p. 239 | THANKFUL by John B. Gough

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 27, 1880

THANKFUL.

By John B. Gough

One woman for twenty-six years—we know the fact—with cramps of rheumatism, had lain upon a bed, suffering continually. She had lost the use of every limb. She had not seen the sunlight, except the little that streamed into the window, for all these years. She hadn't seen for years a green blade of grass or a green leaf, and as you climbed up the rickety stairs and got into a garret you would hear a cheerful voice, and what would she tell you? Ask her about her state, and she would say, "Oh, I am so thankful." Thankful for what? For the use of one thumb, because, with a little hook fastened upon that thumb, she could turn over the leaves of the Bible that would be placed within her reach, and helpless, and suffering, and poor as she was, she was thankful.—John B. Gough.