The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-03-11

the sometimes dreaded delegate to
some religious convention or other
Emerson saws: 1.-THE ornaments of a
home are the guests who frequent
it." The boon, especially to chlIdfen'
of having new interests ana new out-
look impaired to their life by contact
with strangers may not be easily
measured The ShunaInite woman
gave richly to Gods prophet; but she
got more than she gave. The LORD
always sees that they who serve ms
servants are served by himself.
The one hunger of every normal
woman everywhere is for a son. Lack
of desire for children is-let us not
balk at the strong words-a sign OF
decadence and degenracy. Espec1al-
" in the east is this so. The COM
monest ccngratulation to an oriental
bride is the wish that she may have
many sons There is beautiful hu-
man bond in the casts interest," IN
ones children. often has my heart
been warmed by the oriental prayer
that cod would preserve to me my
sons-uttered in the same terms py
high government officials and by the
loWly peasants, as for instance, tne
vigorous Moslem centurion who Is the
keeper of the shrine of Jonah on tns
shores of the Mediterranean. Like all
the Bible touches, the one concerning
the Shunamite woman's deep longing
for a son is true to the life of the
land. Because hospitality always, IN
the long run, receives more bnan II
gives, this woman's kindly thought 1or
Elisha brought her the coveted helr.
knowing Where to Go in Trouble.
New springs of knowledge and pow
err and helpfulness are often openeu
nv hospitality Not uncommonly tne
guest becomes the benefactor OF ms
host. One of many results OF the
Shunamite woman's kindness to Elisha
ho
who was a helper in time7 OF need
| Consider the multitude who have no
| friend or councillor to whom 10 turn IN
| trouble. Pity the grief smitten who
| have neither earthly comforter, nor
| acquaintance with the heavenly. They
| indeed. tread the wine press alone"
Grief beyond words or mans con-
! ISOLATION enters the home when De-
I loved child dies. At such a TIM
| friends can but stand with bowed
comfort Only God, who gave UP his
only and well beloved Son to death,
can understand this sorrow. 1t came
] to that home in Shunem when boy,
| grown to years when he had Wouno
his personality like tendrils about the
! hearts of his parents, one day was
smitten in the field. and cried, my
head! My head!'' The end that fol-
lowed smote the bereaved father TO
numbness, but the mother into action.
| InStinctiVely, in the hOur OF neeQ,
she thought of the man Of God. Rlch
is the person who has a friend whose
name comes instantly to mind in trou-
BILE. With splendid decisiveness the
woman saddled an ass and started for
Mt. Carmel, sixteen mites away, where
she knew that Elisha was to be found;
for had he not spent the night in her
! guest chamber only a few days be-
fore? This was no time for servants;
she alone must go and fetch the
! prophet himself. The woman's force
of character is as noteworthy as her
faith of conviction. In a crisis she
was no dawdler; she wanted Elisha
and no other; and that kind of spirit
| generally accomplishes what it seeks
The happy sequel of the story is
familiar Elisha followed hard upon
the heels of Gehazi, and finding the
child already dead, he entered alone
into the room with the body and
there, as it were, called back the form
to animation by imparting his own
spirit to it. The God who gave and
took away life, in this rare instance,
restored it again. The child gone from
the home is not usually called back;
but in the child's place comes sense
of the nearness and reality of the
blessed life wherein God is the Wis
ible Father in a reunited home. Loved
ones across the border are the host
!, ages given to heaven, to assure ouI
own interest in and devotion to the
life that outlaSt5 the grave.