A young man who had been brought up in one of the worst slums of New York, rose to fame and fortune in the theatrical field through his literary talents. He bought a yacht, and although he hired a man to run it for him, he himself assumed the title of "Captain." He got himself a resplendent uniform - complete with gold braid and brass buttons - and invited his old mother to go for a cruise. His mother had come to the United States from eastern Europe, and she had retained the native common sense that many such immigrants have.
Several years ago, I motored across the continent with my family. One summer day we saw some of the beauties of the national parks in southern Utah; we drove on to the north rim of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, arriving there after sunset. We found our rooms for the night and ate our dinner; then we walked down the path to the wall that guards the edge of this mighty chasm. There was no moon and we looked out into pitch darkness. I told my children what lay before them, but it was impossible to see anything whatsoever in the inky blackness. Far to the south we could see the lights of the hotel on the south rim of the canyon. I told the children that between us and those lights was a distance of many miles, and that separating us from the lights was the greatest canyon in the world, going down a mile to the great river which lay hidden beneath us.
Human goodness may be likened to a canoe. A canoe is a lovely little boat for its purpose - to be used on rivers and lakes in calm waters. It is admirably suited for young people on a beautiful day or evening in June. But the canoe is not suitable at a seaport or to cross the ocean. It is a totally unfit boat for such a purpose. The trip from New York to France cannot be made by a canoe, even in the month of June when the ocean is generally calm.
A young man, suffering from amnesia, lived a new life amid old surroundings; he could remember nothing that had happened before he fell off of a hay wagon. As he fell he had cried out, "Hand me that pitchfork and I will..." He was eighteen when the accident occurred; ten years of his new life passed. One day he got into a fight, and received a sharp blow that knocked him to the ground. His head struck a stone and he cried out - finishing the sentence he had started ten years before - "... spread the hay." He arose, thinking that he was still eighteen years old, still on the hay wagon.
ears ago in Scotland a simple fisherman was bound by strong drink; on too frequent occasions he took the money from his catch and spent it on liquor while his wife and children suffered miserably. They lived in a little hovel off at the end of the fishing village, out of sight of most of the villagers. But one day there came a great change. Old John, as he was called, came to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Saviour. There was an immediate transformation.
