A pastor tells of a man who had been caught on the river in
a sudden break-up of the ice, and who himself expected to be
drowned, and whose neighbors had given him up as lost. The man
had thrown himself on his knees on one of the pieces of ice, and
was engaged in what he supposed was his last prayer on earth,
when his friends on shore noticed that the pieces of ice had
readjusted themselves so as to make a safe way from where he was
kneeling to the land. They lifted their voices and shouted to
the poor man to stop praying and run to the shore. He opened
his eyes, saw his opportunity and was saved. Prayer and deeds
must go hand in hand.
(2441)
* * * * *
Governor William E. Russell, of Massachusetts, who died at the
age of thirty-nine, but had in that short life been mayor of his
city and governor of his State, and had gained national fame,
early began to think and act right. As a schoolboy, when boating
with five companions, his craft was overturned and he swam a
mile to shore. Asked by his mother about his struggle to reach
land, he said, “I thought of you, prayed to God, and kept my
arms and legs in stroke.” (Text.)
(2442)
=Prayer and Guides=--See BLESSING THE ROPES.