The Home Circle | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 19, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 24.

The Home Circle.

GRANDMOTHER'S SERMON.

THE supper is over, the hearth is swept, And in the wood-fire's glow The children cluster to hear a tale Of that time so long ago,

When grandma's hair was golden brown, And the warm blood came and went O'er the face that could scarce have been sweeter then Than now in its rich content.

The face is wrinkled and care-worn now, And the golden hair is gray; But the light that shone in the young girl's eyes Never has gone away.

And her needles catch the fire-light, As in and out they go, With the clicking music that grandma loves, Shaping the stocking-toe.

And the waiting children love it too, For they know the stocking song Brings many a tale to grandma's mind, Which they shall hear erelong.

But it brings no story of olden time, To grandma's heart to-night— Only a refrain, and quaint and short, Is sung by the needles bright.

"Life is a stocking," grandma says, "And yours is just begun; But I am knitting the toe of mine, And my work is almost done.

"With merry hearts we begin to knit, And the ribbing is almost play; Some are gay-colored and some are white, And some are ashen gray.

"But most are made of many hues, With many a stitch set wrong; And many a row to be sadly ripped Ere the whole is fair and strong.

"There are long, plain spaces, without a break, That in life are hard to bear; And many a weary tear is dropped As we fashion the heel with care.

"But the saddest, happiest time is that We count, and yet would shun, When our Heavenly Father breaks the thread, And says that our work is done."

The children come to say good-night, With tears in their bright young eyes, While in grandma's lap, with the broken thread, The finished stocking lies. —Sel.