A gentleman walking along a railway siding going roan the main line to a colliery, looked down upon a rough-built cottage. with holes in the tiled roof. At first he thought the place was uninhabited, but as he came to the front lie noticed an old woman and her grown-up daughter.
Thinking that he might be able to make things a little more comfortable for them, especially as bad weather was threatening, he decided to purchase a pair of blankets when next he went into town on business.
A few days later he took the blankets in a brown paper parcel, and pictured to himself the delight of the couple.
As he passed the window the old woman was looking out, and lie held up the parcel. But she only frowned and shook her head.
He opened the door, and was about to speak, when she cried out, “Begone, I don’t want to buy any of your goods,” and slammed the door.
“My good woman,” said the gentleman, as he again opened the door, “I do not want to sell them.”
“Begone about your business,” was the only response.
By this time he saw that she was stone deaf.
“I will show her what it is,” he said to himself; “perhaps she will understand then.”
He untied the parcel and displayed the blankets, but all to no purpose.
“Why don’t you go away? I have told you I don’t want them.”
What more could he do? He took one out and held it up full length and breadth.
Again came the words, angrily, “Why don’t you go away when I tell you?”
He determined on a final effort to make the old woman understand, taking the blanket, he threw it right around her, and burst into a hearty laugh.
Then the meaning of it flashed upon her. Looking at him, she exclaimed, timidly—
“For me?”
He nodded his head and smiled.
“A gift?” she queried.
Again he nodded.
“A gift for me?” she repeated to herself. She stroked it with her hands and felt the warmth of it, then laughed and cried for joy; she grasped the hands of the giver, and thanked him with all her heart.
Are you deaf and blind to the love of Christ?
“I will give you rest,” says He. Take it with thankfulness. Accept it with gratitude. It is a gift—a gift for you.
ML 08/09/1936