobbling
along on his cane whom she had saw
ed from going to the pOorhouse? And
there was the aged woman whom your
mother persuaded to take her daugh-
ter back home after that scandal. and
her daughter is there by her side. And
there was the weeping washerwoman
whose children she had so often cloth
ed. And there was that poor con
sumptive girl grateful for the delica-