NEWS OF AN OLD FRIEND.

White Ribbon, Volume 31, Issue 368, 18 February 1926, Page 5

NEWS OF AN OLD FRIEND.

The following poem was sent us for insertion by our aid friend and fellow, worker, Mrs Miller, who has jus* returned from The Border Land:— THE BORDER LAND. (These fines were sent by a lady to a friend who wrote frequently to know where she had been for several months, that she bid not written to her. She had ben to the gates of the grave, in a long and seven 1 illness.) 1 have ben ton land, a Border I .and. Where there was but a strange, dinlight; Where shadows and dreams, in a s|x*c tral Lind, Se< m d real to the aching sight. 1 scarce bethought me how there I came, Or if thence I should pa s again; It.s morning anil night were mark'd b> the flight. Or coming, of woe and pain. I tut I saw from this land, this Border I .and. With its mountain ridges hoar, That they look’d across to a wondrous strand, — A bright and unearthly shore. Tii n I turned m< to Him, “the Crucified,” In most bumble faith and prayer, Who had ransom’d with blood my sinful soul. For I thought He would call me there. Yet nay: for awhile in the Bonier Land lie hade me in patience stay. And gather rich fruits with a trembling hand. Whilst Ho chased its glooms away; He had led me amid those shadows dim And shown that bright world so near. To teach me that earnest trust in Him Is "the one thing needful” here. And so from the land, the Border Igind, 1 have turn’d me to earth once more; But earth and its works were such trifles, sennn’d By the light of that radiant shore. And oil! should they ever possess me again Too deeply, in heart and hand, i must think how empty 1 hey seem'd, und vain, From the heights of the Border Land.

The Border I And had depths and vales, Where sorrow for sin was known; Where small seem’d great, as weighed in siules, Held by God's hand aJone. 'Twa.s a land where earthly pride was naught. Where tin* poor were brought to mind. With their scanty lied, their tireless cot. And their bread, so hard to find. » I But little ! heard in the Border I.and. Of all that puxs’d Inflow The omv loud voice of human life To 1 lie deafen'd ear were low. I was deaf to the clang of its trumpet call. An 1 alike to its gibe or its sneer; Its riches were dust.and the loss of all Would then scarce have cast a tear. 1 met with a friend in this Border JAnd, Whose teachings can come with power To the blinded eye and the deafen’d ear, In affliction's loneliest hour. “Times of refreshing” to the soul. In languor, oft he brings. Prepares it then to meditate On high and glorious things. Oh! Holy Ghost! too often grieved In h- alth and earthly haste, 1 bless those slow and silent hours Which seem to run to waste. I would not lull have pass’d those “depths ” And such communion known. As can be held in the Bonier I And With Thne, and Thee alone. 1 Live been to a land, a Border TAnd! May oblivion never roll O’er the mighty lessons which there and then Have been graven on my soul! 1 have trodden a path 1 did not know. Safe in my Saviour’s hard: I <»in trust Him for all the future, now I have been to the Border I And.