January, 1^37
THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
15
Junior King's Business By MARTHA S. HOOKER
DESERT FLOWERS B y L il l ia n I. R obin son
P HYLLIS and Philip, the twelve-year- old twins, were on their way to the western coast for their very first visit to their Aunt Lucy. They had never before been outside of New England, and they loved the big boat which took them all the way from New York to New Orleans, where Aunt Lucy met them. Then it was such fun to go with her to board the long train for Los Angeles. The second day on the train they passed through the great desert region of Arizona. As Phyllis looked out of the wide windows of the observation car, she saw for a long time nothing but low brown hills and long stretches of hot dry sand and sagebrush, baking in the glaring sun. After a while Philip noticed some prickly green plants dotting the barren landscape. Neither Philip nor Phyllis had ever seen a cactus plant before. “ I wonder how they keep so green in this hot desert,” said Philip. “ Oh, look! There’s one that’s blossom ing!” cried Phyllis excitedly, pointing to a tall cactus with several scarlet flowers on it. Philip and Phyllis, watching eagerly, saw to their surprise that many of the cacti bore flowers of rare beauty. The blossoms were of different shapes and colors. “How strange!” said Phyllis. “ I should never have believed they could bloom in the middle of the wilderness!” “ Cactus candy! Cactus candy!” called a passing porter. Soon he was beside them, offering beautifully decorated boxes of cac tus candy fo’r sale. To the twins’ delight, Aunt Lucy bought them a box of the candy. On the cover of the box was a hand-painted picture of flowering cacti. Inside, on top
Christ, as the Johnsons do. But mission aries aren’t the only Christians who are like cacti. Often just plain everyday life is pretty much of a desert for God’s peo ple. They get tired and thirsty and hun gry, too. Just like cactus plants, we must always keep looking up and drawing our life from above, from our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we shall be able to keep on bearing the precious flowers and fruit of the Spirit. Then travelers through the wilderness can be refreshed and strengthened and can find life-giving food through us.” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” quoted Phyl lis softly, with a far-away look in her dark eyes. “ Oh, Aunt Lucy, I do want to be a cactus-Christian and bear that kind of fruit every day!” she exclaimed. “Let’s keep this picture of the cactus painted on our candy box to remind ourselves always to be ‘cactus-Christians,’ shall we?” Philip answered briefly, “Let’s.” “ I’m sure you two will always blossom and bear fruit for our Lord Jesus Christ, in whatever part of the desert He may place you,” Aunt Lucy assured them lov ingly, for she knew that Phyllis and Philip hoped to serve the Lord Jesus as foreign missionaries some day. He Calls You The Saviour is calling to children today; He calls them to enter the heavenly way. He calls them to follow the pathway of truth, T o trust Him and serve Him while still in their youth. —Signposts on Life’s Way.
of the squares of candy, lay a booklet ex plaining something about cactus plants and cactus candy. The twins were soon en joying both the candy and the booklet. “ It says here that cactus plants get most of their nourishment, not from the dry sand in which they grow, but from the air and sunlight above them,” said Philip wonder- ingly, as he munched the delicious candy. “And the cactus has not only flowers but fruit which can be eaten by people who are lost in the desert. It is thus a life saving plant. The cactus candy is also made from this fruit.” “ Yes, I know,’! said Aunt Lucy. “ There are many cacti near my home in Cali fornia.” “How wonderful!” said Phyllis, and then addejl slowly, “The cactus seems to remind me of something Mother "once told us— about how our Christian life must con tinually be fed from above, no matter where we may be.” Philip thought for a while. Then he said, “Well, the cactus reminds me of mis sionaries, like Dad’s friends, the Johnsons, away over there on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa. There is nothing there to make them happy, but they are like cactus flowers. They bloom for Christ in the desert.” “ Oh, yes,” answered Phyllis, "¿¿‘and mis sionaries tell the people of the Lord Jesus who is the Bread of Life. Without Him they would die unsaved in the desert.” Aunt Lucy had been listening quietly. Now she spoke. “ Yes, a cactus saves a starving man’s physical life, but a mis sionary can save his spiritual or eternal life by pointing him to our Lord Jesus
Courtesy, Southern Pacific Co.
Cacti in desert parts of Arizona add beauty to barren regions.
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