Earlier text: Our Publishing WorkMRS. E. G. WHITE
By Ellen G. White
The Southern California Conference
The annual meeting of the Southern California Conference was held in Los Angeles, April 16-20. I was present only a portion of the time. The reports presented at the conference were most encouraging. It was stated that about a year ago, there was a deficit of nearly eight thousand dollars, which has all been paid; and at the time of the meeting, there was about six thousand dollars in the treasury. The gifts to missions amounted to nearly three thousand dollars. It was further stated that the debt on the Fernando School is now twelve thousand dollars—just about half the total debt a few months ago. According to the financial report, the medical institutions in Los Angeles, including the restaurant and the Glendale Sanitarium, earned nearly nine thousand dollars during the past nine months. A large portion of this sum has been used to lessen the debts on these institutions. I was especially pleased to learn of the efforts put forth during the past year in the tourist centers of this conference. A special work is to be done in places where people are constantly coming and going. Christ labored in Capernaum much of the time, because this was a place through which travelers were constantly passing, and where many often tarried. There are now twenty-six churches and nine companies in the Southern California Conference, with a membership of over fifteen hundred. What a work could be done in this field, if all these brethren and sisters were to improve every opportunity to let the light of truth shine forth! During the Los Angeles meeting, we were entertained at the Glendale Sanitarium. This institution, which was opened in the latter part of 1904, has been well patronized by a good class of patients. The blessing of the Lord has attended the efforts put forth for restoration of health. Nor have the spiritual interests been lost sight of. Brother C. N. Marvin, the chaplain, reports that some who have come to the sanitarium have been brought into the truth. The physicians and helpers are of good courage. They have had some remarkable experiences in answer to prayer. The Lord has worked upon hearts, and some who were indifferent have responded to the influences of the Holy Spirit, and are now having a good Christian experience. A deep interest has been manifested in the study of the Bible. Brother W. R. Simpson, the manager, told me that the earnings of the institution are sufficient to make possible a reduction of the debt. For some time the sanitarium has been filled with patients. There are those who can not go far from Los Angeles for treatment. The close proximity of the Glendale Sanitarium to Los Angeles, makes it possible for such ones to patronize this institution. Glendale is a very important member of the sisterhood of medical institutions in southern California. Let us continue to praise the Lord that he has given us this institution to use for the honor of his name. Sabbath Sermon in San Diego
Upon reaching Paradise Valley, April 20, I was very weary; but the next morning we attended the San Diego church, where I spoke to the people on the first chapter of Second Peter. Since my former visits to San Diego, Elders W. W. Simpson and Wm. Healey have held a series of meetings there, and as the result many were added to the church-membership. The church building was crowded. As I looked for the first time into the faces of these new converts, I was drawn out to speak words of counsel and encouragement to them. In connection with the injunction of Peter that we are to add “to temperance, patience,” I referred to the blessings of health reform, and the advantages to be gained by the use of proper combinations of simple, nourishing foods. The close relationship that eating and drinking sustain to the state of one's mind and temper, was dwelt upon. We can not afford to develop a bad temper through wrong habits of living. Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we are to keep in mind the glory of God. We are the purchased possession of the blood of the Son of God. To the parents I made an appeal in behalf of the church in the home. Fathers and mothers have the privilege of studying the Bible with their children, and of training and disciplining them for service in the Master's cause. In every instance where discipline is necessary, the tenderness and patience that God manifests toward us, is to be revealed. Correction administered in love will touch and tender the hearts of the children, and accomplish far more than would sternness and harshness. As parents pray, and strive to deal wisely with their children, heavenly angels will work in their behalf. God desires parents to take hold of their work intelligently, because we have only a little time in which to prepare for the return of the Saviour. We are admonished of the nearness of the end by the calamity that has befallen San Francisco. Christ declared that earthquakes and other judgments would be seen in divers places. By these he desires to demonstrate that he hates iniquity, and that at last he will punish transgressors. He will forbear, and forbear, and forbear; but finally he can forbear no longer. In the days of Abraham the Lord declared, “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” He would not at that time allow them to be destroyed. In this is revealed the long-sufferance of God. The Amorites were at enmity against his law; they believed not in him as the true and living God; but among them were a few good persons, and for the sake of these few, he forbore long. Centuries afterward, when the Israelites returned from Egypt to the promised land, the Amorites were “cast out before the children of Israel.” They finally suffered calamity because of continued wilful disregard of the law of God. Our brethren and sisters in the San Diego church, and in many other churches as well, have the privilege of training the youth so conscientiously in a knowledge of the truths of God's Word that these youth will be able to meet the people where they are, and introduce the third angel's message into many homes. Thus many of our youth will develop rapidly into missionaries who can labor from house to house. It is difficult to find capable young men and young women who can enter the cities and do effective service. In these tourist centers where many travelers come for health and pleasure, we greatly need young men who are thoroughly grounded in the truths of the third angel's message, to go around among the people, and minister to them, speaking a word in season to this one, and offering encouragement to another. We greatly need consecrated women who, as messengers of mercy, shall visit the mothers and the children in their homes, and help them in the every-day household duties, if need be, before beginning to talk to them regarding the truth for this time. You will find that by this method you will have souls as the result of your ministry. Dedication of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium
While we were at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, this institution was dedicated. Early in the afternoon of April8 24, the invited guests and many friends of the sanitarium began to arrive. The dedicatory exercises passed off very pleasantly. Elder S. N. Haskell was on the program as the first speaker, but his train was late, and so I spoke first, on the theme, 'In Touch with Nature.' I began by reading a portion of the forty-second of Isaiah, in which scripture are emphasized the power of Jehovah, his care for his people, and his yearning desire to bring under his beneficent care those who are ignorant of his purposes concerning them. Through the prophet Isaiah, 'Jehovah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein,' declares to his people: 'I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. . . . Sing unto Jehovah a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth.' I related some of my early experiences in caring for the sick, and showed how outdoor life, exercise, and good food, in connection with the best of treatments and faith in God's healing power, will do wonders in the restoration of health. Elder Haskell spoke next, on the healing of the one 'sick of the palsy.' Brother J. F. Ballenger offered the dedicatory prayer. Elder Reaser was chairman of the afternoon service. While many of the guests were looking over the buildings and grounds, I had a very interesting interview with Dr. Mary L. Potts, the one who formerly owned the property now known as the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. Mrs. Potts is a woman of ability. She is an excellent speaker, and is still going from place to place to deliver public lectures on health and temperance. During the evening exercises she spoke before the large assembly, and told the story of her effort to establish and maintain a sanitarium home in this beautiful place, and of her pleasure because the work she was unable to carry on, is now taken up by us. She seemed to be very thankful that the place is in such good hands. With the three-story addition, including ample treatment rooms, sun parlors, and rooms for the nurses, there are now about eighty rooms; these, with the cottage on the sanitarium grounds, are sufficient for the accommodation of about seventy-five patients. Through the sacrificing liberality of our brethren and sisters, this institution has been placed on vantage-ground. May the Lord continue to bless those who have given of their means for the establishment of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. On the morning of April 26, we returned to Loma Linda, to attend a meeting called for the consideration of the health food business in southern California. We shall have a work to do at Loma Linda in supplying health foods, in a limited way, to the surrounding cities; but it has been presented to me that in the establishment of a large food factory, the managers of the sanitarium would be disappointed in their expectations. The light given me is that in a food business large enough to supply southern California through the regular channels of trade, it would be difficult to avoid bringing in a spirit of commercialism; and if the perplexing details were not attended to most carefully, there would be more expense than income. The sanitarium managers could ill afford to spend the time that would be required to make the business a success. Loma Linda is a place that has been especially ordained of God to make a good impression upon the minds of many who have not had the light of present truth. Every phase of the work in this place, every movement made, should be so fully in harmony with the sacred character of present truth as to create a deep spiritual impression. Everything connected with the institution at Loma Linda should, so far as possible, be unmingled with commercialism. Nothing should be allowed to come in that would in anywise hinder our efforts for the saving of souls. In the management of a small sanitarium bakery, the commercial idea is to be lost sight of. In the carrying forward of every line of sanitarium work, we are to leave upon the minds of our patients the impression that we are keeping constantly in view the glory of God. When Will He Come?
By F. M. Burg
THERE is not another question that is of more interest to the waiting Christian at this time than the above. Brother, sister, how long have you been waiting and looking for the coming of the Lord and the day when the weary pilgrim will enter into rest? Do I hear you say that you have waited much longer than you at first thought you would have to wait for his return? Are you weary with the many years of watching and longing for that day? I trust that you have no less confidence now, than when you first believed, in the hope of the Saviour's coming. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward; . . . for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10:35, 37. It seems as if the Lord foresaw that some would be in danger of losing their confidence in the truth of God and his work for this time; hence he is now, as suggested by this text, sending to his people a reassuring message,—“yet a little while,” it will not be long, and “he that shall come,” who has promised to come again, “will come, and will not tarry.” “There shall be delay no longer.” Then let the child of God take courage and look up, “for our redemption draweth nigh.” But are you bewildered as you think of the great work which remains to be done for the world before that day? “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14. From this we see that there is but one answer to the question, “When will he come?” He will come when all nations have heard the good tidings of the coming King. And yet we are not to say from this that that looked-for day will be indefinitely delayed. There are limitations fixed by the Saviour himself: “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matt. 24:34. That generation is very far advanced now,—we are in its gray hairs; but “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Verse 35. Hence we are abundantly assured that the tarrying time is short. And knowing this, what about the great work which must be done for the world in so short a time? Confronted as we are with a situation like this, it must appear to every one that if our work for the world is accomplished in the time that remains, it calls for a thorough consecration by us to this cause. The exhortation of the prophet is timely now: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left.” Isa. 54:2, 3. We must plan for a work of world-wide proportions. We must lift up our eyes and look on the fields beyond our own local conferences. The planning which we do in our home fields must be with definite reference to the world-wide work. There are teeming millions of men and women in the countries beyond the seas where only the faintest efforts have as yet been put forth in the spread of this great message. These people must be warned, and we who have the truth are to give it to them. How shall we do the work? We can not go, perhaps, to speak in person to them the words of life. But we can do something; we can have a part in the work. Means must be supplied for the support of those who are called of God to these distant fields. Are we paying a faithful tithe? I give a quotation from the spirit of prophecy in regard to tithe paying: “There is lack of ministers because ministers have not been encouraged. Some ministers who have been sent to foreign lands, to enter fields never worked before, have been given the instruction, ‘You must sustain yourselves. We have not the means with which to support you.’ This ought not to be, and it would not be if the tithe, with gifts and offerings, was brought into the treasury.” This instruction is very plain, and should be heeded. Note, too, that gifts and offerings are mentioned as well as the tithe. In this may be involved the plan which has been9 adopted and placed before our churches everywhere, of systematically giving to the cause of missions an amount equal to ten cents a week per member. If this system of giving for the work of God were adopted by our people everywhere, what a handsome sum of money would be at the command of those who are planning for the work in the far-away fields! How many of those who read this article will begin at once, if they have not as yet adopted the plan, to give in this way for the needy fields which are waiting for this message? Will it be said of us, when the work is finished, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things”? May it be so. A. E. FIELD
By A. E. FIELD
“ONE Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The minds of some people have been confused, and in some instances have been led to renounce water baptism. But we are sure that a thorough study of the text will establish water baptism, as well as Holy Ghost baptism. You will notice that the text says, “One Lord.” Are we to understand from this statement that there is only one person in the Godhead? A few texts of scripture will make it plain to our minds that there is a personal God; and that he has a personal Son is evident from Heb. 1:1, 2, which says, God spoke. How did he speak?—“By his Son.” Then God and his Son could not be the same person. Again, in John 6:38, 39, it is plainly taught that the Son has come from heaven to the earth, not to do his will, but the will of the Father who sent him. Here we have two persons in the Godhead, but only one will. In John 4:34 Jesus says, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish the work.” So we see, the one will, but two persons, are brought to view. In John 12:49 we read, “I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak;” also in John 14:10, 11, he says, “I speak not of myself,” but he did obey the command of his Father. He says, in John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing of himself.” From these scriptures we learn that there are two persons in the Godhead, known as Father and Son, but there is only one will brought to view. Hence the Father and Son are one as brought to view in John 17:22. In this sense there is “one Lord;” so there are two baptisms in the “one baptism.” The following scriptures settle the question in regard to water baptism. In Matt. 3:5, 6, we find that all Jerusalem, Judea, and the regions round about Jordan went out to John, and he baptized them in Jordan. In John 1:26 he says, “I baptize you with water.” In Acts 8:38, 39, we learn that both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him, and they came up out of the water; also in Acts 10:47 we read, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” These are a sufficient number of texts to establish the fact that water is to be used in baptism, even after the Holy Ghost has been poured out upon them. These texts not only prove water baptism to be necessary, but they also teach Holy Ghost baptism. In the study of this subject we should notice that God has commissioned man to administer the water (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15, 16), but God administers the Holy Ghost. Read Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33. Hence in the administering of the water by man and the Holy Ghost by God, we have the one baptism. In Acts 10:44–47 God poured out his Spirit on them, and Peter understood that it was a sign of God’s approval of them, so he commanded them to be baptized in water. Without the operation of the Spirit it would not be baptism. It takes a union of both water and the Spirit to constitute the one baptism. We are told in John 3:5 that we are to be born of water and the Spirit. Hence we have the “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” The Third Angel’s Message
By W. J. Stone
ALL who have been connected with the Seventh-day Adventist work even for a few months, have become very familiar with the term “the third angel’s message.” I think that while we use this expression in speaking of the work in which we are engaged, many of us do not really sense the meaning of the statements found in Rev. 14:6-15. Do we really see and comprehend what John saw? John actually saw in vision the very times in which we are living. He saw the things taking place in the closing scenes of this world’s history, that we see occurring. He saw a message consisting of three parts, yet constituting one great message, going to all the world. The first announces that the hour of God’s judgment is come, and directs the world to the worship of the true God. The second joins it with the proclamation of the moral fall, or apostasy, of the church, showing the cause of this apostasy; and a third warns against this apostasy, and brings back again a people to the true standard of righteousness,—the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. When this work is accomplished, the next scene that passes before his view is that of one like unto the Son of man, seated upon a white cloud, crowned with glory, coming to reap the harvest of the earth. John actually saw a messenger going forth to the earth proclaiming, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” He saw a people carrying these messages, who were keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. As a people must keep all the commandments to be commandment keepers, this people could not have been the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Lutherans, or any other denomination that disregards God’s holy Sabbath, thus breaking one of his commands. As those who were giving these messages were keeping the commandments of God and had the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy, he must have seen those who compose the Seventh-day Adventist Church, for no other people on earth fulfil these specifications and are giving these messages. Seventh-day Adventists and their work are matters of prophecy. God has raised up this people in fulfilment of prophecy, and if the work of Seventh-day Adventists is not a fulfilment of this prophecy, it can never be fulfilled. But it is a fulfilment. John saw in vision our work as it started in weakness, and he beheld it until it had gone with power to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, the earth being literally lighted with its glory. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and the work it is doing is literally the third angel’s message materialized in all the world, and God will never cast off or spew out of his mouth the third angel’s message; neither will he raise up another people, or call out from this church a people to finish this work. God will purge and purify the church. All will not endure the pruning, and many will be shaken out. Frequently the idea is presented that God will call out from the Seventh-day Adventist Church a company, or raise up another people, to complete this work. This will never be. I read in regard to this shaking time in “Early Writings,” pages 131 and 132, that “it will be caused by the straight testimony. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause the shaking among God’s people.” Then those who go out or are shaken out are those who rise up against the straight testimony. Again I read: “My attention was then turned to the company I had seen who were mightily shaken. The number of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way.” Notice, those who go out or are shaken out are not called out to do a special work, but are “shaken out and left by the way, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks.” The main body, the Adventist Church, goes steadily forward, accepting and heeding the straight testimony. “This testimony must work deep repentance. All who truly receive it will obey it, and be purified.” While some are shaken out and left by the way, others at once embrace the message, coming into the ranks, and the great advent message and work then, as we are told, goes with “great power.” Be not deceived. God raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to carry10 this message to the world, and this church, this people, purified, will go through and complete the work. The devil will deceive and cause some to turn aside from the firm platform, but, brethren and sisters, God is guiding this message, and it has behind it and around it the power of all the heavenly angels. What a privilege to be associated with the heavenly beings in this last message to the world. John in prophetic vision was allowed to behold what mortal eyes can not see. He saw the angels of God as they were connected with this work; and while we may not really see the angels of God with us, we may realize their power; and we do see and have seen this message rise amid great opposition on every hand, going steadily forward, until it has encircled the earth. “Cast not away, therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10: 35-39. ENVY is one of the most despicable of passions. There is scarcely a crime to which it will not lead its victims. It was envy that robbed Naboth of his vineyard, and added murder to the guilt of Absalom in desiring the throne of his father David. It destroys all that is best and noblest in character. So subtle is it in its workings, that we learn on the highest testimony that “envy is rottenness of the bones;” it eats out all honor and manliness, gives sleepless nights and restless days. Moreover, envy is utterly useless; it helps nobody, it effects no alteration, it wins no goal. As we read in Job, “Envy slayeth the silly one;” and all sensible people must feel that there is marvelous silliness in envy. But if the indulgence of envy does us no good, it is calculated to do other people much harm. Every passion tends to incarnation in some way. Evil emotion turns to action, and becomes embodied in ignoble deeds. So deceitful is envy in its operation, and so successful in its harm, that the question is asked in Scripture, “Who is able to stand before envy?” It undermines the very ground you are standing upon; it breathes innuendoes against your character and reputation, which, light as air to utter, are strong as iron and sharp as steel to do you damage. Yes; envy will depreciate the character it can not publicly defame; it will explain virtues to be vices in disguise; it will sneer with the lip, and stab with the suggestion of an evil hint in your absence, while in your presence it will admire and applaud. That the envious pay the penalty in this their own misery does not mitigate the wrong they do to others. It does help, indeed, to vindicate the ways of God to man, as it shows us the divine hand dispensing, even in this world, to each man according to his sin. But the misery they feel does not atone for the misery they inflict. Envy is one of the basest of passions; it is the essence of devilism.— Selected. The Grace of Love
By Mrs. B. J. Cady
As workers together with God, how desirous we are of seeing souls converted to the truth, that they may enjoy the blessings promised to the obedient. But as we seek to turn them to the Lord, we must be prompted by love, or our efforts will be in vain. Even though we may be able to present the truth with great eloquence, and to make it so plain that all can see it, yet if we have no charity, our words are to others only as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. They hear them, and may see that they are the truth, but their hearts are not stirred to obedience. We may have a perfect understanding of the truth, and of things in general, so that our judgment is considered almost infallible, yet if we do not love the souls for whom our Saviour gave his life, our wisdom will profit us nothing. And we may even have great faith such as is seldom seen in the world to-day, and by that faith perform great miracles, yet if we do not love the Lord with all the might, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, then we are nothing. We might be very generous and give all that we have to help the poor and needy, yet if our good works are not prompted by love, but only by a desire to appear good, we shall have no credit for it. Some may be so zealous in upholding a cherished doctrine that they will allow themselves to be burned to death rather than to retract. If they are prompted by love, then all is well; but if they are devoid of love, and it is some selfish motive which leads them to make such a sacrifice, it will profit them nothing. Then how necessary love is. It behooves us to see that we have that grace in our hearts. If we are not certain that we have it, let us read 1 Cor. 13: 4-7 and find out. These verses tell us how true love will feel and act. If it is in us, we shall suffer long and be kind. We shall not be envious of others’ success. We shall not feel puffed up, neither shall we exalt or praise ourselves. We shall be willing to yield our natural rights for others’ good, because we love them as we love ourselves. We shall not be easily provoked by what others say or do, but shall bear all things patiently and kindly. Instead of taking delight in those things which God’s Word condemns, we shall abhor them. But we shall appreciate the truth, and shall be happy in obeying it. Since we are nothing without this grace, how earnestly we should seek for it. If we have had our hearts filled with hatred, envy, and strife, we can not of ourselves change them. But the Lord has promised to take away our hard, stony hearts, and give us hearts that will feel. Eze. 36: 26. So let us plead with him to fill our hearts with his love, that we may live the life of Christ here on earth, and so save ourselves and others. The Old Pathway
By Horatius Bonar
FAR down the ages now,
Her journey well-nigh done,
The pilgrim church pursues her way,
In haste to reach the crown. The story of the past
Comes up before her view;
How well it seems to suit her still,
Old, and yet ever new. ’Tis the same story still
Of sin and weariness,
Of grace and love still flowing down
To pardon and to bless. ’Tis the old sorrow still,
The brier and the thorn;
And ’tis the same old solace yet—
The hope of coming morn. No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way,
No smoother is the ancient path
That leads to light and day. No lighter is the load
Beneath whose weight we cry,
No tamer grows the rebel flesh,
No less our enemy. No sweeter is the cup,
Nor less our lot of ill;
’Twas tribulation ages since,
’Tis tribulation still. No greener are the rocks,
No fresher flow the rills,
No roses in the wilds appear,
No vines upon the hills. No slacker grows the fight,
No feebler is the foe,
No less the need of armor tried,
Of shield and spear and bow. Nor less we feel the blank
Of earth’s still absent King,
Whose presence is of all our bliss
The everlasting spring. Thus onward still we press,
Through evil and through good,
Through pain and poverty and want,
Through peril and through blood. Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true,
We follow where he leads the way,
The kingdom in our view. Salvation Through Faith in Christ
“The greatest sinner who repentantly trusts only in Christ’s blood, will assuredly be saved. The best man in the world who trusts his own goodness, will be lost.” Think Less About Yourself
If you want to be miserable, think about yourself, about what you want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay to you, and what people think of you.—Charles Kingsley. God wants the boys, the merry, merry
boys,
The noisy boys, the funny boys,
The thoughtless boys—
God wants the boys, with all their joys,
That he as gold may make them pure,
And teach them trials to endure:
His heroes brave
He’ll have them be,
Fighting for truth
And purity.
God wants the boys. God wants the happy-hearted girls,
The loving girls, the best of girls,
The worst of girls—
God wants to make the girls his pearls,
And so reflect his holy face,
And bring to mind his wondrous
grace,
That beautiful
The world may be,
And filled with love
And purity.
God wants the girls. Home Discipline
By G. E. Reilly
All human actions may be referred to two motives — love or fear. Some natures seem wholly devoid of fear. But with the first dawn of intelligence all show love in some form — if only love of self. But children are quick to detect injustice, and soon take advantage of the weakness of the parent who commands and indulges them, irrespective of their behavior. They will obey, through fear, the over-severe parent only until their fear has been outgrown, then cast to the winds his advice. The flight of years, however, will only enhance their admiration for that parent who can inflict just punishment when needed, as well as overlook slight faults, and who is quicker to see the good deed than the evil. Much of a mother's police duty could be avoided if she would provide legitimate work for each child, a lawful playroom in which each should have his separate shelf or box, and foster among them the spirit of honor. To develop this, and a sense of responsibility for the welfare of the home, mothers should early train each child to work about the house. Manual labor and skill in all its branches ought to be glorified, not despised. Children naturally love to work. It is our own fault if our sons and daughters grow up prouder of idleness and white, soft hands than of honest labor. Let the children sweep and dust, and feed the chickens, and tinker at the hencoops. Teach them to sew on buttons and do simple cooking. Let each know his own job, and if he does it well, pay him for it, as you would pay any other servant. Do not pauperize your child by gifts of pennies. There is no money so sweet to spend as your own earnings. And within reasonable bounds, a child should buy what he likes with such wages. Children ought to have pets, but it is immoral to let a creature suffer from neglect and abuse at the hands of careless little ones. Compel each pet owner to attend to his own creature's needs. Punish all cruelty, of course, but talk to the children about the pets, their habits and feelings, their likes and dislikes. There is no more effective way of teaching love of nature, kindness, and a gradual, normal development of some of the deepest lessons of human life. Then comes the playtime. We ought to study a child most closely then, for in this he reveals his inmost soul far more than in the imitations of older minds which we call “lessons.” . . . One will be domineering, another tricky, in play, and the mother should be ever watchful to repress the bad traits and train the good ones as they show themselves,—ready always with sympathy and comradeship, and above all, praising every little honest effort. A wise mother will praise and reward far oftener than punish. One may very often be wisely blind to little faults, but there will come crises which require punishment, swift, sure, and exactly fitted to the offense of the moment. I believe that there are some difficult natures which at times need a whipping — as a last resort, when milder measures fail; but whipping as a punishment for all offenses hardens the child as well as the parent, and soon loses all moral effect. . . . Perhaps my favorite punishment (which allows of an infinite number of applications) is the writing of “order lessons.” Sometimes I require a certain arithmetical table to be copied neatly a certain number of times; sometimes the word “behavior” or “disorder” must be written five, ten, or twenty-five times. For displays of jealousy, anger, selfishness, etc., I have a certain number of copies of texts made, such as: “The love of thyself doth hurt thee more than anything else;” “He who ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city;” “The tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison,” etc. I try to make the child fully understand why he is punished; to punish when perfectly cool myself; to fit the punishment to the offense, and to vary its form as often as possible. And I try to treat my children as courteously as I expect them to treat me. If I make a child a promise, I am very careful to keep it. I have told them always the exact truth, and have no trouble with their deceiving me or in their not trusting my word. I have always taught them to come to me with any question which puzzles them, and as far as possible, I answer them. But I am not afraid to say, sometimes, “I do not know,” and at other times, “When you are older, I will tell you that.”—G. E. Reilly, in The Interior.