had collected money at school for children like Ernestina, but it was a lot better to take something in person. Penny hurried through breakfast, did the few duties that were her spe cial responsibility, said goodby to her mother, and was off. Ernestina was sitting by the win dow in her wheel chair, and called to Penny as she came up the walk: “ Yoo, hoo, Penny! My, I’m glad to see you!” Penny stooped and kissed her. “ I brought you something, Ernestina,” she said, as she drew aside the green wax paper that covered the creamy blossoms. Emestina’s eyes shone. “ Oh, thank you, thank you, Penny! I just love lilies! They make me think of the words of Jesus, ‘Consider the lilies.’ That’s one thing I can do. Sometimes I wonder what a little cripple like me can ever do for Him. My feet can’t run errands any more, and my hands can’t do much . . . Isn’t ‘con sider’ a nice word?” “ I’m not sure exactly what it means,” said Penny truthfully, “ you were always so much better than I in school.” “ Let’s look it up in the dictionary. It’s on the table over there.” Together they bent over the book. “ Here it is!” Penny exclaimed, “ ‘to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.’ When you ‘consider the lilies,’ Ernestina, what are you going to think about?” “ Oh, let me see: how they began — from plain, little, brown bulbs; then how they were buried in the rich, black earth. It was dark and cold and scary — down there — like a prison!” “ Oooh!” said Penny, “ It’s just like a story! Then what happened?” “ The little bulbs just waited for the light. Then one day they broke the walls and came out to meet the sun.” Ernestina stroked a waxy blossom. “ Isn’t it a beautiful thing to have come out of a hole in the earth?” she asked. “Well, the Lord Jesus Himself came out of a dark prison, too, at Easter time,” Penny reminded her friend. Ernestina nodded. “Yes, and every one of us comes out of a dark place, too.” “What do you mean, Ernestina?” “ Oh, God’s light in the Bible shows us we are sinners, and that we need Jesus as our Saviour. So when we accept Him, we come out of the dark ness of sin.” “ Oh, I know that! Go on, Ernes tina!” “There’s one more thing about the lilies — that’s their mission.”
Consider the Lilies by Helen Frazee-Bower
P e n n y k n e w when she wakened that this day was going to be dif ferent. There was a “ special” feeling in the air. Maybe it was the unusual brightness of the sun, the extra lilt in the song of the canary, the way in which a tiny breeze teased the cur tains of her window; but really it was none of these things. At last she remembered this was the day she was going to take the pot of lilies to Ernestina! Emestina’s little crippled hands would touch the flowers so lovingly and her understanding heart would read a message in every blossom. Once
she had infantile paralysis, and she couldn’t walk yet; she might never walk again. Nobody knew for sure. Ernestina couldn’t come to school now. Miss Britain went to her home to teach her two hours every Friday. Penny thought she might like not having to go to school herself, but of course she wouldn’t like being para lyzed. She felt very sorry for Ernes tina who once had been so active. Why, she had been able to jump rope faster than any girl in school! Now she might never jump again. Penny was glad she was going to take the lilies to cheer her friend today. They
52
THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker