THE TURKEY DINNER
"Well wife, what did you think of my sermon?" asked the pastor as he
sat down to enjoy the turkey dinner.
"I think it was the best sermon you ever delivered, James," answered
his wife, quietly.
"I think so, too," said James, "and what's more, it ought to make every
person that heard it feel very thankful to God, for all He has given
them," then looking around the room he asked, "Where is Walter?"
"I don't know," said his wife, "he became so nervous and tired, that
he left just before the last hymn was sung. I suppose he went up to
his room, you had better call him to dinner."
"I will," answered the pastor, and going to the hall door, he called
aloud, "Walter, dinner is ready."
"All right father, I will be down in a minute," came back the answer
in a rather faint voice. The pastor turned to his wife and asked, "Do
you think that last medicine is doing him any more good than the others
we have tried?"
His wife raised her sad face to his, and replied, "No, James, I don't
think it is helping him, for he seems to get weaker and more nervous
all the time. I feel that he is losing ground even more rapidly than
I am."
Here Walter entered the room, his face more flushed than usual, and
his father's watchful eye took note of it, but he spoke up cheerfully,
"Just look at that turkey, Walter, isn't it a fine one? See how nice
and evenly it is browned, and the oyster dressing, I'll bet it's fit
for a king."
Walter merely glanced at the turkey, then seated himself beside his
mother.
After the pastor had said grace, he picked up the carving knife and
said, "Now, son, just tell me what piece you like best and I will have
it carved out for you before you can say, Jack Robinson."
"You are very kind, father, but I don't believe I care for any turkey,
I am not feeling very well," answered Walter.
"Just try a little, Walter," said the mother coaxingly, "I know it
must be very tender and nice, for Deacon Phillips said it was a young
turkey."
"Yes, Walter," said his father, "hand me your plate, and I will give
you a little of the dark and a little of the light meat, with some of
this delicious dressing."
The boy listlessly handed over his plate without any more ado, his
father put onto it a liberal piece of each kind of meat and some
dressing, then handed it back, with the remark, "Eat all you can son,
for it will make you strong." Then he added, "Now wife, it's your turn,
I know you like the dark meat the best," and while he was talking he
carved a nice piece of the turkey and laid it on her plate, and then
said, "Now father, it is your turn, and I know your failing to be the
leg," and suiting the action to the word, he carved for himself the
leg.
Then, addressing his son once more, he asked,
"How did you like the sermon, Walter?"
"I thought it was very fine, father, and as I looked over the
congregation, I could see many heads nodding their approval of your
words telling them they ought to be thankful, and I tried, oh, so hard,
to be thankful, but I couldn't, for something seemed to say, you have
nothing to be thankful for, God gave you this sickness as a punishment.
I tried to think what I had done to merit this punishment, but found
it could not have been anything I had done, as I remembered that you
had said I always had been sick even when a little child, and then--"
"Tut, tut, child, now don't get excited," said the pastor. "We all
know that your punishment is not for anything you may have done, but
you are probably suffering for the sins of others, the same as Jesus
did; why, Walter, just think, Jesus Christ died for all our sins."
"For my sins, father?" asked the boy.
"Yes, Walter, all our sins."
"But father, I don't see how that could be. We weren't any of us living
at that time, and if we sinned, it must have been since then, and Jesus
could not die for sins that had not been committed."
The father was so surprised at what he heard, that for a moment he
just stared at his son; the idea was entirely new to him, and yet it
was only common sense. He tried to find some reply that would be
reasonable, but before he found it, the boy continued.
"I cannot believe that God punishes any one person for the sins of
another. If He would do this, He would not be a just God. Why, father,
even man is more just than that. Supposing Judge Baxter had pronounced
sentence like this: 'Yes, I find Mose Webster guilty of stealing Mr.
Johnson's chickens, and have decided to send the Rev. James Williams
to the county jail for ten months, because Mose Webster stole those
chickens,' would you think that justice? and could you feel thankful
to the judge for sending you to jail to suffer in the place of Mose
Webster, and--"
"Silence, child," said the father, more sternly than he had ever spoken
to his son before. He was so confused by what the boy had said that
he could not find words to speak. After a time he said, "Walter, never
let me hear you say anything like that again, to think that you, a
minister's son, should say such things. Why, they are almost
blasphemous."
"Never mind, James," said the mother; "think how hard it must be to
suffer year in and year out, without any relief, and remember, dear,
that even some of the apostles doubted at times. Now, let us finish
our dinner." Then, turning to her son, she added, "father will explain
all this to you as soon as he finds time."
The father looked at the flushed face of the boy and his anger softened,
then in a kind voice said: "I think it would be a very nice idea for
us to set aside one or two evenings each week for Bible reading and
study; in this way we would all get a better understanding of God, and
His great love for mankind. What do you think of that plan, Walter?"
"I should enjoy it, as there is a great deal in the Bible that I should
like to have explained."
"All right, Walter, now what would you say to starting our Bible class
to-morrow evening?"
"That would please me," said Walter.
"How about you, mother?" asked the pastor.
"Oh, I certainly want to be a member of the class. I know it will be
very entertaining and instructive, besides it will be such a pleasant
way to spend the long winter evenings."
"Why mother, I thought we were going south this winter."
"No, child, it will be impossible for us to go this year. You know
that this last medicine which you and I are taking costs father five
dollars per bottle, and we each need a bottle a week, so it has been
impossible for father to save the money necessary for our going."
For a moment the boy's face looked sad and grave, and the pastor
swallowed a lump that had risen in his throat, for it hurt the good
man severely to think that he had not the necessary funds to gratify
their every wish, but had already borrowed more than he could pay back
in several years. Still he was willing to make more sacrifices, had
his wife agreed, but she had said on one occasion when they were
discussing this subject, "No, James, I will not leave you again. I
think the separation does us as much harm as the warm climate does
good, and I feel that we have not many more years to be together, so
I cannot bear the thought of being separated from you for another five
months. I think Walter and I will be better off to be at home with
you. We need not go out in the cold very much, and you and I can arrange
some way to entertain and amuse Walter."
The pastor had answered: "Well, Lillian, it may be the better way, for
I must confess that these long separations were very unpleasant to me,
yet I was more than willing to endure them, if thereby you and Walter
could be benefited, still it seems that the change of climate idea did
not prove as beneficial as we had hoped for, but please don't speak
in that hopeless strain again, for you certainly have heard that old
saying, 'while there is life there is hope,' so never give up, and
remember that there are many noted physicians and chemists, working
day and night to get a sure cure for tuberculosis, and who knows but
that the morrow will bring it forth. You know that I am constantly on
the lookout for everything that looks promising."
And so the thought of a southern trip had been dismissed.