A STAR OF
HOPE
Come then, O care! O
grief! O woe!
O troubles! mighty in your kind;
I have a
balm ye ne'er can know,
A hopeful mind.
--Vane.
During the weeks that
followed, Edwin was very busy, but most of the time that he
was at work about the chores or in the harvest-field where the
men were gathering in the ripened grain or preparing for the
threshers, he was reviewing in his mind the scene on eternity,
the talks with Frank, the prayer-meeting, and what Mrs. Miller
had told him in regard to the church.
"It will take me just a
year from the time I start to go to church before I can become
converted, or be able to pray the right kind of prayer," he
said to himself; "and how much longer will it take before I
know that I am on the road to heaven?" for regardless of Mrs.
Miller's confident statement that nobody in this world could
know of his future reward, Edwin was still of the opinion that
people could. "It's just because they haven't got that far
along, I guess," he reasoned, and he felt very sure that some
of the people who were at the prayer-meeting must know.
Among the day-laborers who
worked for Mr. Miller was a Mr. Kunz, who, although not a
Christian, was a good, intelligent, and friendly fellow, and
who lived only about a mile away. For this young man Edwin
soon formed a great attachment, and as the weeks slipped by he
occasionally found time and opportunity to visit him in his
home. During one of these visits Mr. Kunz said in answer to
Edwin's questions on prayer and the other things that were
troubling him:
"I don't know very much
about such things, Edwin, but I think that you can find out
all you want to know if you will go to the big camp-meeting
that is soon to be held on the camp-ground yonder," and with
his finger Mr. Kunz pointed to a strip of woods that Edwin had
heard spoken of as the "Camp-Ground."
"Why! what has the
camp-meeting to do with such things?" Edwin asked, greatly
surprized; for his idea of the camp-ground had been that it
was a place for worldly amusements to be held, such as
picnics, festivals, and ball-games, and it was hard for him to
connect it with anything that he considered so solemn as
prayer and getting an assurance of heaven.
"It has much to do with
it, Edwin," Mr. Kunz replied. "The meeting is held by men and
women who are converted and whose business it is to see that
those who come to the meeting get converted. They will know
what you need and will help you to understand how to get it."
"Do you mean," Edwin
asked, his eyes opening wide in wonder, "that one can get
converted right there at the meeting?"
"Yes, indeed, I mean it,"
Mr. Kunz replied, smiling at the eagerness of Edwin. "Every
year many are converted, and it is for that very purpose that
the meeting is held."
Poor Edwin! It was hard
for him to make the words of Mrs. Miller and those of Mr. Kunz
harmonize; but as he considered what his friend had said, a
bright star of hope arose in his sky, and he at once decided
that the thing for him to do was to attend that meeting. He
asked Mr. Kunz how it was possible for those people to get any
one converted in so short a time. As Mr. Kunz was not a
Christian himself, he could only answer that he did not know
how it was, but that somehow they did it. With this knowledge
Edwin arose to return to the place where he was making his
home.
It was Sunday afternoon
early in August, but Edwin gave no heed to the warm rays of
the sun. As he walked along the highway toward the home of his
employer, his heart was light and happy, and as he was alone
he swung his arms and clapped his hands in his delight. The
thought that it was possible to become converted within a
week's time, or eight days, as the meeting was to continue
over two Sundays, seemed almost too good to be true. "But why
not," he reasoned, "when there will be such able men and women
at the meeting to do the work. At the church where Mrs. Miller
was converted, it might have taken a year, for there was but
one man to do the work; but at the camp-meeting there will be
many."
Then he began to wonder
how the work would be accomplished, and he concluded that it
would take some kind of a scientific, systematic performance,
together with a wonderful prayer, and that then, if the work
had been properly done, an assurance that the person was
converted and safe for heaven would come.
Suddenly as he walked
along, he felt that he was not alone, but no one was in sight.
Then these words seemed to be whispered in his ear:
"You had better not
rejoice too soon, for your hope may be in vain. Your master
may refuse to let you go to the camp-meeting; for you know how
busy he is just now and how necessary that he should have your
help."
But without the slightest
fear Edwin answered in an audible tone:
"Yes, sir, I know that the
work is pushing us hard just now, but this matter, to my mind
at least, is of far greater importance than all the work on
the farm. And then I do not expect my master to give me the
time off to attend the camp-meeting. I'll tell him how much I
dislike to leave him and that nothing else at such a time
would induce me to go. Then I'll say that I will not only work
for him as hard as I can the four weeks before I go, but that
I will stay two weeks longer than I agreed to stay and will
give him that work free, if he will only let me attend that
meeting."
Had Edwin thought to ask
Mr. Kunz if anyone could get converted in less than the eight
days, he might not have been so determined to remain for the
entire meeting; but, supposing that it would take at least
that long for the operation, he did not want to run any
chances of failure in his undertaking.
He had hardly finished
telling what he would do in return for the favor that he was
expecting to ask of his master, when again he seemed to hear
the voice speaking. It said:
"Your week's absence from
the farm at this busy time might cause your master so much
inconvenience and loss that he would not even consider your
offer of two extra weeks of labor in return."
"Under such circumstance
I'd give him a month's time for the one week," Edwin answered
bravely.
Then the voice suggested
that he might be unable to leave under any circumstances, but
at this suggestion Edwin exclaimed:
"Well, sir, then I shall
go anyway! My matter is of far greater importance than
anything that is connected with his farm, and I can not afford
to miss that meeting. I can not give up a chance to get
converted; for if I do and should die, I shall go into
eternity unprepared. I will just tell him that I am going
anyway and will take my chances on all the rest."
Because of this decision
on Edwin's part, the tempter, who was Satan, the enemy of all
who will do right, was forced to flee. Had Edwin listened to
the suggestions longer or given the wicked one any
encouragement to stay, there would have been no end to his
arguments; for it is the business of Satan to discourage and
dishearten all who seek to travel upon the highway that leads
to heaven.
Thus, we find that Edwin
in his ignorance had once more been guided by Divine
Providence and that his heavenly Teacher had taught and aided
him in his hour of need. God never fails when a soul is doing
his best to please him. Failure comes, not merely from a lack
of understanding, but from a lack of decision and purpose to
go all the way at any cost. Every one who is honest with
himself and anxious to do the will of his Maker will be shown
the way.
"The Lord looketh from
heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of
his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the
earth. He fashioned their hearts alike; he considereth all
their works... Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that
fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their
soul from death." (Psa. 33: 13-19).