The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-12-26
CHRISTMAS AND THE FArdINE N NoRTHI4AND

who had never done any real harm,
and who were very hungry. W
The more l. thought the matter
lover, the more confident / became,
land I figured it out to myself that
If God came then and there, and stood
before us on the ice, would not try
to run and hide, but I would 90 right
up to Him and say: please, God,
1--WE are awful hungry, don't hurt us!''
But time for action had come, and
lmy brother unwound the, line and
carefully placed the smelt on the
hook. After the hook had been low
Tered to the proper depth theirs was
nothing for us to do but to watch and
wait. 2z%'
| It occurred to US then that perhaps
while we were waiting and watching
lit would not be a bad idea to take God
Into our full confidence. We knew
He must be aware of ourselves and
our circumstances, but He had much
to look after, and Christmas time
particularly must be busy time for
Him, and if we said nothing He might
Overlook us and our wants.
We argued the matter between US,
brother and l, and though we agreed
on the point that God could help US
and that we ought to tell Him all
about it, the grave question was how
to do it so that He may not be Of
Tended.
After much reasoning and many
quotations from the scriptures which
we had heard and read, we came to
the conclusion that if we got right
down on our knees and asked God as
nice as we could, He would not be
angry, and perhaps he would tell a
big fish to bite on our hook.
We then and there got down on
our knees on the cold ice and told God
all about it. We were far from being
eloquent, but we were terribly in
earnest; we didn't intend to have God
misunderstood us, that if it didn't
suit Him to send us. a fish, it would
be all right anyhow; we let Him un-
derstand that we needed it; that He
had it to give, and there was really
no excuse why He shouldn't do it.
We reminded Him again and again of
his promises, and we told Him that
we had not obthered Him much be-
lore, which was the truth, l fear,
though it did not appear to US then
as a rather peculiar plea.
In after years / remember hearing
venerable old preacher in the city
of Yonkers, New York, relate how he
once needed an overcoat, and how he
got right down to business and
wrestled with the Lord. According
to his story, he psad about the same
tactics as we did. Naturally he was
more eloquent and more used to it
than we were, perhaps more polite in
speech, but, like US, he let God know
what he needed, and also told Him
that he relied on what He had said:
ASK and we shall receive"
This way of approaching the Crea-
tor is old fashioned, and no doubt
sounds foolish to the modern church
goer, but even now, after passing
through many years of contact with
the worldly wise, it seems to me that
if there is any truth in the Christian
faith; if there is anything in it ex-
cept a cloak with which to hide ones
duplicity under cover of sanctity, it is
the right and only way.
The minister finished his story by
telling US that he was not at all sur
prised when, on the following day, he
received check from an unbeliever
with a note stating that though the
donor didn't believe in the stuff and
nonsense, he thought the preacherwas
too good man to 60 about freezing,
and he had seen him the day before
in the bitter cold without an overcoat.
l presume every person present
called himself or herself a Christian,
but as soon as the service was over
the criticism commenced. One wo-
man said that such talk was blasphe-
nous; a man said it was too silly to
listen to, and both agreed that the
congregation would better get more
modern man for preacher. Some
sneered and said the story was manu-
featured out of whole cloth and an
attempt on the part of the preacher
to become notorious, while others de-
clared that it might have happened,
and no doubt would have happened
if the preacher had never prayed, and
Christians though they called them
selves, not one of them believed that
God moved the man to send the
preacher the means wherewith to
purchase the coat because he had
prayed for it.
One old fellow, whose name should
Ihave been "Worldly Wise" asked me
what I thought about it. I was in a
peculiar position; 1 was what the
church goers called an infdel, and Mr..
Worldly Wise knew it. l knew he
intended to apologize for the old