Hunchback Joe (7)

Care and Sorrow

About two years after the incident of the rabbits, De Lange, the shoemaker, died suddenly. During the last few weeks he experienced much distress from rheumatic pains, but none of the family suspected that his end was so near. While sitting upon the three-legged stool on a Tuesday morning, he suddenly passed from time to eternity. He did not travel his pathway unprepared; he knew in whom he believed, and this was a comfort for his wife and son. Now Joe had to manage the business alone. His mother was afraid that his poor health would be a hindrance in continuing the shoemaker’s shop, but it proved to be different.

It is true, Joe was very busy. He had to go for the work and complete it, and his chickens, pigeons, and rabbits also demanded some time, but where there is a will, there is a way. Especially in the summertime he arose early; he put in long days, and the work was easily finished. If he were extra busy, his mother would help him by polishing shoes or boots and by bringing them to the customers.

But there was such an empty place in the house, and the unrelenting messenger of death makes such a great separation. Father was especially missed at night, but when the godly can submit to the will of their heavenly Father, who gives no account of His deeds, then all is well. Often Joe saw his mother crying. Once he asked, “Mother, why are you weeping so much, especially now these past days?”

“Oh, Joe,” she said, “Father is gone, and if I must go, too, then you are alone, my dear boy. Who will take care of you?”

“God will, Mother!” he answered with a firm voice. Tears came into his eyes.

“That is true, Joe! The Lord will never leave nor forsake you,” said Mother, “but you will be so lonesome when I follow Father.”

“But, Mother, you are still here, so let us not worry before it is time.” He pressed a kiss upon her forehead. He clearly saw that his mother was ailing, and she herself did not conceal it. The pain around her heart often alarmed her.

Joe thought he would call in the doctor the next day, but what happened? All at once Mother became as pale as death, and if he had not caught her in his arms, she would have fallen upon the ground. “Mother!” he cried loudly, but Mother did not hear; she had fainted. About fifteen minutes later she regained consciousness; Joe gave her some ice-cold water. This seemed to revive her somewhat, and slowly the color returned to her cheeks. Joe quickly ran to the neighbor to ask for her help. She came immediately, and neither did they wait long for the physician. He examined her thoroughly, but said little.

“It is necessary, Joe, for someone to remain with your mother,” advised the physician. “Your mother is up in years and dangerously ill.

I will send a bottle of medicine for her, and every two hours you must give her one tablespoon.”

Joe asked himself, “Will Mother leave me?” He wept pitifully.

“I’ll remain with your mother tonight, Joe!” said the neighbor. Although he thought this offer very generous, yet he politely refused. He himself would care for the beloved sick, and he did so with great exactness. To the eye she seemed to recover, but the deceptive heart ailment was not gone. His mother became weaker.

One morning she said, “Joe, I feel that my end is near. Come close to me, and let me once more embrace you. My boy, in the closet you will find everything necessary for my burial.”

“Loving Mother,” cried Joe, and he put his arms about her neck. “Then it is true that you are going? Oh, if I only could keep you here, but no, dear Mother, I will not begrudge you the eternal glory.” He pressed fervent kisses upon the marble-white cheeks of his mother.

“It is becoming dark before my eyes, Joe,” his mother said softly, while she pointed to her heart and continued, “but here it is light. My son, I hear the angels singing. Farewell, loving Joe! Tell Jesus everything —” A moment of silence followed. “Yes, Lord Jesus — I —come.” One more gasp, and Joe’s mother was no longer alive. God’s angels carried her redeemed soul to the house of the Father.

We read in Genesis 50:1, “And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.” Joe did as Joseph, but for his mother.

When the lifeless body of his mother began to get cold, he let go of her cool hand and sank into the armchair to weep. The neighbor came and made preparations in respect to the dead and her burial. Her committal to the earth at the small village cemetery was very plain. When Joe saw the coffin wherein the mortal remains of his mother rested descend into the dark grave, he could scarcely leave the grave, yet he must.

Father and Mother had gone to the region of eternity; he was left alone, but — with his God.

During the first days Joe felt lonesome, but not forsaken. What was he to do now? Should he move to another place or remain living in his present home? He knew very well that something had to be done, and after serious prayerful consideration, he decided to remain where he was and commended his way unto the Lord.

For a small sum the neighbor woman would take care of his housekeeping twice a week. He hired out his garden and sold his chickens, pigeons, and rabbits. He always had plenty of work, which was a welcome distraction from sorrow and grief. Now he was alone as an orphan, without father or mother. But he was not without God, of whom it is recorded, “For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.”

During the first days after his mother’s death things were so strange. If he wanted to eat a sandwich or drink some coffee, he first had to prepare it himself. But Joe did not sit in a corner to weep, letting his hands hang down; no, such actions lead to nothing. He took up his labors, and often tears would roll from his eyes onto the leather which he was shaping into shoes. When he thought of Father or Mother, his heart would become tender, and even though he was almost twenty years of age, yet with childlike respect he would think back to the happy days gone by, when his father and mother were still alive. But these pleasant times were past, never to return.

During the long winter evenings he read much in his Bible and The Pilgrim’s Progress, and then at times he had a longing desire for heaven. Then he would sing this beautiful song:

I love the windows of Thy grace
Through which my Lord is seen,

And long to meet my Savior’s face
Without a glass between.

Oh, that the happy hour were come,
To change my faith to sight!

I shall behold my Lord at home,
In a diviner light.

Haste, my Beloved, and remove These interposing days;

Then shall my passions all be love,
And all my powers be praise.

The seed of godliness, sown amid prayerful looking up to God by his father, but especially by his mother, had germinated and increased with the increase of God, and at His time would bear fruit. Joe’s life was a praying life. Prayer had become a necessity for him. Unseen by the eye of a person, he would often bend his knees before God, and to Him he would pour out his needs and cares. The neighbor began to think a great deal of him; she learned to know him as a God-fearing youth who in business, actions, and walk showed that he loved the Lord. The boys did not disturb him as much as before. It did happen that some boys looking to do mischief would draw with crayon a misshapen figure upon the shutter of his window, but Joe would come and wipe this drawing off with a rag.

Regularly each Sunday he went to church and always sat in the last pew. The people of the village associated with him but little. Many thought that because of the death of his mother he had become not quite right in his mind. But the minister knew better; often he was astonished at the thorough Bible knowledge which Joe possessed. He never was forward. One time a converted Jew preached for the congregation and spoke with warmth about the Messiah. Upon his question whether there were any persons in the church building who wanted to help form a society for Israel, Joe was the second who presented himself for this good cause. He never was ashamed for the cause of King Jesus. Once while walking along the street, he heard several young men mocking and swearing. He turned to them and asked seriously, “Do you know Him whom you are now cursing?” One of the men slapped him in the face. “It would have been better if you had answered me,” said Joe worthily and calmly. Upon this the mockers slumped away in shame.

He willingly shared the little he had. A poor person never knocked at his door without receiving something. It happened once that he gave the last of his money away, and then the devil suggested that he was very foolish. “No, Satan,” said Joe, “my Father is rich. He has the gold and the silver and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”

He seldom had visitors. Occasionally the minister came, but otherwise there was no one but those who brought him work or came for it. In this way Joe spent a simple and calm life. He was satisfied with little. Simplicity revealed itself in his clothing; he was modest in his actions and humble in his entire life.

He was not respected by people, but rather misjudged and held in contempt by many. He was placed, as it were, on the forgotten page, yet Joe belonged to those of whom the Lord had said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

— to be continued —

The Wonders of His Grace

The heart by nature is defiled
And closed against the Lord;
Nor can it e’er be reconciled
Till conquered by His Word.

Yet Jesus can its power subdue,
Satan and sin dethrone,
His image in the soul renew
And melt the heart of stone.

He draws the heart to heavenly things,
And writes His laws therein;
And where the reign of Christ begins
There ends the reign of sin.

Our ears He opens to His Word,
Our eyes to see His face;
Our mouths He opens to record
The wonders of His grace.

— Young People’s Hymnal

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