Heaven -- Christianity; Near-death experiences -- Religious aspects; Private revelations
On one of my walks about this time, I chanced upon a scene that brought
to mind what Mae had said to me about the Savior's love for little
children. I found him sitting beneath one of the flowering trees upon
the lake shore, with about a dozen children of all ages clustered
around him. One dainty little tot, not more than a year old, was
nestled in his arms, with her sunny head resting confidingly upon his
bosom, her tiny hands filled with the lovely water-lilies that floated
everywhere on the waters. She was too young to realize how great her
privilege was, but seemed to be enjoying his care to the utmost. The
others sat at his feet, or leaned upon his knees; and one dear little
fellow, with earnest eyes, stood by him, leaning upon his shoulder,
while the Master's right arm encircled him. Every eye was fixed
eagerly upon Jesus, and each child appeared alert to catch every word
he said. He seemed to be telling them some very absorbing story,
adapted to their childish tastes and capacities. I sat down upon the
sward among a group of people, a little removed from the children, and
tried to hear what he was saying, but we were too far away to catch
more than a sentence now and then, and in heaven one never intrudes
upon another's privileges or pleasures. So we simply enjoyed the
smiles and eager questions and exclamations of the children, and
gathered a little of the tenor of the story from the disjointed
sentences which floated to us.
"A little child lost in the dark woods of the lower world--" we heard
the Master say, in response to the inquiring looks of the interested
children.
"Lions and bears--" came later on.
"Where was his papa?" asked an anxious voice.
We could not hear the reply, but soon a little fellow leaning upon the
Savior's knee, said confidently: "No lions and bears up here!"
"No," he replied, "nothing to harm or frighten my little children here!"
Then as the story deepened and grew in interest, and the children
pressed more closely about the Master, he turned with a sweet
smile--and we could see an increased pressure of the encircling arm--to
the little fellow with the earnest eyes who leaned upon his shoulder,
and said:
"What, Leslie, would you have done, then?"
With a bright light in his eyes and a flush on his fair cheek, the
child answered quickly and emphatically:
"I should have prayed to Thee and asked Thee to 'close the lion's
mouth,' as Thou didst for Daniel, and Thou wouldst have done it!"
"Ah," I thought, "could C---- and H---- see the look the beloved Master
cast upon their boy as he made his brave reply, they would be comforted
even for the absence of their darling."
Lost in these thoughts, I heard no more that passed, until an ecstatic
shout from the little folks proclaimed how satisfactorily the story had
ended, and, looking up, I saw the Savior passing onward, with the baby
still in his arms, and the children trooping about him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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