Editorial July 27, 1907 Issue

"UNDER HIS WINGS SHALT THOU TRUST"

John B. Willis

It was a warm day, and the mother turkey had piloted her trailing brood such a long way in search of stray wheat-heads and the delectable grasshoppers that the younglings were piping plaintively enough when she finally martialed them in the back door-yard for the last roll-call before taps. For herself she would have chosen a roost among the lower branches of a near-by oak, but consideration for her weak-winged progeny led her to decide upon the board fence instead, to which she promptly mounted, and settling herself, called them encouragingly to her side. In an instant the most daring made the venture, and landing safely near her, he ducked his head and edged along until he found himself close to the mother-heart and fully covered by her wing. Thus, one after another, they lined up, to right and left, each getting just as near as possible to the coveted first place, and each finding room under the generously extended wings, spread out in keeping with the household demands until all were snuggled down in safety and content, five on one side and six on the other.

This performance was not an unfamiliar one to the bronze-vizaged farmer who had watched it from the kitchen steps, but this evening he found himself peculiarly interested in it. He had been taught for long years to think of God as an austerely righteous being, who is immovable in His decrees and terrible in His doings; but of late he had learned something of Christian Science, and had begun to think of the Father-Mother of all in a different way, and this picture of maternal provision for innocent need distinctly contributed to the transformation and renewal of mind which he was undergoing. As he looked upon it he recalled the familiar words, "under his wings shalt thou trust," and they immediately took on a new and richer meaning. The comforting thought of God as a loving parent who is interested in the welfare and happiness of mankind, outlined itself as never before, and began to assume the significance of an impelling conviction.

He recalled how frequently Jesus referred to this consciousness of the divine Fatherhood, in which he found daily strength and inspiration ; how he attributed both his safety and his success to the nearness and omnipotence of Love, and how he encouraged, yea commanded, his followers, that they give place to neither anxiety nor fear, since He who careth for the sparrows was to be their abiding wisdom and strength, their support and stay in every stress and storm of human experience, so that nothing should be able "in any wise" to hurt them. He saw, moreover, that while Love's protecting wings are always available, and large enough for our every need, Love's call must be heeded, and in response thereto each must put forth effort, and mount a bit to his own place. He also saw that, though protected by the mother-wing, each birdling needed to keep a good grip on his perch, and that, like them, it is ours, as coworkers with God, to cling steadfastly to the truth whereunto we have already attained, that we may not be moved either by the unexpected gusts of personal influence or the more constant currents of mortal thought.

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