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PINEY
WOODS
THE BOY IN THE LITTLE TOWN
AND WHAT A WOMAN’S CLUB
DID.
By Walter L. W. Distelhorst.
(This article will be of especial value
to the clubs in small communities,
as supplementary reading. The ideas
embodied can easily be carried out
in any village, town or neighbor
hood. —Ed.)
TIE door slammed, and Mrs.
Smith, looking out of the side
window, saw fifteen-year-old
Arthur Brown sulk along the sidewalk
on his way down town.
The busy little Mrs. Brown came
in to greet her visitor, patting her
hair and smoothing her apron as she
hurried forward, with tears not far
from her eyes.
“That’s the second time in a week
he’s gone off this way,’’ she said to
her friend. “I wish Sam Fisher would
stop writing to him, because every
time a letter comes, Arthur wants to
go to the city, too He’s as discon
tented as he can be with this ‘little
place,’ as he calls it, since school
closed. I don’t know what to do. He
is the oldest of my little flock, but
it would break my heart to see him
leave.”
Her visitor did not deliver her mes
sage at once for the claims that the
Shakespeare Study Club had on a
mother in the face of such a problem
seemed rather slight. So they rocked
on together in sympathetic silence for
a time, when Mrs. Smith ventured:
“I was asked by the club at yester
day’s meeting to find out why you
didn’t come and why you didn’t come
two weeks ago, you being the one who
really started the club. The message
of King Lear is—”
It dawned on Mrs. Smith that her
__ JACOB BEFORE PHARAOH.
June 15, 1913.
Time —1706 B. C. Place —Pharaoh’s
Court.
The Golden/ Text— * 4 AII things work
together for good to them that love
God.” Rom. 8-28.
Suggestive Thoughts.
What Should I do?
I. Honor Your Parents. Vs. 1 to 4
and 7.
Joseph was Governor of Egypt and
surrounded by culture, wealth and
splendor. His Father and brethren
were plain shepherds without culture,
rank or honor. But Joseph was not
ashamed of them. He introduced his
father to Pharaoh with pride. Too
often children who have become dis
tinguished in the world have been
ashamed of their old-fashioned fath
ers and mothers to whom they owed
all that gave them power to rise
among men. Such conduct is not
only heart breaking to their parents
that have toiled, suffered and sacri
ficed for their children,: but places
the stigma of dishonor on those who
are so ungrateful. Follow the exam
ple of Joseph, and honor your father
and mother. This act revealed the
greatness of the character of Joseph.
He had reason to be ashamed of his
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hostess was not interested in King
Lear’s message, so she stopped. She
was right, for Mrs. Brown began:
“Arthur’s father has been so tired
when he comes home from the store
evenings that we haven’t been able to
discuss this —trouble that has come to
us. But we must settle it tonight;
just how, I don’t know. The city is
getting all our young men; Mrs. Fish
er’s son is only one of a long line, and
my son will be next, unless I can keep
him here.”
“Yes of course,” murmured Mrs
Smith as she arose, without pleading
further the cause of the Shakespeare’s
Study Club, and Mrs Brown followed
her to the door, her thought with her
boy.
That evening Mrs. Brown had to
prepare the three youngest children
for bed alone, Bessie, who was thir
teen, failing to arrive in time to help.
In fact, Bessie did not reach home un
til nearly nine o’clock —from “Nellie’s”
—and she was sent to bed after being
scolded soundly. Her pillow was wet
with tears when she fell asleep.
Arthur was still out when his father
reached home.
Mr. Brown was the son of a farmer,
having married the daughter of a Lit
tle Town merchant, and by hard work
earned an interest in the business.
He was looked upon as one of the
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
By B. LACY HOGE, Richmond, Va.
brethren in the midst of the splendor
of Pharaoh’s Court, but he was not.
Our Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ,
has reason to be ashamed of you, but
He is not. (Heb. 2-10 and 11.) He
not only calls us brethren, |>ut a
great day is coming, when He will
present us faultless before the King
of kings (Judges 24).
11. Provide for Your Brethren. Vs. 5
and 6.
Joseph always planned things before
hand. He anticipated Pharaoh’s ques
tion as to! their occupation and in
structed them how to answer (Gen.
46-33 and 34). He wished to locate
them in the best of the land and
therefore planned to secure it for
them. Pharaoh did not think much
of these men. All they obtained they
got because they were the brethren
of Joseph. There is nothing in us to
commend us to God, except the fact
that we are Christ’s brethren. For
Joseph’s sake Pharaoh gave them the
best of the land and offered to put
them in positions of influence and
honor, if they were capable of filling
them. God for the Lord Jesus Christ’s
sake makes to us greater offers than
the offers of Pharaoh to Joseph’s
brethren (1 Cor. 3r22; Rom. 8-28; Phil.
4-19; 2 Cor. 9-8).
ill. Bless Others. Vs. 7 to 10.
The Golden Age for May 29, 1913
leading citizens. Some people called
him hard, but in his favor it was ar
gued that he was just. Mr. Brown
knew everybody in town —except his
own children.
The boy arrived home soon after
h’s father did, evidently sorry for his
conduct of the afternoon; but before
he was able to ask his mother’s par
don, the father demanded irritably
what he meant by his peculiar actions
of late. The boy shrank within him
self, listened silently to the father’s
harsh words and went to bed with a
harder feeling toward his parent than
he ever had before; while the father
and the mother realized helplessly that
they were farther from their boy than
ever.
“We must interest him,” repeated
the desperate mother —“either that, or
he will follow Sam Fisher to the city.
And here I have been wasting so much
time studying Shakespeare, when I
should have been busy making my
children happy and contented with
their home.”
But Mr. and Mrs. Brown had to re
tire for the night before she came upon
a plan. No way presented itself next
day, or the next. She prayed that the
revelation might not be too late. The
club’s next meeting day arrived and
she got no further than a resolve to
withdraw from it, the better to devote
Jacob may have appeared insignifi
cant to Pharaoh but Jacob was the
greater of the two (V. 7; Heb. 7-7.
Jacob gave to Pharaoh a greater bless
ing than Pharaoh conferred upon him
by offering the whole land to him.
Jacob with all his faults and failures
knew God and therefore could give a
blessing from God to Pharaoh. The
man that is now in Christ and an
heir of God, is greater than the great
est man of the world. If he lives in
close fellowship with Christ he can
give to men a greater blessing than
the greatest and wealthiest of the
world can give. God blesses you that
you may be a blessing to others, so
if you have received a blessing, pass
it on to others and God will give you
a greater one.
IV. Value Time. Vs. 8 and 9.
The one hundred and thirty years
of Jacob’s life was short in compari
son with the lives of his ancestors
(Gen. 5-27; Gen. 11-11, 24, 25; Gen.
25-7, 8; Gen. 35-28). The average
modern life is very short in compari
son with the life of Jacob. This ought
to cause us to learn “to number our
days,” and “apply our hearts unto
wisdom” (Ps. 90-12; James 4-14; Ps.
90:9, 10). Our pilgrimage here is
short at the longest and we should
SKETCHES
By MARGARET BEVERLY UPSHAW
herself to her children and her home,
just how, she hardly knew. She was
on her way to the meeting when the
revelation came.
And it was in this wise:
Mrs. Brown was passing a vacant
lot where a crowd of boys was playing
baseball, Arthur among them. Sud
denly the ball was batted through a
near-by window, and scarcely had the
tinkle of the breaking glass ceased
before the angry housekeeper was on
the heels of the retreating youngsters.
Only Arthur stood his ground, and
Mrs. Brown reached the scene just
as the altercation was at its height.
“I will pay for the window,” she
said, opening her pocketbook. She
paid the money over happily, for now
she saw clearly and, what is more,
there rang in her ears the words of
her son:
“Thank you, mother.”
The club meeting that afternoon was
of little interest to her until the chair
man announced “New business” on the
program. Then Mrs. Brown asked for
the floor.
“I came here with my mind made
up to resign,” she began. “I thought
I could no longer take the time for
club work from my duties to my chil
dren and my home. I almost forgot
that other mothers had the same trou
ble as I, and that their boys, too, were
restless and dissatisfied with this Lit
tle Town, and wanted to go to the
city. But I have just begun to realize
that I make my home most interest
ing to my children when I help to
make the town interesting—and to do
that I need the help of other mothers.”
Then she told the story of the base
ball game.
“This need for play-places for our
children,” she explained, “has gone un
(Continued on Page 16.)
seek to really live and not waste the
years of our sojourn on earth. Value
your time and make each day count
for something, by doing good to some
one, leading someone to Christ, mak
ing this old world better and hasten
ing the coming of our Lord (2 Peter
3-12 R. V. margin).
V. Provide for Your Parents. Vs. 11
and 12.
Here we see Joseph nourishing “his
father and his brethren, and all his
father’s household. This is a good
example for every son to follow. We
should never permit our parents to
want for anything if in our power to
supply it. Here we see Joseph as a
type of Christ. His heart’s desire was
to have his father and brethren with
him. Now they are with him and he
is sustaining them. The great long
ing desire of our Joseph’s heart is to
have us with him in the place He has
gone to prepare for us (John 14-2, 3;
John 17-24). He cares for us and sus
tains us now (John 10-10, 28). We can
have Him with us now all the days
(John 14-23; Matt. 28-20). We shall
dwell in His house forever (Ps. 23-€).
Joseph in nourishing his father was
anticipating and obeying that law af
terwards given by Moses and empha
sized by Jesus Christ (Ec. 20-12; Matt.
15-4 to 6; 1 Tim. 5-8).
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