A Friend in Need, a Friend Indeed

On a day in December, dim and cold but not frosty, I was making my way through the park called The Meadows, in Edinburgh. As I approached the little iron gate which opens from the park into the Meadow Walk, I observed that the civic authorities had covered part of the path, that lately had become muddy, with sharp gravel.

Suddenly two boys met me, bounding joyously in the opposite direction, evidently bent on some ploy. They were from ten to twelve years of age, and their clothing, though poor, was clean. They seemed equal in all points except one; the one wore boots while the other went barefoot.

The exposed feet of the poor boy where indeed very red; for all the blood of his body seemed to rush to the sorely-tried extremities to keep them alive. But the lad tripped nimbly along were the path was smooth and did not seem to be aware that he lacked any comfort.

As the pair reached the new gravel on the path, the one that was shod bounded on without hindrance, but before he reached the other side he became aware that his companion was left behind. He looked back.

The barefoot boy is brought to a halt at the edge of the gravel. As soon as he puts his foot on the sharp stones he instinctively draws it back. Putting himself into a half-bent position he sticks fast at the edge of the obstacle. It is by no means possible for him to plant his feet on the sharp edge of the stones. This is the difficulty. This will test the character of the other lad. Will the strong help the weak in his time of need?

In a moment it was done. The boy ahead immediately came back to where his friend stood and backed himself as a well-trained horse backs himself between the trams of the wagon. The boy with the bare feet leaped on his back and the other bounded across the gravel with his burden, setting him down on the soft grass of the meadow.

Off went the pair again at a gallop. In all the transaction not a word passed between them. Words were not needed. Something in the one boy’s heart went off when touched by the sight of the other boy’s distress, as a rifle goes off when the trigger feels the touch of the soldier’s finger. Off went the emotion of brotherly love. The good deed was done.

And the most beautiful thing about it was that the boys did not note the good deed. They did not think that anything remarkable had taken place. It was not in their young hearts that the wonder arose but in mine; for alas! I have had much experience of the world and have marked the lack of instantaneous, instinctive, effective brotherly love—brotherly love that does not think about itself or speak about itself but simply goes off like a shot, never halting or hesitating until it achieves its objective.

In Galatians 4:24 we read, “Which things are an allegory.” Things that have happened may become an instructive parable; and fact is a better allegory than fable. The facts which I have recorded regarding these two boys become a mirror in which we may read reproof, instruction, and encouragement.

How often both young and old miss the blessedness of doing good! My story tells of a very small happening. It will never find its way into history. Yet, in its own nature, it is more precious than imperial treasures. If we could get such acts sufficiently multiplied, the world, which is a wilderness, would become a garden. A drop sufficiently multiplied will become an ocean.

Give me that spirit in every person and I shall expect great things. Two are walking together; one is weak and the other is strong; they come to a rough place in the path; the weak is brought to a halt, he cannot cross it; the strong experiences no difficulty at all, the exertion needed to overcome the difficulty is a pleasure to him. The strong bends his back and bears his feeble brother over the rough place. There it is—the thing is done! “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

We miss the mark by straining after great things and allowing the small things to slip through our fingers. We know the “power of littles” in the sphere of money but not in the sphere of love. We understand the maxim, “Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.” When shall we understand also that if each should show kindness to each in all parts of human intercourse, life on earth would be an expanse of love.

—Young People’s Magazine

A Believer’s Prayer for His Children

I do not ask for riches for my children
Nor even recognition for their skill.
I only ask that Thou will give them
A heart completely yielded to Thy will.

I do not ask for wisdom for my children
Beyond discernment of Thy grace.
I only ask that Thou will use them
In their own appointed place.

I do not ask for favor for my children
To seat them on Thy left hand, or right,
But may they join the throng in heaven
That sing before Thy throne so bright

I do not seek perfection for my children,
For then my own faults I would hide.
I only ask that we might walk together
And serve our Savior side by side.

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