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Family I
MY FRIEND,
By Rev. J. E. Wallace.
I've a friend who loves me well,
And his name I love to tell,
For he saved my soul from hell,
'Tis Jesus.
He is tender, kind, and true.
Faithful, self-denying, too;
He will he the same to you,
"Will Jesus.
Then he never weary grows.
And my wants he always knows.
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Does Jesus.
Though I sometimes make him sad.
Yot I never make him mad,
Oh! i long to make him glad,
My Jesus.
He goes -with me every day;
Chases all the clouds away,
And ne'll never leave me, nay
Not Jesus. When
on death's sea I set sail.
May 1 hear no uttered wall.
For my voyage cannot fail.
With Jesus.
Heaven, I'm sure, will 'be the end,
And "tiwill all be due this Friend,
So for Him my life I'll apead.
For Jesus.
THK SYRIAN BABY.
BY MRS. C. W. LITTLE.
"A little child shall lead them."
I have had many happy experiences in my
work with the Craddle Koll, and have seen
many brought into a vital touch with the
church through the influence of the baby on
the Cradle Koll, but the incident of all others
which has warmed my heart and has made the
work for this year worth while, even though
there were no other rewards, is the one 1 take
pleasure in relating?the story of my Syrian
baby.
There came to my house last December a Syrian
salesman with oriental goods?beautiful
laces and linens. 1 had bought from him before,
and, though I did not know his name or
history, I recognized in him a gentleman of
refinement. 1 let him display his goods upon
my dining-room table, i was interested in uis
goods, but he was interested more in a sketch
of the Holy Land which was pinned upon the
wall. Finally he voiced his thoughts.
"What map is-that!"
"Don't you know?" "Isn't this your country
up here?" pointing to Syria.
"Yes," he said, "I know. I was born in
Damascus. Are you a church worker?"
"Yes," I said.
"Teach a Sabbath-school class!"
"Yes. I drew that map for a class of Junior
boys."
"Well, I used to teach in Sabbath school,
too, and always went to church, but I forgol
my religion when I came to this country."
"What was your religion?" I asked.
"I was a Presbyterian," he replied.
I told him that was my church and that it
was too good a religion to forget. Then he
Rave me such an interesting story of his
church near Damascus, of his good father and
mother, of their concern about his religious
life and church attendance in this country
and of his hard lucl$ since he came over hers
as an excuse for falling away from his home
training.
PRESBYTERIAN 07 THE 80
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Aeauiiigs
"Nobody seems to pray or think about Qod
over here, and so 1 did as 1 saw others do. Wo
used always to ask the blessing at home before
we ate, but I don't do it any more."
"Why, not!" I said. "Are you not as
thankful as ever to the Heavenly Father who
supplies your food?"
"Y08. but nobodv in America does it."
1 told him he was mistaken, that there were
thousands of Christian homes where they uever
eat without tirst giving thanks, but he bad
not found them. He told me of his wife, an
American girl, and then of his baby. 1 would
like you to have seen the tender look in his
eyes as he said :
"Oh, I tell you, she is pure joy. No mutter
whether I sell much or little, I go home to
her and forget my troubles. I do wish to have
my baby brought up in the church. Would
your minister baptize her?"
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but you are not living as you should. When
you give that child to God in baptism you
pledge yourself to bring her up as his child.
You can not do it unless you are living rightly
yourself; but I can put your baby on our
Cradle Roll and we will be so glad to help
you and the mother all we can."
So on Christmas Sunday, along with the
story of the Baby Jesus, who came to be the
Savior of the world, we talked of our little
Syrian baby whose father was born in Damascus,
not so very far away from Bethlehem.
and we put her name on the Cradle Roll.
The presentation of the Cradle Roll certificate
to the mother opened the way for a heart
talk with her in her home, and she admitted
that she was reared in a Christian family, but
had fallen into the ways of her husband.
Then I preached a little sermon on her lost
opportunity and asked her to come to our
church, where wc, as fellow Christians, could
help them both. There followed talks with
the pastor, the remembrance of baby at
Christmas time, the message of the "Golden
Now" each month, the prayers of those interested,
and the Holy Spirit working through
all these means. At the Easter communion
father and mother came into church fellowship.
Is this the climax of the story t There is a
pequel. At a Ladies Aid meeting soon after
mis 1 was asKed to make a "speech." I told
the story of the dark-skinned who had excited
the curiosity of some on that Sabbath day
when he was received into the church, and
said:
"Now he has taken the first step to better
things. Will you do your part to help him
in a practical way by giving him your patronage,
and will you call upon his wife in a
friendly way? If you do not, he will still
, have reason to believe that there is nothing
; vital in American Christianity."
They said they would. He was furnished
a list of fifty names at whose homes he might
call and expect to be courteously received
at least. lie now carries a bigger stock, and
! I know of several prospective brides whose
i "hope chests" contain many of his beautiful
I linens.
i He has moved his family from a little downtown
room to a comfortable cottage among
) wholesome people. Truly the love of a little
) child touches the beat there is in us.?Tlerold
and Presbyter.
IUTH [March 12, 1913
A WISE FEAB USED UNWISELY.
BY REV. Q. B. F. UALXOCK, D. D.
A young woman of about twenty-five years
of age, of beautiful character and highly respected
in the church and community, was one
of the first persons 1 approached at a time of
Bpecial spiritual interest in the church of which
1 was then pastor. 1 found that she had a sincere
love for Christ and was earnestly trying
to follow him, according to her own testimony.
And the testimony of her life confirmed what
she said to me as her pastor. I said: "Why
is it, then, that you have not united with the
Church T" She replied most earnestly and
frankly, with warmth of feeling: "Oh, I would
have united long age, but I was so afraid I
might bring dishonor on the Saviour." I replied:
"And, Miss H , that is such a
good fear to have." She seomed much surprised
at my answer. She had not looked at
it in that lieht: had not thoueht that such a
fear was only an added reason why she should
confess Christ.
I told her how much worth such a fear is,
and reminded her of Christ's many promises
of grace according to the day?daily strength
for daily duty, daily grace for daily need. I
also told her that uniting with the Church is
not professing religion, but confessing faith
in Christ; that professing religion is pointing
to oneself and seemingly saying: "Look at
me. I have become good now; good enough,
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ed as religious." I assured her that the very
opposite of this is the attitude of those who,
in proper spirit, confess Christ by union with
Ilis Church; that they come on confession. It
is confession, not profession. They confess
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their attitude,
and the rightly interpreted attitude of all those
who unite with the Church, is the opposite of
pointing to self and saying, "I have become
good now." It is pointing away from self to
Christ and saying, "Do not look at me, look
at my Savior. I do not profess to be good; but,
on the contrary, I realize that I am a weak
and helpless sinner. But I confess that in my
weakness I have turned to Him; I have taken
Him as my only hope; my faith is not strong,
but I am trusting Him, and I love Him and
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weakness I feel that I need all the help I can
get, and, therefore, I am joining myself with
His people, am obeying His command to ally
myself with His cause, and propose thus to
get all the help I can toward holding out always
as one of His disciples."
This way of looking at the matter seemed
surprising and entirely new to her. And it
_ S A _ * -
seemed xo come as a clearing up to her views
of duty. We knelt in a brief prayer together.
She expressed gratitude for the call and the
aid given. At the next communion she was
one of twelve of about her own age who united
with the Church.
It should be added that one of the reasons
this girl had looked at the matter as she had
done was that her mother, though an excellent
woman, was very exacting, and had always
Jkept before her daughter a magnified re
quiremenr 01 penecuon, Doth in her own case
and the case and conduct of others. She was
very critical of the smallest faults in those who
were church members.
I am glad to add that the mother herself outgrew
this tendency as the years passed on,
and she became a much happier Christian. No
doubt the daughter's quiet and beautiful character
and influence had much to do with the
ch&ngo.
It is hard for some people to realize that a
Christian is just one who loves Christ and is