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August 30, 1911] T H ? J
and thus iar away from the helpful restraints
of home and the salutary cheeks of church and
community.
Vanity fair is in lull blast all about him, and
how attractively do its varied fascinations appeal
to "the lusts of the liesh, the lusts of the
eyes, and the pride of life.'' He is among strangers,
his Christian profession unknown, and no
one at home need know one syllable of what he
may do. Under the strain of a satanic solicita
tion he takes the "one step" of a sip of the forbidden
pleasures of the world, the tiesli, and the
I devil?just to see for himself how they taste.
And the very angels almost weep as they see
an immortal soul starting in on "a long walk
with the devil,' "as an ox goeth to the slaughter.
''
The modern and rapidly growing widespread
manner of spending the Sabbath also provides
an opportunity with thousands of nominal
ehurch members to take that "one step."
With plausible speech the devil says to them,
"Let us take a step out into the forests and
fields today." Why not? Where's the danger,
and what's the harm? Is not nature a great
sanctuary of the highest? Are not the groves
God's first temples? Under the vaulted roof of
the sky, and amid the fluted columns of the trees,
we can hold communion with the invisible Creator
of all things land worship Him just as reverently
and devoutly as in a stuffy pew and heat
saturated church.
Satanic logic! that leads the deluded victim
of it to turn his back upon the Father's house
of prayer and pnaise. and to erradiiatp h,im f#r.
ther on into "a long walk with the devil" in the
direction of Sunday excursions, automobile
spins, baseball games, moving picture shows, and
similar methods of profaning God's Holy Day,
under the pretentious plea, of needed rest and
relaxation for tired body and jaded mind.
A captious trilling with the inspired teachings
of the Bible may likewise register a "one
step" with the devil." In an arrogant ani inflated
self conceit, and under the high sounding
and pretentious claim of '' Scholarship," one may
question and dispute the "historiaty" of the
early chapters of Genesis, the authenticity of the
Penteteuch, the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures,
the reality of miracles, the virgin birth of
Christ, and other fundamental doctrines of our
most holy faith, in a summary and off-hand way
they may be docketed as moot questions for further
scientific analysis and critical investigation.
Behind the postulates of the infidelic and rationalistic
type of the so-called higher criticism,
?tan as that unseen personality, the devil, the
first and original "Higher Critic," with his ancient
and sneering question, "Yea, hath God
said?"
Take this "one step" with him in a reckless
questioning of the truih of Holy Writ, and you
are well nigh certain to wander far afield under
the mists and shadows of doubt and denial of the
essential landmarks and cardinal points of a
well grounded and saving faith.
And the vitally serious thing in this whole
matter of the "one steD" is. that, it not
the young, with their passionate impulses, immature
convictions, and limited experiences that
confront the danger, but the long roll of life's
moral failures include also the middle-aged and
the old.
How often does such a heading confront our
eyes: "Another good man gone wrong." And
the sad story is told of a man up in years, of the
highest respectibility, and unquestioned integrity,
possibly an officer in the church. But, in an
evil moment, he took the "one step" of a misappropriation
of trust funds, to make a speculative
venture, or, to meet some pressing need, with
the set intention of replacing the abstracted
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE 8C
money at an early date, with no one the loser
or the wiser by the act.
The old story repeated over and over again
of a blurred conscience and a wrecked reputation.
The lesson and the moral of the "one step"
knocks at the heart-door of each one of us.
Would we escape that fateful "one step" and
thus be safe from the ruinous "long walk with
the devil"* Divine wisdom and grace tells us
how: "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely."
That's the open secret and the only way.
Keyser, Ya.
THE PRODIGAL.
MRS. ANNA L. PRICE.
Miss Lida, or "Aunt Lida," of the Alcot
household, sat in her arm-chair?she usually
sat there, opposite the long horizontal lookingglass
in the "living room." The elderly lady
laid aside her kniting for a moment, to listen
to the hush more pronounced of the quiet house,
and with an intuitive sense of coming events
at times given to some minds in a shadowy, indescribable
way, wondered "what is it?" when
her niece, Mrs. Alcot, entered the room. There
, was a woe-begone countenance, also a weary enchanted
movement, as this lady dropped into
the nearest chair and essayed to speak; but the
words were merely gulped down and the liDs
giave no sound. The dry eyes, too, seemed glued
to a scrap of paper in her hand, and Mrs. Aloofs
whole frame was trembling with emotion.
"Aunt Lida" spoke gently, inquiringly, and
then the pent-up feelings broke forth in a torrent
of tears and partial relief. "He's gone,
my boy Edgar is gone! has left us." And still
the diminutive paper with its still more diminutive
message was scanned as if the words would
burn themselves into her soul. "My boy, my
only one?"
"Be calm, Margaret, be still," said Aunt Lida
soothingly, as she walked feebly over to the
sad mother's side. "I see Edgar has foolishly
run away from his good parents and pleasant
home. It is a sorrow, indeed, but not a
remediless one. I've seen such things happen
sometimes, and I've known even good to come
out of them. Calm yourself, my dear, and
wait?and?" Now, it was Miss Lida's turn to
break down and weep with her heart-broken
mother. "And pray, you meant to add. Aunt.
Lida." "Yes, let us pray, it is all we can do."
The two knelt and in a few low words God
was entreated for help in this domestic tragedy,
to care for the rash, mistaken boy and to restore
him. It is thus with all the sinners for
whom Christ died, wandering from a Heavenly
Father's fold. He watches over them and
yearns for their return.
Edgar Alcot was the only son and child of
his parents, who were most worthy and religious
people, and quite well-to-do in the world. Truly
attached to their child, they had, like many
other parents, allowed the pity of their affections
to outrun their solid judgment and, in
a word, had spoiled Edgar; not neglected his
education or moral training, for Edgar Alcot
f>nnlH TYO so fr\y a rmr\A KnTT D" ??J
???.*% I'MW u gwu ia/j . A/JT pi cccp t mill
example, Mr. and Mrs. Alcot bad inculcated
right principles. Then, wherein lay their mistake
t They had failed to give him useful work
to do; and, believe me, if young people have
nothing of useful labor in hand, Satan will
find some sort of occupation for them, and Satan
's choice is never good for the soul or for the
community. What notion was it that punished
the parent for providing no trade for his
child, thereby intimating that the future idle
man might become a menace and burden to the
State.
.r - #
)UTB (819) 3
Edgar Alcot, no longer a child, tired of petting,
and not yet wholly a man, took his own
case unwisely in his own hands, and sought,
he knew not what, afar from his good home.
Neither was he heartless, as those few words,
scribbled on a scrap of paper and left for his
fond mother to find in his deserted, lonely room,
would indicate. "I am tired of home and off
to see the world"?that was all; never a word
of explanation or good-bye to father or mother.
Rnt. inst. hprp lot mo osw 4-Viot J
, ? ? , iw , HUH "UgOl WUIU
not trust himself to add father, his purpose
would have failed him, the artificial steeling
he had contrived would have broken in the middle
and Edgar had not gone.
Well, nothing could be done. There was no
clue as to whither the foolish boy had run,
and no satisfaction to the home-friends' inquiries
around if any had seen his starting off; strange,
it seemed as though he had just vanished in
the thin air and left no trace behind. The
desolate ones settled down as best they could
and waited for providential openings. Who
shall tell the sore aching of that mother's heart,
the father's lonely disappointment, and "Aunt
Lida's" sympathy for both? Prayer was made
without ceasing unto God for him, not' by the
Church as for imprisoned Peter, but by the
household of three. Time rolled on as it has
a habit of doing, and while the sorrowful regret
of the Alcots remained, the grace of God that
giveth comfort was there, the cutting edge of
grief grew smoother and duller, else how could
grief-stricken hearts bear up and bear on. This
is a merciful arrangement of God for a world
like the present. I have known a. few exceptions
where deep sorrow was nursed and the afflicted
just refused to be comforted; what has
been the result! Why a crazed state of mind,
a total inability to perform life's duties, and a
crushing weight of oare and distress to surviving
friends. Then, often, God is better to us than
our fears.
One day, in the early fall, a year or more
after Edgar disappeared land when "Aunt
Lida" was still sitting in the rocker before that
horizontal mirror, with the open Bible in her
lap and the companionable knitting in hand,
it happened that Mary, the little Alcot maidof-all-work.
came excitahlv?"O Miaa A !/?<-?+
there is a drunken man lying on the grass inside
the gate; come, quick!"
The lost Edgar was ever uppermost in the
mother's mind. And this proved to be the
returning prodigal. But he was not drunk.
Exhausted by sickness and fatigue, sore longing
for home and tired of seeing the world, behold
him back.
There is no need to lengthen the story. Our
Saviour has portrayed it in the parable of the
prodigal son, and often also has the reality been
repeated in this world. But the picture has two
sides, one for tears and the other for smiles and
rejoicing. "Aunt Lida" bad wept with those
who wept and now she rejoiced with the same
who had come to gladness/ In time, the good
saint was given the sleep of God's beloved ones
and no more did she linger here below. At the
end, I will tell a very wonderful thing regarding
"Aunt Lida;' Wonderful and true, though inexplicable,
at least by me. An eye-witness
vouches for my statement. Upon the polished
surface of that mirror opposite, was delineated
perfectly Aunt Li da's form and feature, traced
by no human art or device. How came it there ?
I cannot tell, but there it was. "^X ^
Shall we ask the long continued posture, the,- & ,
medium of air, sunlight, electricity, or what f J-5
All silent, but the picture is on the glass, or't*^5
was, at the time of my information. V'3>
Marlington, W. Ya. KO'ZS'