Once a Child
“Who took him on the other side?” A pair of soft blue eyes, full of tenderness and tears, looked up into mine. “On the other side! What do you mean, my darling”; and I looked wondering at the child.
“My baby brother, I mean. He was so small and weak, and had to go all alone. Who took him on the other side?”
“Angels,” I answered, as steadily as I could speak; for the child’s question moved me deeply—“loving angels, who took him up tenderly and laid his head softly on their bosoms, and sang to him sweeter songs than he had ever heard in this world.”
“But every one will be strange to him. I’m afraid he’ll be grieved for mother and nurse and me.”
“No dear. The Savior, who was once a baby in this world, is there; and the angels who are nearest to him take all the little children who leave our side, and love and care for them just as if they were their own. When Bobby passed through to the other side, one of these angels held him by the hand all the way, and he was not in the least afraid; and when the light of heaven broke upon his eyes, and he saw the new beauty of the new world into which he had entered, his little heart was full of gladness.”
“You are sure of that?” The grief had almost faded out of the child’s countenance.
“Yes, dear, very sure. The Lord, who so tenderly loves little children who took them in his arms and blessed them when he was on earth, who said that ‘their angels do always behold the face of my Father,’ is more careful of the babes who go to him than the tenderest mother could possibly be.”
“I am so glad!” said the child; “and it makes me feel so much better! Dear Bobby! I didn’t know who would take him on the other side.”
“My baby brother, I mean. He was so small and weak, and had to go all alone. Who took him on the other side?”
“Angels,” I answered, as steadily as I could speak; for the child’s question moved me deeply—“loving angels, who took him up tenderly and laid his head softly on their bosoms, and sang to him sweeter songs than he had ever heard in this world.”
“But every one will be strange to him. I’m afraid he’ll be grieved for mother and nurse and me.”
“No dear. The Savior, who was once a baby in this world, is there; and the angels who are nearest to him take all the little children who leave our side, and love and care for them just as if they were their own. When Bobby passed through to the other side, one of these angels held him by the hand all the way, and he was not in the least afraid; and when the light of heaven broke upon his eyes, and he saw the new beauty of the new world into which he had entered, his little heart was full of gladness.”
“You are sure of that?” The grief had almost faded out of the child’s countenance.
“Yes, dear, very sure. The Lord, who so tenderly loves little children who took them in his arms and blessed them when he was on earth, who said that ‘their angels do always behold the face of my Father,’ is more careful of the babes who go to him than the tenderest mother could possibly be.”
“I am so glad!” said the child; “and it makes me feel so much better! Dear Bobby! I didn’t know who would take him on the other side.”