Here is one (and it would seem to me the most unmitigated of all the
catalogue) who is groping his way along in darkness, holding fast by
the hand of a little girl. There is another who has lost a limb, and
makes his way along with the utmost difficulty. Yonder is one so
extremely deformed, that his sensitiveness forbids him often to
appear in the crowded streets. And there is another still, who is
quite helpless, sitting in a little wagon drawn about by a faithful
dog.
In the minds of different individuals, these various aspects of
deformity produce pity, disgust, and horror; but I have often
thought, could we but look, as God looks--down into the audience
chamber of the spirit--the heart--how differently our minds would be
affected at the sight of these bodily deformities. Perhaps yon poor
blind man, grinding away upon his hand-organ, whose natural eyes for
long, weary years, have been closed against the profusion of beauty
around him, has had the eyes of his understanding opened, and the
pure light from the eternal throne illumes the depth of his soul.
Perhaps he, who hobbles slowly and sadly along upon his crutches,
treads with care and unknown joy, the _narrow way_,--and when,
life's journey's over, he walks through the valley of the shadow of
death, he will fear no evil; for a rod and a staff unknown to his
earthly pilgrimage, _they will comfort him_.
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