“Here I Am, Mother”

The son of Christian parents had been thrown into bad company, and had gone astray; but, with the assistance of his tempters, had hid his weakness for so long a time that when the revelation came it was with a very crushing blow. He was missed at home; uneasiness followed, and investigation uncovered the sorrowful fact that he was off on a spree.
The evening of the discovery his mother was to sing in the choir of which she was a member, and her husband the leader. The hymn was sung, “Where is my wandering boy tonight?” With a pent-up, breaking heart she sang the hymn. At the close of the last verse came the response, “Here I am, mother.”
And the people saw a young man, convulsed with sobs, making his way with outstretched arms to the choir stairs, down which the mother hurried to fold him to her breast.
The organist played Old Hundred, and the choir and congregation sang “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,” father, pastor and friends welcomed the penitent, and from that moment a new and a true life began for the reclaimed wanderer.