rayer.'"

II

EARLY LESSONS IN THE LIFE OF FAITH

"I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice
and my supplications."--_Psalm 116:1._

WHEN a very little child, so young I can remember nothing earlier, a
severe thunderstorm passed over our home. Terrified, I ran to my mother,
who placed my hands together, and pointing upward repeated over and over
again the one word "Jesus."

More than fifty years have passed since that day, but the impression
left upon my child-mind, of a Being invisible but able to hear and help,
has never been effaced.

* * * * *

The most precious recollections of early childhood are associated with
stories told us by our mother, many of which illustrated the power of
prayer.

One that made a specially deep impression upon me was about our
grandfather, who as a little boy went to visit cousins in the south of
England, their home being situated close to a dense forest. One day the
children, lured by the beautiful wild flowers, became hopelessly lost in
the woods. After trying in vain to find a way out, the eldest, a young
girl, called the frightened, crying little ones around her and said:
"When mother died she told us to always tell Jesus if we were in any
trouble. Let us kneel down, and ask him to take us home."

They knelt, and as she prayed one of the little ones opened his eyes, to
find a bird so close to his hand that he reached out for it. The bird
hopped away, but kept so close to the child as to lead him on. Soon all
were joining in the chase after the bird, which flew or hopped in front
or just above, and sometimes on the ground almost within reach. Then
suddenly it flew into the air and away. The children looked up to find
themselves on the edge of the woods and in sight of home.

With such influences bearing upon one at an impressionable age, it is
not surprising that I came even as a very little child to just "tell
Jesus" when in trouble.

* * * * *

Through the mists of memory one incident comes out clearly, which
occurred when I was six or seven years of age. While playing one day in
the garden, I was seized with what we then called "jumping" toothache.
I ran to my mother for comfort, but nothing she could do seemed to ease
the pain.

The nerve must have become exposed, for the pain was acute. Suddenly I
thought, "Jesus can help me," and just as I was, with my face pressed
ag