42
THE KING’S BUSINESS
Do Not Fret. I would be quiet, Lord, nor tease, nor fret; Not one small need o f mine wilt Thou forget. I am not wise to know what most I need: I dare not cry too loud, lest Thou shouldst heed; Lest Thou at length shouldst say, “ Child, have thy will; As thou hast chosen, lo, thy cup to fill!” What I most crave, perchance Thou wilt withhold, As we from hands unmeet keep pearls or gold; As we, when childish hands would play with fire, Withhold the burning coal of their desire. Yet choose Thou for me—Thou Who knowest best: This one short prayer of mine holds all the rest! — Selected. How Long? Lord Jesus, how long shall the groans and the sighs From the sin-burdened earth continue to rise? ■ How long shall the curse Thy creation oppress? How long ere in mercy Thou comest to bless ? Lord Jesus, how long ere the night shall have end, And the beams o f Thy glory o ’er earth shall descend? The wilderness bloom and the desert re joice, And creation with singing lift up its glad voice ? Lord Jesus, not long, soon the morning will come; Then Thy voice from the skies shall call Thy saints home ; The throne of Thy glory exalted shall be And the beauty of Zion all nations shall see. —D. W. Whittle.
The squire did not approve of the miller being a local preacher. He thought a man should have a university training and be especially fitted for preaching the gospel; and this is how the miller enlightened him. The miller looked at the wall above the squire’s desk, for they were in the squire’s library. “ Is that the map o f your estate, sir?” said he. The squire assented. “ I s’pose you do know that map purty well, don’t ’ee? Every road, and every path way, and every waterway?” “Yes, yes.” “Well, squire, do you remember the other day you was down to the mill, and you asked my li’l Mary to show you the path way through the woods? I’ve been think- in’ ’tis like this ’ere. You knowed that road ’pon the map. If you’d ask li’l Mary what it was called ’pon the map, mind, she wouldn’t ’ave been able to tell ’ee. But li’l Mary showed you the way up through the woods. You knowed the way ’pon the map, but li’l Mary knowed the way by walkin’ in it; and I don’t know the way ’pon the map so well as some people, but, bless the L ord ! I know the way to heaven by walkin’ in it.” .. An important trial in a Georgia court turned recently upon the kind of questions asked in the Roman confessional. Are they or are they not indelicate? And do they not sometimes border upon obscenity? The writer does not know from experience. He has never confessed his sins to any per son except God, and he has' not encouraged his parishioners to whisper their secrets in his ear. But he does know that very re cently a young wife who had come into his congregation from a distant state surprised him by asking to be received into his church on profession o f faith. He was surprised because he knew that the person in question had been brought up a Catholic, In a pas toral interview, held later, he was told, “ Yes, I was a Catholic' and my mother is a Catholic still. But when before I was to be married I went to confession I was asked by the priest such questions that I left the confessional box and have never entered a Catholic church door since.”
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker