This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
One of the boxes intended for the sick and wounded in the front of the army, contained a beautiful soft bedspread.
“How beautiful! how soft and warm! it will be for the comfort of our soldiers!”
These were our exclamations as we drew it from its hiding place. And it did indeed cause great joy in the hospital and a source of great comfort to many a suffering one.
What? a bedspread doing all this you say? Yes, listen. As we unfolded the spread we found a piece of paper pinned and these words written on it:
“I have prepared this spread for the field hospital thinking it might cover a sick body, as well as speak a good word to the soul. Those Scripture texts are balm for the wounded heart. The Lord bless the dear soldiers among whom I also have a son.”
“Amen,” said we as our tears fell down on the spread. Were these the first tears? No, not the first, nor the hundredth. The spread was, as I learned later on, the work of a widow, wrought with much prayer and many tears.
The spread was put together of many different colored pieces of goods in a very clever and tasteful way. The most remarkable thing about the spread was a good many white pieces of cloth, and on each one was a Scripture text or a verse of some hymn, and all was done so neat and clean, you could see how much pains the one took who made it. On the centerpiece was in large letters.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,”
and below that, the publican’s cry:
“God be merciful to me a sinner.”
The upper border, nearest to the eye of the patient, contained a number of texts full of love, comfort and hope. Between the border and the center you could see:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
“If only all our beds had such spreads,” remarked some of us; “how many of the sick and wounded would be helped and profited!”
A few days later a number of sick arrived, and one of them received this remarkable spread. At first he was too ill to notice what was going on around him. But as he grew stronger, he could be noticed reading the texts carefully. Then he said: “How good that these are here.” “Indeed! and do you know the value of these Scriptures?”
“Yes, thank God, I do!” was his reply.
“I have often heard the verse, and it is right here on the spread.”
ML 10/16/1938