Claus August Wendell Christian Short Stories Moral Tales

Perhaps I Was Dreaming by Claus August Wendell
Augustana Book Concern, 1939

Perhaps I Was Dreaming
Rev. Claus August Wendell, author
Rock Island IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1939
51 stories
168 pages

This blog post by Mary Katherine May of Quality Music and Books.

We always thinks have changed and have become worse, or better. If you read books from other eras and times, however, you will come to discover that history does repeat itself often.

Pastor Claus wrote his thoughts in little stories that were printed in the church bulletin and the publication Lutheran Companion.  In these little bits of wisdom he covered a multitude of topics while always putting his faith and Savior, Jesus Christ, in the center. 

Click the name to read my blog article about Claus August Wendell.

Here is an example of what is found in Perhaps I Was Dreaming by C.A. Wendell.

The Chickens and the Ducklings

Once upon a time there was a great pond, and near it was a poultry farm. And there were many ducks and many hens. And the hens laid eggs and hatched them, and so did the ducks.

Now it came to pass on a certain day that a mother duck brought her brood to the water to teach them how to swim. And she had little trouble in teaching them, for they followed her gladly, floating like corks on the water.

But there was consternation on the shore, for the chickens were greatly alarmed. They ran to and fro, piping frantically to their playmates and begging them to return. “You are going to perdition,” they cried. “There is danger ahead, and the farther you go, the farther you are from solid ground. Come back!”

But the ducklings heeded them not. They paddled away with all their might, and some of them sang (as nearly as ducklings can sing),

“Are they not all the seas of God?

O farther, farther, farther sail!”

And sail they did, as far as they pleased. Then they returned.

But now the chicks would have nothing to do with them. “They are deceived by the devil,” their mother had told them. “They are an evil brood, and if you follow them, you will surely perish. Beware of them as you beware of the hawk!”

Now there was truth in what she said, for it is certain that chickens will perish if they follow the ducklings into the water.  But there was mischief in it, too; for a chicken who can not swim should not be taught to hate a duckling because he can.  Did not God make the pond as well as the dry land?  And did He not make the ducklings as well as the chickens? Do not the ducklings therefore have not as much right to the water as the chickens have to the dry land, and are they not as safe there?

And thereby hands a moral, for every duckling here is human, and every chicken too.  God bless them all, and speed thee, friend, to find the meaning of this parable. Aye, it may do thee good. pp. 67-69