My father inherited a baton from his father,
which had a silver handle with the crest of the Sherwood Forester regiment on
it. My father cut off some of the bottom, put a rubber on it and used it as a
walking stick.
Years later when my eldest daughter was in
junior school, they had a show and tell table, you could bring in interesting
articles to show the other pupils and tell the story behind them. Sarah was
allowed to take her papa’s walking stick. Unfortunately, the school was broken
into that night and the stick and other things were taken. Needless to say, my
daughter was distraught but papa assured her that it was not her fault and it
was only a walking stick. A good lesson to learn, people are more important
than possessions. I was reminded of the incident when I read the following
passage from Streams in the Desert. The only staff that will not let us down,
that we cannot lose, and cannot be stolen from us is the Word of God if we read
it daily, and be as the psalmist…
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee.
Benjamin Vaughan Abbot
The Outlook
At my father’s house in the country there is a
little closet in the chimney corner where are kept the canes and walking sticks
of several generations of our family. In my visits to the old house, when my
father and I are going out for a walk, we often go to the cane closet and pick
out our sticks to suit the fancy of the occasion. In this I have frequently
been reminded that the Word of God is a staff.
During the war, when the seasons of
discouragement and impending danger was upon us, the verse, “He shall not
be afraid of evil tiding; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord,” Psalm
112:7 was a staff to walk with on many dark days.
When death took away our child and left us
almost heart broken, I found another staff in the promise that “Weeping
may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
When in impaired health, I was exiled for a
year, not knowing whether I should be permitted to return to my home and work again,
I took with me this staff which never failed, “He knoweth the thoughts
that He thinketh toward me, thoughts of peace and not of evil.” Jeremiah
29:11
In times of special danger and doubt when human
judgement has seemed to be set at naught, I have found it easy to go forward
with this staff, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15
And in emergencies, when there has seemed to be
no adequate time for deliberation or for action, I have never found that this
staff has failed me, “He that believeth shall not make haste.” Isaiah
28:16
