So day after day passed, and one or another of Susy's little servants
was always busy in doing something for her pleasure. Either her hands
played with pretty toys, or her eyes looked at beautiful pictures and
kind, loving faces of dear friends, or her ears listened to sweet music
or amusing stories, or her feet carried her up and down, here and there
and everywhere. If she had had no eyes, she could have used her hands,
but she could not have seen the toys they held. If she had had no ears,
she could never have heard her mamma's voice, nor ever learned to talk
or to sing. If she had had no hands, she could have walked about, and
looked at pretty things, but she could have touched no toy, held no dear
dolly, caressed and patted no little kitty. And if she had been without
feet, she might have used her eyes, and her ears, and her hands, and her
tongue, but when other children jumped and ran and played, Susy must
have sat still in her little chair, and felt what a long, long day that
is when one can not move.
I dare say you know some little boy who can not hear or talk, or some
pale little girl who can not run and play. And if God has been so very
good to you as to give you what He has not seen best to give them, how
you ought to thank him! And how happy you should be if you ever can lend
a book or give a flower, or do any kind act for the deaf and dumb boy
who never heard his mamma call him "darling!" no matter how many times
she may have said it. And if you can ever be what the Bible calls "feet
to the lame;" if you run to pick up that little pale girl's ball if she
drops it; if you can go up stairs to get her doll when she wants it,
would not that be making your own little servants useful and very happy?
And if you ever happen to be where there is a blind child, would you not
like to lend it your eyes now and then? And as you can not do that, you
would surely love to take it by the hand and lead it about; and when
you are old enough to read you would read pretty stories to it? There
was once a dear little boy not much more than two years old, who became
very ill. His head ached so that he did not love to play or run about.
He liked to have his papa or mamma carry him round the room, and then
when his poor head did not ache too hard, they would talk to him and
tell him stories. One day his papa said to his mamma: "I do not believe
our little Charlie will ever get well. I think that Jesus will soon take
him up to heaven. And I mean to talk to him a great deal about Jesus, so
that the moment he gets to heaven he will be happy to be near such a
dear, kind Friend." So Charlie's papa often took his poor little boy in
his arms, and let him lay his head on his shoulder, while he walked
gently up and down talking about Christ. He told him all those sweet
stories from the Bible, how Jesus pitied sick people, and how he cured
them, and how many lame men he made to walk, and how many blind to see.
So one day after he had been talking so, he had to give Charlie to his
nurse while he went out for a time, and Charlie lay with his head on her
shoulder, just as he had done on his papa's, till all at once he lifted
it up, and said: "Mary did you know that Jesus hadn't any eyes?"
"Oh! yes, Jesus had eyes," said Mary.
"He had some once, but He gave them to a poor blind man," said Charlie.
You see Charlie was such a little boy that he thought when his papa told
him that Jesus gave eyes to a blind man, that he had to give him his
own.
Little Charlie is in heaven now and has been there a great many years.
And he has long known more about the goodness of God than any body who
still lives in this world. And if he could speak to you, he would tell
you that it is better to be without eyes and hands and feet, than not to
love Him who was willing rather to die than that you should not know and
love Him.