Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 27, 1882
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
The Teacher and His Work.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
To the teacher is committed an important work. While cultivating the intellectual powers and forming the manners of his pupils, he is constantly exerting an influence upon their habits and characters. Their destiny in this world and the next, may be decided by his instruction and example.
It is not enough that the teacher possesses natural ability and intellectual culture. These are indispensable; but without a moral and spiritual fitness for the work, he is not prepared to engage in it. The teacher should see in every pupil the handiwork of God—a candidate for immortal honors. He should seek so to educate, train, and discipline that each may attain to the highest standard of moral and intellectual excellence of which he is capable.
Many assume the position of a teacher without a proper sense of their responsibility, and without due preparation. They are not actuated by that lofty purpose which an enlightened conscience and a love for souls would inspire. They teach merely to earn a livelihood, and do not realize the danger of marring the work by indulging their own peculiarities and revealing their defects of character. Hence, their lack of self-control and wise discipline exerts upon pupils an influence which no after-effort can wholly counteract.
The teacher should not enter upon his work without careful and thorough preparation. He should feel the importance of his calling, and give himself to it with zeal and devotion. It is not his duty to exhaust the energies of mind or body in other branches of labor which may be urged upon him. This would unfit him for his specific work.
Every educator should daily receive instructions from the Great Teacher, and should labor constantly under his guidance. It is impossible for him rightly to understand or to perform his work, unless he shall be much with God in prayer. Only by divine aid combined with earnest, self-denying effort, can he hope to fill his position wisely and well.
The teacher should carefully study the disposition and character of his pupils, that he may adapt his instruction to their peculiar needs. He has a garden to tend, in which are plants differing widely in nature, form, and development. While a few may appear beautiful and symmetrical, many others have become dwarfed and misshapen by neglect. The preceding gardener has not done his work faithfully. By proper cultivation these plants and shrubs might have been made to grow up comely and beautiful; but those to whom was committed the care of the tender plantlets, left them to the mercy of circumstances, and now the work of training and cultivation is increased tenfold.
The teacher must bring to his difficult task the patience, forbearance, and gentleness of Christ. His heart must glow with the same love that led the Lord of life and glory to die for a lost world. Patience and perseverance will not fail of a reward. While his best efforts will sometimes prove unavailing, the faithful teacher will see fruit of his labor. Noble characters and useful lives will richly repay his toil and care.
The word of God should have a place—the first place—in every system of education. As an educating power, it is of more value than the writings of all the philosophers of all the ages. In its wide range of style and subjects, there is something to interest and instruct every mind, to ennoble every life. There is history of inestimable value and absorbing interest. The light of revelation shines undimmed into the distant past where human annals cast not a ray of light. There is poetry which has called forth the admiration and wonder of the world. In glowing beauty, in sublime and solemn majesty, in touching pathos, it is unequaled by the most brilliant productions of human genius. There is sound logic and impassioned eloquence. There are portrayed the noble deeds of noble men, examples of private virtue and public honor, lessons of piety and purity.
There is no position in life, no phase of human experience, for which the Bible does not contain valuable instruction. Ruler and subject, master and servant, the buyer and the seller, the borrower and the lender, parent and child, teacher and student,—all may here find lessons of priceless worth.
But above all else, the word of God sets forth the plan of salvation; shows how sinful men may be reconciled to God, lays down the great principles of truth and duty which should govern our lives, and promises us divine aid in their observance. It reaches beyond this fleeting life, beyond the brief and troubled history of our race. It opens to our view the long vista of eternal ages—ages undarkened by sin, undimmed by sorrow. It teaches us how we may share the habitations of the blessed, and bids us anchor our hopes and fix our affections there.
The great book of nature, ever open before the student, invites his thought and study. While the teacher explores with his pupils the wonders of the visible universe, and the laws by which it is governed, he should lead them to behold on every hand the power, the wisdom, and the love of God.
Physical training should receive careful attention in the school-room. The teacher is, to a great degree, responsible for the health of the students under his care. The foundation of many diseases is laid in early life. Nothing is unimportant which affects physical health, for without this, mental training will be of little value.
Disease is often induced by over-study, confinement, and lack of exercise. Care should be taken to avoid these evils. Children, especially, should have frequent change of position and occupation.
Impure air is a frequent cause of disease. Above all other places, houses of worship and school buildings should be thoroughly ventilated. In the church congregation and in the crowded school-room are persons affected with scrofula, consumption, and almost every other form of disease. Impurities generated by these disorders are exhaled, and also thrown off by insensible perspiration. Unless there is most thorough ventilation, these impurities will be taken into the lungs, and then into the blood, and thus endanger health and even life. Yet sudden changes of temperature are to be avoided. Care should be taken that students do not become chilled by currents of air from open windows. It is unsafe for the teacher to regulate the heat of the school-room by his own feelings. His own good, as well as that of the students, demands that a uniform temperature be maintained.
The teacher should be familiar with the principles of physiology and hygiene, and should put his knowledge to practical use in the school-room. He may thus guard his pupils from many dangers to which they are exposed, through ignorance or neglect of sanitary laws. Thousands of lives are sacrificed, because teachers do not give attention to these things.
More harm than good results from the practice of offering prizes and rewards. It is the ambitious pupil who is stimulated to greater effort. Those whose mental powers are already too active for their physical strength, are urged on to grasp subjects too difficult for the young mind. The examinations also are a trying ordeal for pupils of this class. Many a promising student has suffered severe illness, perhaps death, as the result of the effort and excitement of such occasions. Parents and teachers should be on their guard against these dangers. It is unwise to develop the intellectual at the expense of the physical powers.
Students should be encouraged to exercise in the open air. Such exercise, with the invigorating influences of the fresh air, the sunshine, and the scenes of nature, will cool the fevered brain and soothe the excited nerves, and the student will return to his task with renewed vigor and fresh courage.
No one branch of study should receive special attention to the neglect of others equally important. Some teachers devote much time to a favorite branch, drilling the students upon every point, and praising them for their progress, while in everything else these students may be deficient. Such instructors are doing their pupils a great wrong. They are depriving them of that harmonious development of the mental powers which they should have, as well as of knowledge which they sorely need.
In these matters, teachers are too often controlled by selfish, sordid motives. While they labor with no higher object, they cannot inspire their pupils with noble desires or purposes. The keen, active minds of the young are quick to detect every defect of character, and they will copy such defects far more readily than the precious graces of the Holy Spirit.
It is the meekness and love of Christ that is needed by teachers and pupils, by parents and children. The currents of spiritual life must not become stagnant. The water of the living fountain should be in us, a well of water springing up into everlasting life, and sweeping away the selfishness of the natural heart. What our schools and our homes need is the inflowing of heavenly life, so full and free as to impart a truly fervent spirit. The heart that is imbued with the love of Christ will reveal that simplicity, and godly sincerity, which was manifested in the life of our Saviour. That heart will be as a pure fountain, sending forth pure, sweet streams.
No man or woman is fitted for the work of teaching who is fretful, impatient, arbitrary, or dictatorial. These traits of character work great harm in the school-room. Let not the teacher excuse his wrong course by the plea that he has naturally a hasty temper, or that he has erred ignorantly. He has taken a position where ignorance, or lack of self-control is sin. He is writing upon many a human soul lessons which will be carried all through life.
Constant association with inferiors in age and mental training tends to make the teacher tenacious of his rights and opinions, and leads him to jealously guard his position and dignity. Such a spirit is opposed to the meekness and humility of Christ. A neglect to cherish these graces hinders advancement in the divine life. Many build up barriers between themselves and Jesus so that his love cannot flow into their hearts, and then they complain that they do not see the Sun of righteousness. Let them forget self, and live for Jesus, and the light of Heaven will bring gladness to their souls.
Above all others, he who has the training of the young, should beware of indulging a morose or gloomy disposition. This will cut him off from sympathy with them; and without sympathy we cannot hope to benefit. We should not darken our own path, or the path of others, with the shadow of our trials. We have a Saviour to whom each may go; into whose pitying ear we may pour every complaint; we may leave all our cares and burdens with him; and then our labor will not seem hard nor our trials severe.
The fact that Jesus died to bring happiness and Heaven within our reach should be a theme for constant gratitude. The beauty spread before us in God's created works, as an expression of his love, should bring gladness to our hearts.
We open to ourselves the flood-gates of woe, or of joy. If we permit our thoughts to be engrossed with the troubles and trifles of earth, our hearts will be filled with unbelief, gloom, and foreboding. If we set our affections on things above, the voice of Jesus will speak peace to our souls; murmurings will cease; vexing thoughts will be lost in praise to our Redeemer. Those who dwell upon God's great mercies, and are not unmindful of his lesser gifts, will put on the girdle of gladness, and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. Then they will enjoy their allotted labor. They will stand firm and faithful at their post of duty. They will have a placid temper, a trustful spirit.
To the teacher is committed a great work—a work for which, in his own strength, he is wholly194insufficient. Yet if, realizing his own weakness, his helpless soul shall cling to Jesus, he will become strong in the strength of the Mighty One.
MY WORK.
By Millie Colcord
He crowned my life with blessings full and sweet,
In his great love he pardoned all my sin;
Then to his fold he led my wandering feet,
And bade me know the peace and joy within;
"Dear Lord," I cried, "I'll gladly work for thee;"
His loving voice said only, "Follow me."
He led me to his pastures green and fair,
Beside still waters oft he bade me stay;
But I, with heart all full of anxious care,
Murmured because he made so smooth the way,
Saying, "I have no work to do for thee."
"Child, this is work," he said, "to follow me."
Yet still I murmured, "Lord, the way is fair,
And it is very sweet to walk with thee;
But shall thy servant have no cross to bear?
No battle to be fought and won for thee?"
And in his love, the half I could not see,
My Saviour gave this answer unto me—
"Are there no little crosses for each day?
No inward battles to be fought with sin?
Nothing to do to smooth another's way?
To help a soul the crown of life to win?
Hast thou remembered my great love for thee,
And dost thou live each day, each hour, for me?"
Then seeing all my need, and sin, and pride,
I knelt again before my Saviour's feet,
Praying for strength to follow by his side,
Praying for help, temptation's power to meet;
And now, each day, let my petition be,
Teach me, dear Lord, to follow after thee.
—Millie Colcord.
The Law of God.
By Editor
MAN AT CREATION.
WERE the history of the creation of the world written out as fully as modern histories are written, it would furnish a volume of absorbing interest. But it would, doubtless, have less of the grandeur and sublimity which attaches to the brief account given in Genesis. While the superficial reader gathers comparatively little from the brief record in Genesis 1 and 2, the careful, the studious, and above all, the reverent reader is awe-struck with the majesty of the events passing before his view. The style is so simple that a child is interested in the recital; yet it seems as if eternity were needed to so unfold our powers that we may be able to comprehend the facts set forth.
The world was made to be inhabited, Isa. 45:18; and to man was given the dominion of the earth. He was formed in the image of his Maker; he was designed to be the crowning glory of the glorious work. And in considering this, man has almost exhausted the vocabulary to describe his own dignity and importance.
But the word of God, whether in brief or particular, is always truthful. With all his powers for good, for high and noble purposes, man soon fell from his state of innocence and happiness. The record of his creation is very soon followed by the record of his sin. Turning his back on his privileges, his happy home, and his Creator and Benefactor, he suffered himself to be led by his worst enemy. He refused the favor of Heaven, the society of angels, and sacrificed life itself, without any assurance of any benefit. A sigh of regret escapes us at the thought. But the story is repeated every day, and even, to some extent, in our own lives. Here we leave the history of events to examine the principles involved in man's rebellion, and to consider how we stand related to those principles.
Though the record in Genesis is very brief, giving us but little idea of man's knowledge of the will of God, or of God's revelation to man at that time, there are certain declarations elsewhere made which are confessedly, of universal application, whenever and wherever obligation and responsibility exist. These apply to man in his first state as certainly as they apply to us at this time. Thus an inspired writer has said, "Sin is the transgression of the law." Therefore where sin existed, law existed; and in harmony with this necessary conclusion another inspired one has said; "Where no law is there is no transgression," and, "Sin is not imputed when there is no law."
Some have contended that the law was not necessary for man in his unfallen condition, but was first made known after he became a sinner. But, according to the texts quoted from John and Paul, that cannot be true. Had the law not existed, man could not have been a transgressor; and whatever his actions might have been, there could have been no imputation of sin had there been no law. So far as the existence of law is concerned, man, at his creation, sustained the same relation to the government of God which we do now. Men, and among them some who are reputed to be wise, have speculated over the supposed ignorance of man in his primeval state, before he had the sad experience of sin. That he was ignorant they conclude solely from the fact that he was without life's experience. But experience is not always necessary to knowledge; nor is it the best means of knowledge in matters of wrong, where guilt must attend the experience. A revelation from God concerning the nature and result of sin is far better than experience; and this revelation man received. Unfortunately for the race, he was not content with this, but ventured on a forbidden path, and to his sorrow proved what he could not trust, that the word of God is truth.
As there can be no transgression where there is no law, even so also in the absence of law there can be no obedience. Hence, had not God revealed his law to man, he could not have developed a character, either bad or good. The silence of the first chapter of Genesis in regard to God's making known the several precepts of his law to man, has been taken as evidence that they were not then made known. But this conclusion is altogether unreasonable. That God held converse with man is a revealed truth; though, in the very brief record of Genesis we have but little said concerning that truth. But in revelations afterward given we learn all that is necessary to instruct us on the subject. Cain exhibited a consciousness of guilt, and God dealt with him as with a guilty person. This is all in harmony with the application of Paul's declarations concerning sin and the law, in his letter to the Romans; but not in harmony with the idea that the law which forbids murder had not then been revealed. Abel presented an offering to the Lord, which looked to redemption in the plan of the gospel. But, assuming that the gospel plan had not then been revealed to man, his offering is only a mystery.
We find that offerings to the Lord were common in the early history of mankind. Only one, that of Abraham as recorded in Gen. 15, was by divine direction given in the history. But we have an account of his building an altar to the Lord several years before this.
God is no respecter of persons. It is true that he had respect to Abel and to his offering rather than to Cain and to his offering; but it was because Abel offered his by faith. Heb. 11:4. Cain was also told that he should be accepted if he did well; and if not, sin was at his door. It is true that of that generation Enoch only was translated; but he walked with God as the others did not. True that to Noah was revealed the coming of the flood and the means of escape; but the reason is found in the declaration of the Lord that only Noah was "found righteous in this generation." Abraham also was called to an eminent place, as the father of the faithful; but he was "the friend of God," and God said he knew him, that he could commend his works. So it was and so it ever will be. "In every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S LAW.
A law, to be of force, or to be enforced on just grounds, must be given by proper authority, and the author, and his right to govern, must be known to the individuals amenable thereto. The fact that men, in the patriarchal age, were treated as sinners, is sufficient evidence that they had a knowledge of God as Law-giver and Governor, and that they so far understood the claims of his law as to incur guilt in its violation. But the main point of inquiry is this: Was the law of God known by the patriarchs, the same that was afterward proclaimed to Israel? This we answer in the affirmative, and shall endeavor to maintain the affirmation by Scripture evidences.
That the law of ten commandments has ever been considered the moral law, and pre-eminently the law of God, is by no means accidental. It alone was spoken by the voice of God in the hearing of all the people. It alone was written by the finger of God on the tables of stone. It alone was placed in the ark beneath the mercy-seat, upon which the priest sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering, thus showing that their sins were violations of that law, and that their violations of that law must be blotted out in order that they might be accepted with God. The objection that the present wording of the ten commandments is not suited to the condition of an unfallen or sinless race does not present any real difficulty, as it is not the present wording on which we insist. But we do insist that the ten commandments contain substantially all moral obligation, covering, as they certainly do, all moral relations. And we claim that all of these, substantially, were known to the patriarchs and to those living in that age. Though we have no direct declaration that they were given to the people in that age, we have direct evidence of their knowledge of them, and of their being held responsible as sinners for their violation of them.
EDITOR.
PUBLIC DEBTS OF VARIOUS NATIONS.
By Christian Statesman
The census report on public indebtedness will make a quarto volume of six hundred and sixty-seven pages. According to the best authorities, the national debts of the principal countries have increased since 1848, as shown in the following figures: Total indebtedness in 1848, $7,627,692,215; in 1860, $10,399,341,688; in 1870, $17,117,640,428; in 1880, $23,286,414,753.
In other words the total public debt of the civilized nations is three times as large as it was twenty-two years ago. That of France has risen from $1,854,000,000 (in round numbers), to $3,829,000,000—or about double. That of Great Britian has fallen from $3,893,000,000, to $3,766,000,000. That of the United States has risen from the paltry sum of $64,000,000, to $2,120,000,000. This is the fruit of our civil war—as the doubling of the debt of France is due to the war with Germany.
The encouraging feature in our case is that the debt is being paid off at the rate of about $100,000,000 annually, while our population, in the time referred to, has nearly doubled. All the other Governments could do the same, if it were not for their expensive military establishments. War has created these burdens, and may, at any time, double or triple them again, and the supposed necessity of constant preparation for war forbids them to be lightened. The prospect for the taxpayer is gloomy. It is no wonder that America is regarded with longing eyes by the masses of Europe. —Christian Statesman.
A REMARKABLE MAP.
At the school of the nobles in Tokio, Japan, is a physical map of that country, 300 or 400 feet long, in the court behind the school-building. This map, or model, is made of turf and rock, and is bordered with pebbles, which look, at a little distance, so much like water. Every inlet, river, and mountain, is reproduced in this model with a fidelity to detail, which is simply wonderful. Latitude and longitude are indicated by telegraph wires, and tablets show the position of the cities. Ingenious devices are employed in illustrating botanical studies also. For example, the pine is illustrated by a picture showing the cone, leaf and dissected flower, set in a frame which shows the bark and longitudinal and transverse sections of the wood.
Christ's Estimate of Christian Service.
By E. S. Herrick
THERE is nothing in respect to which we more egregiously deceive ourselves than in the standard which we apply to work done for Christ. We adopt the figures of the counting-room; we bring in the rules of arithmetic; we count the men we have influenced; we measure the buildings we have erected. I once knew a man who kept in a book the number of the loaves of bread he had given away, and of the garments he had distributed to the poor. And now and then he used to get out the book and add up the sums total, and congratulate himself on the charities he had done. And men thought, as no doubt he thought himself, that he was a very liberal man. It is a grand mistake. That is the Judas method of estimation, my friends, though we may not make the same deduction that he did. We say figures never lie. They do—in the estimate of Heaven. What are two mites worth on earth? Just a farthing. What were the widow's two mites worth in Heaven? More than all the shekels which the rich cast into the Lord's treasury. What is a cup of cold water worth? Not much here, but given to a disciple in the name of the Master, it has untold value there.
I would just like here to direct your attention for a moment to one of those delicate hints of Scripture, which the eye of man overlooks; which commentators never think of, but which are sometimes turned up almost casually, as the miller of California kicked up on the toe of his boot the golden grains which disclosed inestimable wealth. "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha." Mark that. How was Bethany known on earth? How did men speak of it up and down Palestine? I know not. Perhaps as towns are known now. As a town famous for its wealth, for its intelligence and culture; its institutions of art and learning; its famous men; its schools and scholars; its learned rabbis; for the beauty of its scenery. But how was it known to Jesus and his disciples? How was it known in Heaven? As the town of Mary and her sister Martha. And why? Not because of any great deeds which these women had done; not because they stood at the head of its public institutions; not because they were its wealthiest citizens, and owned a castle upon its edge, but because of the simple fact that there Jesus found a welcome reception, and a loving service.
There is nothing much more discouraging than the views we sometimes get in looking back over the past years of our discipleship, and asking, What have I done for the Master? How the bulk of all our doings shrinks and shrivels and vanishes to an insignificance, a nullity. But there is a glorious antidote, if we can only take it. Mean as all the service has been, computed by any earthly arithmetic, failed as we often have when judged by earthly methods of measurement, let us keep in mind the Saviour's method of testing his disciples' service. What has been the spirit and purpose of it? What has been the intention? That is the standard of Heaven. And while we ought to plan to do great things for the Master (nothing ought to seem too great or too arduous, or too costly), remember this, that the simple desire and purpose to please and honor and serve him, will save your most ordinary work from being contemptible, and will give to your greatest service a beauty and acceptableness which bulk and bigness can never give. "For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit."—E. S. Herrick, D. D.
A Pillow for the Heart
The late Hepworth Dixon was asked, What is the quality of a woman which her husband loves longest? He said: "That she should be a pillow. Yes, that is what a man needs in his wife—something to rest his heart on. He has excitement and opposition enough in the world. He wants to feel that there is one place where he is sure of sympathy; a place that will give him ease as a pillow gives to a tired head. Do you think a man will be tempted to turn from a woman whose eyes are his flattering mirror—who heals where others wound?"
No Standing Still in Religion
Mr. Spurgeon says, that "experimental religion is a bycicle; there can be no standing still, you must go on or come down." Christian workers, your diligence must be unremitting.
Longing for Christ’s Return
“It is impossible to imagine anything more delightful than the prospect of the promised return of our most blessed Saviour. But do we all desire it? Are we all looking out with loving hearts, longing for the appearance of our beloved Redeemer?”—Rev. E. Hoare.
Well Said.
THE following, from the S. S. Times, we can heartily commend to our readers, as a good way to meet many modern infidel cavilings. It contains sound sense:—
"It is always a waste of time to try to prove a negative. It would puzzle us, for example, to try to prove that there was never a child born with sixteen heads and no body—the heads arranged like the points of a star around one common central neck. We couldn't even prove that in the dark ages there was not a large population of that sort of sixteen-headers in the mountains of the moon; but we don't really believe there was anything of that sort. And that is our position about a good many of these Biblico-scientific conundrums; this one, for instance, from a Pennsylvania reader:—
" 'How do you meet the arguments of those who claim that Adam was not the first man? I have met with some who say they believe the above to be true. Is there any work which will assist in replying to the above when those who claim it fall back on scientific reasons, etc., to support their theory? Any information on above will be thankfully received.'
"We can't see any 'argument' in the 'claim' that 'Adam was not the first man;' so, of course, we don't try to 'meet' it. It is our opinion that Adam lived very early in the history of our race. If anybody knows an earlier man than he, let him bring him on. As our correspondent says, 'Any information on above will be thankfully received.'"
The Dignity of Lowly Duties.
By E. W.
WOMEN particularly are inclined to look at the struggle for subsistence as something that ought not to be; they feel that there is no real worth in it, and so there can be no beauty or dignity.
Those teachers who have assumed that this life, rich as it is in promise, and full of possibilities for the great soul, is of no worth and value in itself; that the lesson to be early learned and to be acted upon always is that we are merely pilgrims who lodge here for a night in order that we may go on next day—these teachers have done more to narrow and restrict woman in the exercise of her best powers than all the petty tyranny of which the avowed woman's rights women declaim.
I have often thought that if I had time to be a woman with a mission, I would take the wide world for my field, and go up and down helping to convince the tired woman who lies down in her bed at night with the profound consciousness that another day has been frittered away in doing things without relation to eternal affairs, but which for the comfort and well-being of her family were required, that in her being the patient mother of her children, and the good housewife, she has done that which for her is the best thing to do.
If this could be done, we should not so often hear women whose work is that of doing the near duties which are so plainly theirs, that, unless willfully blind, they cannot overlook them, say, "Oh, if I could only do something that amounts to something!"
One who can help us to see that this doing the work, simple and common though it appear, which really lies at the root of all things, and without which life is impossible, and who shall at the same time teach us to simplify our task, so that while living we may also live nobly, will be a great benefactor to the race. Then shall we see calm-browed women performing lowly duties with satisfaction instead of unhappiness.—E. W., in New York Evening Post.
Roll the Pumpkin.
MR. SAMUEL HAYNES happening one day to pass by the open door of a room where his daughters and some young friends were assembled, thought, from what he overheard, that they were making too free with the characters of their neighbors; and after their visitors had departed, he gave his children a lecture on the sinfulness of scandal. They answered, "But, father, what shall we talk about? We must talk of something." "If you can do nothing else," replied he, "get a pumpkin and roll it about; that will at least be innocent diversion." A short time afterwards an association of ministers met at his house, and during the evening some discussions on points of doctrine were earnest, and their voices were so loud as to indicate the danger of losing the Christian temper, when his eldest daughter, overhearing them, procured a pumpkin, and entering the room gave it to her father and said, "There, father, roll it about, roll it about." Mr. Haynes was obliged to explain, and good humor was instantly restored. —Sel.
The Folly of Self-Boasting
If a ship could make its own wind and blow itself across the ocean, it might seem a very great thing; but it cannot. And no more can a man get behind himself and blow himself up to reputation; and yet it is a thing the folly of which a man does not often perceive, and into which men very naturally and easily fall. It is a sort of bidding one's self up in the market. It is a vain estimate of one's self. It indicates that one has an exceedingly low standard by which he measures himself. There is not one of us that cannot boast that he is better than somebody else, if he takes his own idea of somebody else far down below himself; but there are always people who are above us, and there are standards and ideals above them; and it is an honest and manly thing to compare yourself upward and not downward, and so to be in the consciousness that whatever you are by the grace of God you are not anywhere near your ideal, or your own standard of excellence. Boasting indicates the want of any high self-measuring, and it is very foolish and idle.—Sel.
The Pleasure of Doing Good
THERE is a pleasure in contemplating good; there is a greater pleasure in receiving good; but the greatest pleasure is in doing good, which comprehends the rest.
The Prize of Patient Faithfulness
The prize is not alone for those
Who from the ranks of open foes,
Win souls to righteousness:
Not only those who toil and strive,
In works abundant, shall receive
The promised heavenly bliss:
But they who in their lot shall stand—
The lot appointed by his hand—
And suffer all his will:
Bearing in patience, toil and pain,
When earthly hopes seem all in vain;
Content but to fulfill.
Idle Words.
The first kind of idle words that I shall speak of is tattling. I cannot define it, and I do not need to. It is too familiar, too common, I am sorry to say; for it is a sort of careless dealing with things that relate to you, to your affairs, and to your neighbors. It is a kind of gay frivolity upon a line of things which require sobriety and charity. Tattling runs to and fro, and dims the charity of the charitable mind, as a spider dims the light of a window, spinning his web over it. It proceeds neither from wit, nor from humor, nor from rectitude, nor from charity; but it is amusing ourselves with the thousand little scraps that relate to men and their affairs. Not only is it of no benefit to them, but it is bad for us and bad for them. And there is a great deal of it. There is a great deal of it in families that profess to be Christians. There are devout men who in the sanctuary are reverential, and who in outward life are in the habit of conducting their business, measurably, with honesty and integrity, but who, nevertheless, do take a dish of tattle home, and rather enjoy it. It is not thought to be so bad; but it is certainly idle; and if all the tattling that is done is to be arrayed in our vision, for we are to give an account of every idle word in the day of Judgment, many of us are going to be met with a procession of things which we do not expect, and which we shall find it very difficult to efface. If one would seriously analyze the line of his speech at home for a single day—one of those days that are social, easy, in which we sit together in conversation that has in it no profit and no good or kind feeling—if one could once measure what is the account of a single day, and then multiply by the days of his life, there would be an appalling account for him, if Christ be true when he says that for every idle word we shall give an account in the day of Judgment.—Beecher.