3897<\/b> He Knew He\u2019d Come<\/b><\/p>\n
The story is told about two young men, in the First World War, who had been friends for their entire lifetimes. Being neighbors, they had played together, gone to school together, engaged in the same athletic programs, and finally had enlisted in the army together. Fate determined they would eventually be in the same area of battle together. <\/p>\n
After a particularly bitter battle one day, it was found that one of the boys was missing somewhere out in what is known as \u201cNo-Man\u2019s Land.\u201d The other boy, safe and unhurt, went to the commanding officer and requested permission to go out and look for his friend. He was told it was of no use for no one was alive out there after the withering fire of so many hours. After great insistence, he was finally given permission to go. <\/p>\n
Some time later he came with the limp body of his friend over his shoulder. The commander said, \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you it was no use to go?\u201d to which the boy replied with radiance in his eyes, \u201cBut it was not; I got there in time to hear him whisper, \u201cI knew you\u2019d come.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Earl C. Willer<\/p>\n
3898<\/b> No To Bad Neighbor<\/b><\/p>\n
According to a Mexican legend, San Ysidro was plowing his garden when an angel appeared: \u201cThe Lord wants to see you, Ysidro. Come with me.\u201d But Ysidro was busy. He refused the command. <\/p>\n
Again the angel appeared: \u201cUnless you come at once, the Lord will send winds and drought to wither your corn.\u201d Ysidro was unperturbed. He had fought the wind before; drought could be relieved by river. <\/p>\n
Twice more the angel appeared, but Ysidro would not leave his work. The fourth time, the angel said simply: \u201cIf you do not come with me, the Lord will send you a bad neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ysidro paused in the middle of the row and turned to the messenger. \u201cI\u2019ll go with you now,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI can stand anything but that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Maxwell Droke<\/p>\n
3899<\/b> The Constant Security As Punishment<\/b><\/p>\n
In Abyssinia, when a man is convicted of an offence for which he has to pay a fine, he must find a friend who will offer himself as a security that the culprit will not run away till the fine be paid. The prisoner and the man who has the misfortune to be his friend are then chained leg-to-leg and turned loose to roam about, sharing one another\u2019s misfortunes, and begging together the money necessary to pay the fine, until either they are able to regain their liberty or the death of one puts an end to their existence. <\/p>\n
\u2014E. A. De Cosson<\/p>\n
3900<\/b> A True Friend Of Napoleon<\/b><\/p>\n
Napoleon had in his school at Brienne a young friend, Demasis, who greatly admired him. After Napoleon had quelled the mob in Paris and served at Toulon his authority was taken from him, and he was cast out penniless. He even meditated suicide, and was on his way toward the bridge from which he expected to throw himself, when his old friend, Demasis, met him and asked what was the matter. <\/p>\n
Napoleon frankly told him he was without money, his mother was in want, and he had despaired. \u201cOh, if that is all,\u201d said Demasis, \u201ctake this; it will supply your wants,\u201d and he handed him $600 in gold. <\/p>\n
Napoleon said afterward that he hardly knew why he took it, but he did, and rushed off to his cottage home. When Napoleon came to power he sought for Demasis far and wide. He wanted to promote him, he wished to enrich him, and it was said that Demasis lived and served in one of his armies, but would not make himself known. <\/p>\n
\u2014Current Anecdotes<\/p>\n
3901<\/b> Man Only Wanted King\u2019s Friendship<\/b><\/p>\n
The story is told by the Persians of the great Shah Abbas, who reigned magnificently in Persia, but loved to mingle with the people in disguise. Once, dressed as a poor man, he descended the long flight of stairs, dark and damp, to the tiny cellar where the fireman, seated on ashes, was tending the furnace. <\/p>\n
The king sat down beside him and began to talk. At mealtime the fireman produced some coarse, black bread and a jug of water and they ate and drank. The Shah went away, but returned again and again, for his heart was filled with sympathy for the lonely man. He gave his sweet counsel, and the poor man opened his whole heart and loved this friend, so kind, so wise, and yet poor like himself. <\/p>\n
At last the emperor thought, \u201cI will tell him who I am, and see what gift he will ask.\u201d So he said, \u201cYou think me poor, but I am Shah Abbas your emperor.\u201d He expected a petition for some great thing, but the man sat silent. Gazing, he said, \u201cHaven\u2019t you understood? I can make you rich and noble, can give you a city, can appoint you as a great ruler. Have you nothing to ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man replied gently, \u201cYes, my lord, I understood. But what is this you have done, to leave your palace and glory, to sit with me in this dark place, to partake of my coarse fare, to care whether my heart is glad or sorry? Even you can give nothing more precious. On others you may bestow rich presents but to me you have given yourself; it only remains to ask that you never withdraw this gift of your friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014A. Naismith<\/p>\n
3902<\/b> No Man Is An Island<\/b><\/p>\n
Nearly four hundred years ago the English poet-clergyman John Donne wrote: \u201cNo man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; any man\u2019s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.\u201d<\/p>\n
3903<\/b> Shortest Way To London<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is the shortest way to London?\u201d was the question for the best answer to which a London newspaper offered a substantial cash prize. The answer which won the prize was, \u201cThe shortest way to London is good company.\u201d All travelers know how true that answer is. Good company shortens any journey, however long. In such company time flies, miles slip rapidly past, and the end is reached almost before one is aware of it. The journey to heaven is very much shortened, the road made easier, when Jesus Christ is our traveling companion. <\/p>\n
\u2014Choice Gleanings<\/i><\/p>\n
3904<\/b> The Sacred Battalion Of Thebes<\/b><\/p>\n
There was a small band of three hundred cavalry in the Theban army, who proved a great terror to any enemy with whom they were called to fight. They were companions, who had bound themselves together by a vow of perpetual friendship, determined to stand together until the very last drop of their blood was spilled upon the ground. They were called \u201cThe Sacred Battalion,\u201d and they were bound alike by affection for the State and fidelity for each other, and thus achieved marvels, some of which seem almost fabulous. <\/p>\n
\u2014Selected<\/p>\n
3905<\/b> Good And Bad Companions<\/b><\/p>\n
Voltaire\u2019s agnosticism and skepticism are traced by some to the influence of the Abbe de Chateuneuf, who, although a priest of the Church of Christ, sowed the seeds of deism in his youthful charge and introduced him to dissolute companions. With a different environment in youth he might have been as mighty for faith as he was mighty for unbelief. <\/p>\n
John Locke, the English philosopher, as a young man had for a friend and counselor Lord Somers, described by Horace Walpole as \u201cone of those divine men who, like a chapel in a palace, remain unprofaned, while all the rest is tyranny, corruption, and folly.\u201d Such a friendship left its mark on Locke\u2019s character. <\/p>\n
At Oxford, John Wesley determined to have no companions save those which would help him in the life of faith and righteousness that he was trying to lead. <\/p>\n
\u2014C. E. Macartney<\/p>\n
3906<\/b> Walking With The Wise<\/b><\/p>\n
What a prophecy of future character and destiny is to be found in our associations! Goethe said: \u201cTell me with whom thou art found, and I will tell thee who thou art; let me know thy chosen employment, and I will cast the horoscope of thy future.\u201d But a wiser than Goethe wrote: \u201cHe that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed\u201d (Prov. 13:20). <\/p>\n
\u2014Selected<\/p>\n
3907<\/b> Easier To Be Good Around Her<\/b><\/p>\n
In a cemetery a little white stone marked the grave of a dear little girl, and on the stone were chiselled these words\u2014\u201dA child of who her playmates said, \u201c\u201cIt was easier to be good when she was with us\u201d\u201d\u2014one of the most beautiful epitaphs ever heard of. <\/p>\n
3908<\/b> Tibetan Greeting<\/b><\/p>\n
In the high, mysterious mountain country of Tibet, the people have what to us appears to be a very strange custom for greeting one another. When two people greet one another they approach and bow low, extend their open hands toward the other\u2014to show that they have no weapons and wish to be friendly\u2014and stick out their tongues, which means that they hold no evil words for the other in their mouths. <\/p>\n
\u2014Evangelistic Illustration<\/i><\/p>\n
3909<\/b> Cultivation Of Rose<\/b><\/p>\n
Among the Dutch the rose was sometimes cultivated by planting an inferior rose close to a rose of superior quality. The rose of inferior quality was carefully watched and its anthers removed so as to avoid self-pollenization; the object being that it should be pollenized by the superior rose. Gradually the rose thus treated took upon itself the characteristics of the superior life of its companion. <\/p>\n
3910<\/b> Changing Colors Of Birds<\/b><\/p>\n
The Japanese have an ingenious way of changing the color and appearance of birds and animals. For example, white sparrows are produced by selecting a pair of grayish birds and keeping them in a white cage, in a white room, where they are attended by a person dressed in white. The mental effect on a series of generations of birds results in completely white birds. <\/p>\n
3911<\/b> Training The Canaries<\/b><\/p>\n
There are localities in Switzerland where the canary is caged with a nightingale so that it may catch the sweetness of the latter\u2019s song and breathe into its notes that harmonious melody that delights all tourists in Europe. It is a demonstration of the power of association. The canary may be trained by a nightingale. <\/p>\n
So men may make their lives strong, pure, and sweet in thought, word, and deed by unbroken association with those who live on a higher plane. <\/p>\n
3912<\/b> The Freshman\u2019s Handicap<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the interesting activities shortly after the opening of each scholastic year at Yale University is the Freshman-Sophomore Rush. It is a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred contest between the two lower classes for possession of The Fence, as it is called. <\/p>\n
The Fence is a reproduction of an old fence, hallowed by tradition, that enclosed the college yard a century ago. The rival groups carry torches and execute snake dances through the streets to arouse their own spirit and the interest of onlookers. In the dim light they then go at each other in a free-for-all. <\/p>\n
Some years ago it happened that two fellows were down on the ground punching each other. They became so exhausted that they had to stop, only to discover that the other was not a sophomore but a \u201cbrother\u201d freshman. Such confusion is one of the main reasons for continuing the affair, in which the sophomores usually win. They know each other, while the freshmen may be meeting one another for the first time. <\/p>\n
3913<\/b> \u201cStrangers\u201d Too Long<\/b><\/p>\n
Privates Henry Pauch and Steve Obeda, inducted at Fort Sheridan, Ill., came to a camp in Texas, in the same troop movement. For two months they were in the same platoon and slept in bunks not far apart. Then they exchanged addresses. One lived at 2533 South Troy Street, Chicago, and the other at 2541, same street, same city. They were close neighbors, but strangers for thirteen years\u2014then got acquainted so far from home. <\/p>\n
\u2014Mrs. A. E. Jansen<\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Fellowship ; Friendship ; Love. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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