"Sarah," said I, "how long did your husband live?" "Oh, he live great
many year." "Did he repent and become a good man?" "No, misse, I 'fraid
not; he sin more and more. When he got sick, I in great trouble for
him; talk every day to him, but he no hear Sarah. I say, 'How can you
bear go in burnin' fire, where worm never die, where fire never go
out?' At last he get angry, bid me hold my tongue. So I don't say any
more, only mourn over him every day 'fore God.
"When he die, my heart say, 'Father, thy will be done--Jesus do all
things well. Sarah can't help him now, he be in God's hands; all is
well.' So then give my heart all away to Jesus; tell Him I be all His;
serve Him all my life; beg Holy Spirit come fill all my heart, make
it all clean and white like Jesus. Pray God help me learn more of His
sweet words.
"And now, Sarah live poor Indian widow great many long years; always
find Jesus friend, husband, brother, all. He make me willin' suffer;
willin' live great while in this bad world, if He see best. 'Bove all,
He give me great good hope of glory when I die. So now I wait patient
till my change comes."
While she was giving this narration, her countenance bore strong
testimony to the diversified emotions of her soul. I might greatly
swell the list of particulars; but I design only to give the outlines
of an example which would have done honor to the highest sphere in
life; and which, in my opinion, is not the less excellent, or the
less worthy of imitation, because shrouded in the veil of poverty and
sorrow. It was evident she meditated much on what little she knew of
divine things; and what she knew of the Bible was to her like honey and
the honeycomb.
She was in the habit of bringing bags of sand into the village, and
selling it to buy food. Sometimes she brought grapes and other kinds
of fruit. But as she walked by the way, she took little notice of
anything that passed (except children, whom she seldom passed without
an affectionate word of exhortation to be good, say their prayers,
learn to read the Bible, etc., accompanied with a bunch of grapes or an
apple--thus engaging the affection of many a little heart), but seemed
absorbed in meditation; and you might often have observed her hands
uplifted in the attitude of prayer.
One day, after having observed her as she came, I asked her how she
could bring so heavy loads, old as she was, and feeble. "Oh," said she,
"when I get great load, then I go pray God give me strength to carry
it. So I go on, thinkin' all the way how good God is give His only Son
die for poor sinner; think how good Jesus be, suffer so much for such
poor creature; how good Holy Spirit was, come into my bad heart, make
it all new: so these sweet thoughts make my mind so full joy, I never
think how heavy sand be on my old back."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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