Sameiningin - 01.11.1943, Page 7

fortune to see it decay. They store away their flesh pots
to see them rot. They bite their fingers in anguish ana
despair as they seek, — they know not what. But here and
there is a life that knows Eternity, a life th'at has caught a
glimpse of Home: a mother by herself, her children in far
places; but she is not alone; an aged man in a changing
land, but with a changeless heart; a soldier in a front line
dugout, but he is not homesick for he has found Home.
It dwells right in his heart. A lonely figure :n a rubber
boat bobbing about with vast seas on every side: he is by
himself, but not alone. He has found his God for Christ
found him and God is with him on that boat.
I have said the world is homesick. I could as well have
said that the world is sick from sin. That word, however,
is tragically misunderstood. It is often so exclusively tied
up with the idea of petty ofíence especially with offences
arising from fleshly appetites that we too often fail to
realize the life-death meaning lying in that little word.
Sin rightly understood means living without God. To be
sinsick then is to be spirituallv ill because of failure to think
and feel and act in harmony with the Giver of Life. Thus
we have a heart broken world filled with lonely lives.
Thereby we have homesick individuals the worid over who
are lonely because they so live within themselves that they
fail to find that Friendship that ignites all friendliness.
Our Heavenly Father never intended that the world
be homesick. He so loved the world that he wanted no one
to be lonely. He wanted every child of His to find the way
Home, so He sent our Lord Jesus Christ to find us. There
is a well known story that tells a truth that has happened
in countless times and diverse places in Life. A young boy
ran away from home. His mother’s love went out after him
in thought and prayer. At nightfall every evening she set
á candle in the window that her wandering boy might see
if he should ever come nearby. This light which she tenderly
lit each night was sign of her loving welcome the boy. Years
passed. The prodigal returned to the neighborhood. He was
ashamed, but homesick, and it was late at night. He dared
not face his mother whom he had so grievously hurt. But
he saw the light on the windowsill and ran into his home
to the loving arms of his forgiving mother.
This is a parable of Life. The human race has run away
from Home. God set a Candle in the Window of the World.