Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-11-28

wait until he curses you to Your face
before you teach him. Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain.' You wait until he staggers
into your presence before you teach
him. Look not on the wine when it
Is red" You wait until he steals and
is off to the Denitentiary before you
teach him. Thou shalt not steal You
wait until he has robbed some girl Of
hei. virtue before you teach him. Thou
shalt not commit adultery" You walt
too long.
1t is too late to repair a ship after
she has left the dry dock 1t is too
late to take swimming lessons after the
vessel begins to sink. 1t is too late to
send for the insurance agent after the
flames have burst through. It is too
late to telephone for the life insurance
agents after the doctors have shaken
their heads and they have telephoned
for the undertaken. You wait too long.
You are too late with your prayers,
with your tears, with your sroans, with
your sermons. with song, with your
tabernacle You are too late. You
wait too long. You wait until hell
wraps Its thongs about them and drags
them off shrieking to the pit. then YOU
| try to save them. You are too late.
| is it well with the child?"
Recalls Childhood
| I want to say to you that one of
the brightest pictures that hangs up
on the walls OF my memory is the
recollection OF the days when as a lit
| tie boy, out In the log cabin on the
frontier of Iowa. knet by my moth
| er's side.
| / went back to the old farm III Story
| county some years ago TIC bury my
| brother. The first burying ground in
! that section of the state was on the
old farm, and went back to bury my
| brother. The scenes about the place
| had changed. Faces l had known and
i loved had long since turned to dust.
| Fingers that used to turn the pages of
/ the Bible were obiterated and the
old trees beneath which we boys used
to play and swing had been felled by
i the woodlands ak. | stood and thought.
/ The man became g. child again, and the
long weary nights of sin and of hard
| ships became as though they had new
er been. Once more with my favorite
dog trailing at my heels, and my gun
on my shoulder | walked through the
] pathelss woods and sat down on the
old familiar logs and stunps, and as
sat and listened to the wild, wierd har-
monies of nature, a vision of the past
opened. The squirrel from the limb of
the tree barked defiantly and I threw
myself into an Interrogation point and
when the gun cracked the squirrel fell
at my feet I grabbed him and ran
home to throw him down and receive
compliments for my skill as a marks
man. And saw the tapestry of the
evening fall, heard the lowing herds
and saw them wind slowly DER the lea,
and I listened to the tinkling bells
Once more heard the shouts of child
ish glee Once more I climbed the
stairs in the hay NOW for the hens
eggs. Once more we crossed tn:
] fhrpEhhOI1
Once more mother drew the trundle
bed out from under the higher one, anC
we boys, kneeling down, shut our eyes
and clasping our little hands, we said:
Now I lay me down to sleep. ! pray
the Lord my soul to keep, il I should
| die before I wake, and this / ask fol
Jesus sake. Amen"
I say l will never forget That j.
one of the brightest pictures tina
hangs on memory's wall
l tell it to you with shame I stretch.
ed the elastic bands of my mother
love until ! thought they would break
went SO far into the dark and the
wrong until 1 ceased to hear her pray
ers or her pleadings. I forgot her face
and l went SO far that 1t seemed to m,
that one more step and the elasti
bands of her love would break and
would be lost But thank God. friends
I never took that last step. Little b.
little yielded to the tender memories
and recollections of my mother ittl
by little ] was drawn away from thu
yawning abyss and % years ago, on,
dark and stormy night. / staggered ant
grouped my way out of darkness int
the arms of Jesus Christ and | fell OF
my knees and cried: God be mercifu
to me a sinner" Thus L am her,
preaching to you to help you to Jesus
Christ. Is 1t well? Is it well?
l sJs, nifty Tr,i ~
thy husband? Is it well with thu
child?'
Come in tonight.
|