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February 26, 1913] TH1
, St. John
(Poem read by the late Rev. Or. John A. Preat
"I'm growing very old. This weary head,
That hath so often leaned on Jesus' breast,
In days long past that seem almost a dream.
Is bent and hoary with Its weight of years.
These limbs that followed Him?any Master?oft
From Galilee to Judah; yea, that stood
Beneath the cross, and trembled with His groans,
Refuse to bear me even through the streets
To preach unto my hcildren. E'en my lips
Refuse to form the words my heart sends forth.
My ears are dull, they scarcely hear the sobs
Of my dear children gathered around my oouch.
God lays his hand upon me?yea, His hand.
And not His rod?the gentle hand that i
Felt, those three years, so often pressed in mine,
In friendship such as passeth woman's love.
"I'm old, so old 'I cannot recollect
The faces of my friends; and I forget
The words and deeds that make up dally life;
But that dear face, and every word He spoke,
Grows more distinct as others fade awnv
So that I live with Him and holy dead
More than with the living.
Some seventy years ago I was a fisher iby the sacred
sea. ' .
It was at sunset. How the tranquil tide
Bathed dreamily the pebbles! How the light
Crept up the distant hills and In Its wake
Soft purple shadows wrapped the dewy fields'
And then he came and called me. Then I gazed
For the first time on that sweet face. Those eyes,
From out of which, as from a window, shone
Divinity, looked on my inmost soul,
And lighted it forever. Then His wordB
Broke on the silence of my heart and made
The whole world musical. Incarnate love
Took hold of me and claimed for Its own.
I followed in the twilight, holding fast
Hla mantle.
"O! what holy walks we had
Through harvest fields and desolate, dreary wastes'
And oftentimes He leaned upon my arm.
Wearied and wayworn?I was yorung and strong,
And so up bore Him. "Lord, now T am weak,
And old and feeble! Let me rest on Thee!
So, put thine arms around me. Closer still!
How strong Thou art! The twilight draws a pace
Come, let us leave these noisy streets, and take
The path to Bethany, for Mary's simile
Awaits us at the gate, and Martha's handB
Have long prepared the cheerful evening meal?
THE GREAT AWAKENING.
(Continued from page 3.)
something. She evidently saw poor Mary (her
nurse) enveloped in flames as she rushed
through the room and from one room to another.
Think what a narrow escape the child
had?her crib teas scorched by the flames.
Horrible event that was. The house did not
catch fire, but Mary when she found herself
burning (it all came from her simply flirting
i_ _i a j j i ? 11- j . \
ner skiti as sne turned arouna neiore ine grate;
lost all control of herself, ran around the room,
up stairs and down stairs, from window to
window, until finally she fell, exhausted, in the
bath-room. She left her mark every where.
Think what a dreadful scene! Death came to
her next morning?
You know, my sister wrote me that her husband
had, through this awful dispensation of
Providence, become a changed man. The remarkable
escape of his idolized and only child,
mode a deep impression on him. I feel assured
that God'8 Spirit has touched hiB heart. Our
pastor, Dr. B. believes so?It is all in line with
the great religions awakening in progress here,
Many striking and notable things have happened
in the city. The revival still goes on,
and with scarcely any abatement of interest!
This state of things has continued now for
four months. .And that too, among a people
immersed in business and gnyety. T dare not
PBE8BYTE&IAN OF THE 8<
the Aged
on at the close of hds sermon on "John the Beloved.")
Come, James, the Master waits; and Peter, see
Has gone on steps before.
"What say you friends?
That this is Epheeus, and Christ has gone
Back to His Kingdom? Ay! 'tis so, 'tis so.
I know it adl; and yet just now, I seemed
To stand once more upon my native hills
And touch any Master. O, how oft I'd seen
The touching of his garments 'bring iback strength
To palsied limbs! I feel it has to mine.
Up! bear me once more to my Church, once more
There let me tell them of a Saviour's love;
For, by the sweetness of my Master love
Just now, I trust, to break the veil, which time
Has worn so thin that I can see beyond,
And watch His footsteps.
"So raise up my head,
How dark it is! I cannot seem to see
The faces o< my flock. Is that the sea
That murmurs so, or is it weeping? Hush
'My little children! God so loved the world
He gave His Son. So love yo one another?
Love God and man. Amen?iNow bear me back
My legacy with an angry world is this,
i feel my work is finished. Are the streets so full?
What, call the folk my name? The Holy John?
Nay with me rather, Jesus Christ's beloved,
And lover of my children.
"Let me down
Once more upon my couch, and open wide
The eastern window. See, there comes a light
Like that which broke upon any soul at even
When, in the dreary He of Patmos, Gabriel came
And touched me on the shoulder. See it grows
As when we mounted toward the pearly gates.
I know the way! I took it once (before
And hark! it is the son.*? the ransomed sang
Of glory to the Lamb! 11 ow loud it sounds!
And that unwritten one! Methinks my soul
Can Join it -now. But who are these who crowd
The shining way? Say! Joy! it the eleven,
With Peter first! How eagerly lie looks!
How light the smiles are beaming on James' face?
I am the last. Once more we are complete
To gather round the Paschal feast. My place
Is next my Master. O, my Lord, my Lord!
How bright Thou art! and yet the very same
I loved in Galilee. Tie worth the hundred years.
To feel this bliss! So lift me up, dear Lord.
Unto Thy bosom. There shall 1 abide."
doubt the genuiness of it. You have but to go
to church or to prayer meeting; you have but
to see the poeple themselves sitting in deep and
respectful interest, listening to the simple gospel;
or to watch "the workers" (volunteers)
when the call, "Come to Jesus" was made,
arise quietly from their seats and go to this
or that one, lean over or sit beside them in
earnest talk; you have but to see these things
I say. t? feel that God is here. Men, women
and young people were at work. To my astonishment
my own young sister, whom here
tofore I could never have pictured doing such
a thing, arose from my side, sat down by a
friend and began to speak for Christ?Old
men whose hearts had been as hard as a beaten
path?young fashionable men and women,
whose frivolity had amounted to a species of
delirium, hung with the simple earnestness of
children on the preacher's words. The whole
city is stirred (although of course numbers
keep on in their old ways), society is upturned,
brotherly love seems to he established, and
Christian fellnwahir? flia Una ?1
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social intercourse. Deep feeling exists and the
re-establishment of faith, but no 'excitement,"
nor religious sentimentality. The people just
seem to recognize that sin is a dreadfnl thing,
that salvation is a wonderful gift, that religion
*is the chief concern of every sonl. The ploughshare
of God's Spirit has gone deep into the
social soil and obliterated much of the surface
4'
?
)OTH (178) 5
lines of worldly distinction. One morning 1
felt my hand grasped in a tight grip and warm
words of affectionate greeting poured into my
ear. If we had met under other circumstances
it is doubtful if we would have even spoken to
each other. For "the war" had separated us;
feeling in St. Louis had not yet died out, his
father had been prominent and active against
the South, and the whole family belonged to
the "renegade Southerners," who were regarded
by us "returned rebels," with special and
indignant contempt?But now! As we faced *
each other, all this was put away; and we talked
only of the "glorious work," and "the
good that was being done"?I am not given
to sensation; and am rather of a questioning
nature; but I feel, "woe is me if I lift a carp
U1K ui a uuuuuiig voice a gill lis I III IB WOrK"
It is a fearful aud a solemn thing to have God,
the living omnipotent God, so evidently at
work around you, as He has been working
here."?As ever, P. D. S.
Such was the "Great Awakening" of 187-4,
in St. Louis. Another instance you see, of a
"great awakening in a city;" and a recent one.
It is wholesome for God's people who live
in cities, to believe that a "real awakening;"
a genuine and divine visitation and with power,
can come on cities. The tides are fearful which
city saiuts have to contend against. Try hard
to keep up a close personal "walk with God,"
to keep up daily private prayer, daily Bible
reading, daily Family Religion, the church's
Weekly Prayer Meeting. Tia hard to order
your household, to retain the respect and
obedience of your boys and girls, to maintain a
real and recognized Christian atmosphere in
your Home?But?with God, all things are pos?L1
sinie?
If a "Great Awakening ever again visits this
land, it will start probably in some city.
Why not in Richmond? Why not pray for
it?
February, 1913. P. D. S.
A great many of us fail in the attempt to
live the Christian life, and we are utterly at a
loss to understand the reason. We pray earnestly,
but yet there is something lacking to
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. ii uaii ii u uccu i? more iaiiu.
We do not trust Jesus enough. We do not take
him at his word. He has promised to give us
free salvation, everlasting life, and his Holy
Spirit to direct us in all our ways, but we are
afraid of accepting all these precious and most
blessed gifts from the fear of being thought
presumptuous. But Jesus is so loving and kind
that he wants us to accept all these things.
What did he die fort He died for us that we
might live. He does not think it presumptuous
if we give our hearts to him. So he is quite
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that we may live to honor him, and direct others
to him as the only true way to life, light,
love and real happiness which the world cannot
give, but which is found in Jesus Christ
himself, the author and finisher of our faith. In
all trials and troubles, always remember that to
be really happy "one needs must love the highest.
'1?Selected.
n- T /"<?i?
^i. x uluuui t. xj. vjuv ier is credited in is
quotation from a conversation with Gladstone:
"Tour country is threatened with two dangers:
one is your lax system of divorces, which saps
the sanctity of home, and the other is a plutocracy
which can buy its way into legislative
bodies and executive offices."
Be Modest. "We draw the foam from the
great river of humanity with our quills and
imagine to ourselves that we have caught floating
Islands at least."?Goethe.