Derelicts

1895

"These are the wrecks of abandoned vessels turned loose to be carried hither and thither by winds and tide. They form one of the serious dangers to ocean navigation. In spite of all efforts to rid the sea of them, many of these unguided prowlers still drift and toss up and down the deep, threatening every passing ship with wreck. May we not find in this a parable? Derelicts — social, moral, religious — are the chief danger to safe sailing on the ocean of life. And such are found drifting everywhere. Your son and daughter and yourself would be safer if it were not for these wrecks of humanity lost to conscience and morality and to God. Every ruined soul threatens others with ruin. One misguided or neglected youth may, in the course of a lifetime of drifting and sinning, wreck a hundred others. It is a peril, as well as a crying sin, to let any boy or girl be turned adrift without moral restraint or guidance, or to allow those already lost to continue drifting while we put forth no effort to arrest or save them. Prevention is better than cure. Parents should see that the hearts of the children are so anchored to Christ, and their lives so trained for Him and ruled by His love, that no derelicts shall go forth from their homes." — Cumberland Presbyterian.