The father noticed the unhappiness of his elder son, and sought to
soothe and comfort him; but the younger son was occupied with other
thoughts; and having suffered long the grievous pangs of hunger, he
would, for a time at least, be busy at the table, speculating in
raptures, it may be, on the difference between the flesh of "the fatted
calf," and "the husks that the swine did eat."
It is, in one respect, an advantage to the converted unbeliever to be
treated by the Church with shyness. It affords him an opportunity of
proving his attachment to Christ and Christianity, in a way in which he
could not prove it, if every one welcomed him with demonstrations of
affection, and signs of joy. None are so slow to believe in the
sincerity of a converted infidel as infidels themselves; and to be able
to give to his old associates a proof so decisive of the genuineness of
his change, and of the value he puts on Christianity, will be regarded
by the convert as a privilege of no light value. And it is fit and
proper, as well as better for the convert, that he should be reminded of
his former weakness, and incited to watchfulness and humility, by the
pain of some kind of life-long disadvantage.
9. Let no one expect to get through the world without trouble.
Pages:
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717