No. 1. (drawing away from Doubt.) Pardon me, friend, but, after all, I find your touch unpleasant. I believe that I would be wrong in listening to you. My sister is right, for I felt happier when in her company. DOUBT. Foolish child! would you court captivity? The laws of that road are made of cast-iron. You will be bound, body and soul, to them, and how do you know that in the end they will bring you to your Father's house? No. 1. I must ask you to leave me. No. 2. (joyously.) I rejoice with you, my sister. WORLDLINESS. Why are you lingering here, fair maidens? Have you found your chosen path a stony one? If so, turn off here with me and I will give you innumerable pleasures that you would have missed had I not come to your rescue. No. 1. Suppose we try, dear sister, to see what she can do for us. No. 2. I think I hear another warning. Hearken to that, and then you can decide. Invisible chorus sings one verse of "Christian, Walk Curefully,” Gospel Hymns, No. 5, substituting sister for Christian. No. 1. Yes, I was wrong again. Worldliness, I have no need of you. Pray depart. Exit Worldliness, and enter Scorn. SCORN. I see you are waiting for me, and you do wisely. You must give up all those silly thoughts and beliefs that you have had in the past, and learn of me. I am surprised to find you lingering for one moment in this dull and stupid path. No. 1. Now I feel assured that you are wrong. This path is neither dull nor stupa. My experience here has been a happy one, yet I sometimes fear that we may not be going in the right direction to our Father's house. However, we can have nothing to do with you, Scorn, for our Father in His letters has warned us of your coming, and you may as well begone. You are a tool of Satan and would take us further from the King's Palace. SCORN. (turning to No. 2.) And will you not come with me? No. 2. I must refuse also. I am going straight onward in the path of Love and Faith. SCORN. After all, you are but a pair of lunatics, and I am well rid of you. [Exit. No. 2. And now you will agree with me that we ought to continue our journey. Precious time is going while we dally with the tempter. Will you come? No. 1. One moment. Here comes Self-sufficiency. She looks pleasant; perhaps her path is an easier one than this. Enter Self-sufficiency. SELF. Perhaps you wonder why I am so late in seeking you, dear children. My only excuse is that I have been on errands of mercy. I have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and comforted the sorrowing. I even tarried to rebuke the sinner, and all my way along I found some good deed to accomplish. I have heard of you. You are on the way to your Father's House and do not feel sure of the way. Perhaps you would reach it by following this path, but you need a change. I, too, expect to reach the King's Palace and in my own way. My good deeds will take me there, so you need not be afraid to follow me. Do you see that gate in the distance? Can you read the words that tell of the qualifications required to gain entrance? A moral life, a clean record, a charitable disposition. You have all of these, so you must come with me. No. 1. Yes, you are right; you make me feel satisfied with myself. I understand now that we have already earned the right to our Father's Mansion. Come, sister, you will accompany her, I am sure. No. 2. Never, and I implore you not to listen to the Tempter. Think of our Father's goodness to us. Would you turn from His love to that of Self-sufficiency? No. 1. I am not turning from Him. I am only taking another path to His Palace. All through His directions He commands us to lend a helping hand to those who are in need. No. 2. But He does not tell us that the road on which our good actions are esteemed above His love will lead us to the Kingdom. List to some of his words. ( Reads from Bible.) "If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.... Walk not thou in the way with them." "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established." "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil." "Obey my voice, and walk in the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." "To love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, is more than burnt offerings and sacrifices." "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” Do you see, dear sister, it is only through love to the Father that we can reach our Home? And if we have that love we will follow His directions. Then seek that first and these good deeds will be added unto us. No. 1. (turning from Self-sufficiency.) My time of wavering is past. I can see my weak, sinful self in the true light now, and I know that nothing but a Father's love will lead me aright. Had I not neglected the reading of His Word, I should never have listened to the voice of the tempter. Come, dear sister, we will continue our journey, and though temptations assail us, we will be able to say with the saint of old, "By the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the path of the Destroyer.” (While she is speaking, Doubt, Worldliness, and Scorn appear in the background, as though undecided whether to venture forward. At the last, Self-sufficiency slinks away, the King's Daughters stand hand in hand, and the curtain slowly falls as the invisible chorus sings, "The Palace of the King," Gospel Hymns No. 2, page 93, children being substituted for pilgrims. THE CHURCH IN LUCRE HOLLOW.-LOUIS EISENBEIS. By permission of the Author. The brethering in Lucre Hollow were disturbed a heep in mind; For they was a-goin' backward, and the salary was behind. They'd promised the preacher when he come, four hundred dollars a year, But the way things was a-goin' showed sumthin' out of gear; They hadn't pade two hundred yit, an' the year was nearly gone; And how to git the balance up, was what they were worryin' on. The preacher, he was powerful; his sermons had the ring I never seen a preacher yit have such a winnin' knack— He'd git around among the fokes with most amazin' vim, He had lots an' lots uv money, but he'd mity little to spare. Says he, "We've raised two hundred, jis a dollar fer us each; But to pay four hundred dollars is jis more'n we kin reach." Then there was Deekin Blow-hard, he was settin' in the cheer; He had sum Bible notions that seemed a little queer. He said he 'greed that preachers needed wittles, clothes an' shoes, "But they orter preach fer nuthin', cos they say they daren't refuse." Why, says he, "Paul got no sal'ry, and he even paid his rent. An' he preached, an' preached fer nuthin', an' he didn't charge a cent." Then Doctor Feel-big riz to speak, an' he hove a heavy sigh, An' says he, "The trouble's here. Our preacher is too dry. He's way behind the living age, he's neither learned nor choice; He mingles with the poor too much, and has a horrid voice; His grammar is outrageous; his articulation poor; Gesticulation awkward, too shocking to endure. The times demand a cultured head, and logic without flaws, A pious heart may be all right; we want a man that draws." Then, Deekin Save-all got the floor; says he, "Don't think me rash; The reason things are going wrong, we're spendin' too much cash. We spent five dollars to carpet the floor-that was a heavy tax; An' now we've giv five dollars more to them heathen Chinee chaps. That's the way our money goes, a-sendin' it all away To feed them fellers o'er the seas; no wonder we've nothin' to pay. I've told the brethering time and agin, it seemed so plaguey queer They didn't lower the sal'ry to three hundred dollars a year." An' now, thinks I, it's my turn to give a word or two; Fer I felt my blood a-bilin' so, I couldn't keep my pew. "Brethering," says I, “fer forty years I've trod the King's highway, An' I never heerd until to-night, religion didn't pay. I'll tell you what the matter is, this church is losin' breath, Fer tryin' to keep the meetin's up, by starvin' 'em to death. Now wind is good to blow with; but, I've found it was the rule, If yer want to run a raleroad train, yer got to have some fule. How's the preacher goin' to preach, if yer give him nuthin' to eat? Kin he git fat on nuthin' while you must have yer meat? You have yer homes of plenty, an' yer stocks an' bonds an' deeds; But you love yer clinkin' dollars more'n you do the church's needs. I tell you, if yer want to git to heaven, by and by, Ye'd better loose yer purse-strings fer yer'll have to when yer die. "Git yer pocket-books converted! Let the church be warmed an' fed! An' yer'll not be goin' backward, but yer'll git away ahead. Why the Lord won't let you fellers git too near the golden gate, Fer ye'd coin it into dollars to increase yer real estate; Gittin' dollars will not save you; what's the use of hoardin' then? Quit yer pinchin', stop complainin', pay yer debts like honest men." |