The Home Circle by Lillie E. Barr

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 21, 1882

The Home Circle.

By Lillie E. Barr

A MOTHER'S ANSWER.—A TRUE INCIDENT.

OVER the lofty Ben-Lomond, The charm of the sunset fell; And sweet in the purple twilight The chime of the old kirk bell. And lo! in the grassy kirkyard Was the white-haired Dominie; Men and women on either hand, And the children at his knee.

And there, in the still warm evening, Low sitting among the dead, The good man took the sacred book, And the trial of Abraham read. Until in the solemn shadows, The sorrow grew wondrous near— Fathers looked at their own bright sons, And the mothers dropped a tear.

Thoughtful all sat a little space, And then the Dominie said: "David, could'st thou have done this thing?" And the old man bowed his head, And standing up with lifted face, Answered, "I think I could, For I have found through eighty years That the Lord our God is good!"

"Janet, you've been a mother oft, Could your faith have stood the test?" She raised her grandchild in her arms, And she held it to her breast— "God knows a mother's love," she said, While the tears dropped from her eyes; "And never from a mother's heart Would have asked such sacrifice."

"Oh, mother wise," the preacher said, "Oh, mother wise and good! A deeper depth than man can reach, Thy heart hath understood. Take Janet's sermon with you, friends, And, as your years go by, Believe your Father no poor soul Beyond its strength will try." —Lillie E. Barr, in Christian Union.