Earlier text: She Hath Done What She CouldLive Your Life Over
By Arthur W. Spaulding
It is one of the most common and seemingly most futile wishes of dissatisfied humanity: “I wish I could live my life over again. The knowledge I have gained would enable me to avoid the mistakes of my youth, and to build a better manhood.” If you are a father, I wish, in good faith, to invite you to do just that,—to live your life over. Now do not put to me in scorn the question of Nicodemus. It is true that you cannot take yourself back to the age of five or ten; but in your child you have as a gift from God your childhood over again. Your little son is, in all probability, the replica of your boyhood. In him you have your life at its beginning; in yourself, you say, you have the wisdom to form that life aright. Live over your life in your child; make him what you would like to have been. If you cannot do this, it is good evidence that you could not make your own life over, if there should be the miracle of restoring you your youth. You might, indeed, have dreams of what you would be, but so had you dreams when a boy. Demonstrate the practicality of your garnered wisdom by applying it to your second life, your son. “The trouble with that,” remarked a father the other day, “is that your child will not do what you tell him.” And the trouble with that remark is that it confuses telling with teaching. Very likely, if you had your own life to live over, you would not do what you might tell yourself to do. Is that not the trouble now? “For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” It takes more than telling to form right living. The father who can only tell has not learned how to live; and it is not strange if his boy has through experience discovered that fact, and so discounts the telling. “What, then, would you have us do?” you ask. I would have you live your life over again. First, when you were living your boyhood life, how much time did you spend with yourself? You could never get away from yourself, could you? Summer and winter, day and night, work-day and Sabbath, in schoolroom and at supper table, on ball ground and in cornfield, there you were, Johnny Smith, working out with yourself that puzzle called life. Never a joy came to Johnny Smith that you did not share, never a trouble in which you had no part, never a problem that you did not have to tackle. Now if you were going to live your life over again, would you be just that intimate with yourself? Or would you spend most of your time with the man you hoped to be? Your attitude toward your little son will show whether you are sincere in your wish to live your life over again, or whether, if you had that miraculous chance, you would reject it for the sake of catering to your man's life. For, fathers, it is certain that if we are going to be successful in applying our wisdom to the better shaping of our other lives, we shall have to be very intimate with our sons. We shall have to think their thoughts, grasp their conceptions, perceive their difficulties, join in the formation of their ambitions, participate in their joys and sorrows. To be a little more specific, we shall have, for instance, to take pleasure in an automobile ride on a tip-tilted chair, to see in the stars the winking eyes of the angels, to feel as great an anxiety over a problem in fractions as over the meeting of a mortgage, to find a plausible reason for choosing to be a Wilberforce rather than a Bonaparte, and to sense in all their keenness the ambrosial delight of raspberry jam and the throat-contracting smart of a hickory switch. The having of such experiences means that we are very intimate with our sons. And unless we are so intimate, let us drop the pretense of wishing to live our lives over again. Of course, not every father can be so constantly with his son as the boy is with himself, but nearly every father can be with his son a great deal more than he is. I know it does not seem easy to drop the burdens of our workaday lives, to enter the realm of childhood. But there is a divine word that touches that: “Except ye . . . become as little children, ye shall not enter13 into the kingdom of heaven.” The worries belong to the devil: drop them, and enter the kingdom of heaven, which is the realm of childhood. You will find that to think the thoughts of a little child is a great destroyer of anxiety, a great simplifier of life's problems. And it is the first step in a most delightful work of romance,—the remaking of your life. When through this means you have established the confidence of your child in yourself, you will find that, though he gets from you much more than talk, he will also do what you tell him. In the second place, you must work out some plans. You must make an environment that will shape aright this other life of yours. For if you will remember, when you were a boy it was not merely what you heard, it was chiefly the circumstances into which you came, that shaped your life. If you expect your son to escape your errors and build worthily, you must make his environments such as will help him,—not an easy place, understand, neither too hard a place, but a situation chosen judiciously for the purpose you have in mind. Let me use for illustration one little boy whom I know well. His father recognizes in him some very familiar traits. He is eager but dreamy, tender-hearted but stubborn, reticent, with a dread of punishment or reprobation that tempts to prevarication, having a sense of humor that is apt to go beyond bounds, and an appetite that always needs curbing. Awaiting development in the period of puberty are, on the one hand, strong elemental passions, and, on the other, moral concepts that promise great powers of control. Left to himself, he would be a lazy, greedy bookworm, delighting in dreams of wonderful accomplishments he could never realize, and in the world of ideas lost to practical life. Now, if his father should merely talk to him, saying: “Willie, you mustn't read so much, you must work more, you must control your appetite, you must tell the truth, you must not play practical jokes,” Willie, secretive by nature, would soon learn how to dissemble before his father, in order that he might follow his natural tendencies, to overcome which his father would be giving him no real help. But his father realizes that, besides instruction, the boy must have conditions given him wherewith to build his life. He has therefore taken him into the country, where he has the best chance to deal with concrete things, and not merely with ideas. He is given his regular duties; the wood-box, the stable, and certain features of the garden work belong to him. In the first of these he has now graduated from his father's tutelage; in the second he needs only supervision and the encouragement of an occasional lift; the third has too many advantages of companionship ever to allow father and son to be long separated. The books he reads are selected by his parents, and include not merely storybooks, but books of juvenile science. And his father helps in his efforts to put into practise what he reads. The flying-machine over which for months he dreamed, and which, after long trying to create, he was about to throw aside for some new fancy, was brought, by his father's advice and assistance, to a wheeled creation with wings, that would at least run on the ground. Through that experience he learned somewhat the limitations of his powers, but yet was gratified and encouraged with the production of something real. Otherwise, he would have withdrawn further into his dreamland. The danger of his becoming a recluse is met by his participation in his parents' neighborhood missionary work, in which are also opportunities to teach forgetfulness of self and self-control in appetite and passion. And further, there is an occasional trip to more distant places, in which his love of adventure overcomes his shyness in meeting strangers. And by the active physical life he is made to lead, in work and in play, it is sought to forestall, as he approaches manhood, the dangers of the sedentary life his tendency toward literature would induce. In all this, it is true, he must be told many things, but the telling comes as a part, and not the whole, of the teaching. It is through such a living of life with our children, such a particular thought for their training, and such a participation in their activities, that there comes to the parent the opportunity of living life over again. It is a very real opportunity, a very real joy; and I think, because it carries more of the element of unselfishness, it is very much more of a joy than the mystic trick of starting ourselves in life again could possibly be. And in the effort it takes to direct these fresh young lives aright, will be found the best corrective of our twisted and distorted lives. There will be a double triumph of reform. The Qualities of the Right Kind of Boy
“The qualities that make a boy so indispensable to all departments of our modern life are not hard to distinguish or define. They are evident on the front of all the boy’s activity—his frankness and honesty, his versatility, his abounding vitality, and endurance, his teachableness, his obligingness, his good spirits, his readiness and enthusiasm for subordinate service. Because of these characteristic qualities, the right kind of boy is a treasure to any employer.” Boy Wanted
By Dr. Frank Crane
WANTED — A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight. A boy whose finger-nails are not in mourning, whose ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are well cared for. A boy who listens carefully when he is spoken to, who asks questions when he does not understand, and does not ask questions about things that are none of his business. A boy that moves quickly and makes as little noise about it as possible. A boy who whistles in the street, but does not whistle where he ought to keep still. A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody, and never sulks. A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every woman and girl. A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to learn how. A boy who is more eager to know how to speak good English than to talk slang. A boy that never bullies other boys nor allows other boys to bully him. A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, “I don’t know,” and when he has made a mistake says, “I’m sorry,” and when he is asked to do a thing says, “I’ll try.” A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth every time. A boy who is eager to read good books. A boy who would rather put in his spare time at the Y. M. C. A. gymnasium than to gamble for pennies in a back room. A boy who does not want to be “smart” nor in any wise to attract attention. A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from school than to tell a lie or be a cad. A boy whom other boys like. A boy who is at ease in the company of girls. A boy who is not sorry for himself, and not forever thinking and talking about himself. A boy who is friendly with his mother, and more intimate with her than with any one else. A boy who makes you feel good when he is around. A boy who is not goody-goody, a prig, nor a little Pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life. This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him, the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys want him, the girls want him, all creation wants him.—Dr. Frank Crane. An aged woman was supposed to be on her death-bed. Her life had been one of particular usefulness in many directions. She had worked hard, age had come upon her, and she felt her service was past, and that there was nothing more for her to do, so she began to regulate her affairs and prepare for the end. As she lay on what she thought was to be her death-bed, her son came into the room. The feeble woman raised her eyes and looked upon him as she murmured, “My dear boy, my time has come.” “Why do you think so, mother?” he inquired. “Because there is nothing more for me to do,” she wearily explained. “O, yes, there is, mother, something more for you to do; some one wants your help. An aged Jew was here yesterday, begging for your assistance. He is in want; can you not help him?” On hearing this, the apparently dying woman exclaimed, “I will help him, I will help him; send for him immediately.” When the old man came, she arose from her bed to minister to his wants. She now felt that her usefulness was not past; she willed to do more, so the vigor of life returned to her limbs and she lived eight years longer to help all who came to her door for material assistance or helpful advice.—The Christian Herald. Meetings in the East
By Stephen N. Haskell
The first week after General Conference we spent Sabbath and Sunday with the church at Keene, N. H. Many pleasant memories of my younger days were revived by visiting this place. We had good meetings on the Sabbath. Sunday we held a missionary meeting. Brother Royer, the tract society secretary, was present with a good display of message-filled literature. The brethren and sisters appreciated the effort Brother Royer had made in bringing the books to them, and cheerfully bought his entire stock. As they left the meeting, many carried an armful of books and, what was better still, a heart full of love for souls and a determination to work for the salvation of their neighbors. From June 26 to July 4 we attended the Massachusetts camp-meeting at Lowell. Lowell was the home of Timothy Cole. Mr. Cole was in charge of a popular church in Lowell, and hearing of William Miller’s power in speaking, in the summer of 1839 he invited Mr. Miller to visit Lowell and hold meetings in his church. From the reports of Mr. Miller’s success, Mr. Cole expected him to look like a distinguished doctor of divinity. When he saw Mr. Miller in his homely attire, he was ashamed to walk by his side in the street, and walked ahead, letting Mr. Miller follow. In the evening Mr. Cole took his seat in the audience, leaving Mr. Miller to go alone into the pulpit and open his own meeting; but when he had heard him expound the Scriptures for about fifteen minutes, he walked up into the pulpit and took his seat. Timothy Cole was ever after an eloquent proclaimer of the first angel’s message. It was at Lowell, also, during this same visit, that William Miller became acquainted with Josiah Litch. Lowell was mightily stirred by the preaching of the first angel’s message, and it was with no small interest that I viewed the encampment located on the edge of this old battle-field in the first message. We earnestly pray that as a result of the camp-meeting, together with the labors of the earnest company of workers left on the ground to follow up the interest, many souls may take their stand to obey the Lord. From the beginning the meetings were good. Missionaries from Japan, India, Burma, and Africa were present, and spoke of the work in their fields, which added much to the interest of the meeting, and brought the needs of the work in the foreign fields vividly before our brethren. The spiritual and missionary interest was good throughout all the meetings. Some who had thought they could not sell literature purchased sets of books when offered from the desk, and found that they could do good work with the literature. Sabbath and Sunday, July 19 and 20, we held meetings with the Haverhill (Mass.) church. They have a neat church building and are trying to reduce the debt by selling literature. Sabbath, July 26, my wife and I met with the Somerville church in the forenoon, and with the Boston church in the afternoon. I remember attending general meetings in Somerville about fifty years ago; but it is many years since death, apostasy, and removals have obliterated the last trace of the company of fifty years ago. About three years ago Elder A. E. Sanderson and a company of workers opened work in Somerville, and there is now a strong church in that place. Elder Sanderson has always made it his practise to scatter large quantities of literature in connection with his preaching efforts, and as a result he has a live, working church. As I looked over the company assembled Sabbath afternoon in Tremont Temple, Boston, vivid memories of the members of the first Boston church crowded into my mind. I thought of Sister Temple, to whom the testimony on “Deceitfulness of Riches,” in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, was given many years ago. Of her the Lord said, “I have proved her in poverty and affliction, and she has not separated herself from me, nor rebelled against me. I will now prove her with prosperity. I will reveal to her a page of the human heart with which she is unacquainted. I will show her that money is the most dangerous foe she has ever met. I will reveal to her the deceitfulness of riches; that they are a snare, even to those who feel that they are secure from selfishness, and proof against exaltation, extravagance, pride, and love of the praise of men.” Many besides this dear sister have been given this same test. Years ago I preached her funeral sermon, and we laid her to rest at peace with God and her fellow men. But the Lord had to remove her prosperity in order to draw her to him. When I remember the faithful souls who belonged to the early Boston church, whose prayers for the work in that city are still lodged on heaven’s altar, and then read the earnest appeals from the servant of the Lord saying, “Instruction has been given me that the message should go again with power in the cities in the Eastern States,” I feel like saying, “How long, O Lord,” before that day will come? Sabbath and Sunday, August 2 and 3, we spent at the Jewish Home at Concord, Mass. The family at that time numbered about twenty, several of them being Jews. Elder Gilbert has recently erected a building large enough to accommodate the printing-office on the first floor and a food factory on the second floor. They expect to print literature in the Yiddish and Hebrew, and are hoping to sell enough of the health foods to help carry the expense of the printing. The Jews who embrace Christianity are immediately cut off from all their friends. The object of having the industries connected with the home is to furnish employment for those who are cast out of their homes, until they can secure positions where they can keep the Sabbath. There is a great work to be done in a short time, and all need to arouse and work for souls. One of the most important things today is to encourage our lay members to work for the souls in their immediate neighborhood, and thus all help swell the loud cry of the message. California Conference and Camp-Meeting
By E. W. Farnsworth
The forty-second annual camp-meeting of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was held in San Jose, Cal., July 23 to Aug. 3, 1913. Nearly eight hundred persons were encamped on the ground, occupying one hundred and eighty-five tents. The afternoon and evening preaching services were exceptionally well attended by the people of San Jose. The one thousand six hundred chairs placed in the main pavilion were all occupied at every evening service. The local press was especially courteous, each daily paper devoting a column to a column and a half of each issue to camp-meeting news. A week before the meeting opened, one of the dailies published an unusually full account of the development, mission, and present status of our denomination throughout the world. During the first five days of the meetings we were favored with the exceptionally helpful services of Elder W. A. Spicer, of the foreign mission department of the General Conference. His sermons and other addresses not only confirmed anew the faith of our brethren in the truth of the great message, but led us all, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to make a more thoroughgoing consecration of our lives to God. Sinners were born into the kingdom, and the discouraged and backslidden were reclaimed. The labors of Elder I. H. Evans, who was with us during the closing days of the services, and of Elders R. C. Porter and E. E. Andross, contributed signally to the same blessed end. The missionary talks given by Elders W. A. Spicer; R. C. Porter; R. W. Munson, of the East Indies; J. S. Jones, of Southern India; C. L. Butterfield, of Korea; and Walter Bond, of Spain, proved most inspiring. The evidence that the advent message is going to all the world with unprecedented progress was shown to be overwhelmingly convincing. Approximately five hundred dollars was contributed to the cause of missions by the members of the Sabbath-school on the two Sabbaths of the camp-meeting. About four hundred dollars was also given to special phases of foreign missions in response to urgent calls. The camp services closed with an excellent interest on the part of the people of the city who attended the services. Nearly a score of these arose in the closing meeting, thus expressing their determination to walk in all the commandments of God. Quite a large company of workers was left in San Jose to ripen off the interest and to give those831 who did not attend the camp services an opportunity to hear and obey. The California Conference held its yearly session in connection with the camp-meeting. One hundred regularly elected delegates and alternates were seated, besides the delegates at large, representing the General Conference, the Pacific Union Conference, and the local conference committee and ordained ministers. As nearly as could be ascertained, two hundred and fifty persons were added to the denomination in this conference during the past year. The tithe for 1912 was $48,476.98, an increase of a little more than $2,000 over the previous year. The whole amount given to missions by the Sabbath-schools for the year was $6,298.65. It is interesting to note that the offerings in this conference alone amounted to $354 more than the offerings made by the whole conference the corresponding quarter before it was divided into three conferences. Our conference has thirteen church-schools, with twenty teachers employed. Over four hundred children are enrolled in these schools. The expense of annual maintenance is over $8,000. Every one of the schools has an organized missionary society. The total offering reported by these societies for the year is $222.82. The delegates voted unanimously that, in order properly to maintain and support the constantly increasing army of workers throughout the world, and in order to liquidate the liabilities of our institutions, the standard of offerings to missions be raised from fifteen to twenty cents a week per member. The uniform testimony of those who attended these services was that it was spiritually the most profitable camp-meeting that the conference has ever had. In the preaching services, in the young people's meetings, and in the missionary rallies the Holy Spirit was present in unusual fulness, and as a result, sinners were converted and believers were constrained to yield themselves in deeper consecration to the Master. It is especially gratifying to have the privilege of reporting that our ministers and other laborers have received a fresh baptism of the divine Spirit. Assuredly, then, they will resume their labors in the field with a degree of courage, inspiration, and power that will greatly multiply the effectiveness of their ministries. We are deeply grateful to God for these wondrous tokens of his grace. Texas Camp-Meeting for the Colored
By M. G. Nunes
THIS meeting was held at Corsicana, July 26 to August 3. We had a very desirable location for the camp, within reach of the leading colored element of the city, who attended the meetings, and showed a great interest in the discourses that were given. Among those who once cared not for the message was the principal of the Corsicana high school. Having come in touch with the truth in a way as never before, this man has ceased to be a hater of truth, and now shows a spirit to learn. He spoke at one of the afternoon sessions on “The Place of Education in Religion.” To our people the meetings brought joy and gladness. The spirit of unity prevailed, and victories were gained by many. In fasting and prayer the whole camp reconsecrated themselves to God. Six went forward in baptism on the last Sunday of the ten days’ stay. The meetings increased in interest until the close. Besides the regular colored workers of the conference there were present Elder G. F. Watson, president of the Southwestern Union; Elder J. I. Taylor, outgoing president of the South Texas Conference; Elder Chas. Lightener, of Oklahoma; Elder R. L. Bradford, of San Antonio, Tex.; and Brother O. B. Watson, of Keene, Tex., who represented the young people’s work of the union. These all contributed largely to the general interest of the meetings, through the timely instructions in sermons and Bible studies. Our colored ministers, Elders Lightener and Bradford, remained with us until the close. Since the camp-meeting two colored young persons have given themselves to the paper work. Truly we have been blessed of God. The North Texas Conference and Camp-Meeting
By Eugene Leland
THIS meeting was held on the Texas Wesleyan College campus at Terrell, Tex., from July 31 to August 10. This place is well in the eastern part of the conference, and in consequence, or for some other reason, the attendance was not so large as it had been in former years. Still there was a goodly number present and a good spirit seemed to pervade the camp from the start. Elder W. A. McCutchen presided at all the meetings of the conference, which passed off harmoniously. Among the resolutions passed was one adopting the twenty-cent-a-week plan of raising money for the support of foreign missions. This resolution elicited much enthusiastic discussion on the part of the delegates, and was unanimously adopted. For some time, a meeting had been in progress in the town, by some of the local workers of the conference, but apparently not much interest had been awakened. The evening services of the camp-meeting were devoted mostly to sermons upon doctrinal points, and by the close of the meeting a good interest was created. It was decided to let the tent remain, in order to develop the interest. Elder John I. Taylor was elected president of the conference, in the place of Elder McCutchen, who had been chosen as the religious liberty secretary of the union conference. Not much change was made in the other officers of the conference. The book work received its due share of attention, and under the enthusiastic administration of Brother A. F. Harrison, the standard was set to sell one hundred thousand dollars' worth of literature in the Southwestern Union during the present campaign. At the present, they are ahead of the average required to accomplish this work in the given time. About twenty-five persons came forward on the last Sabbath of the meeting in response to the call for all who wished to make a start in the service of God, and those who wished to consecrate themselves anew to the Lord. The tearful eye and broken spirit indicated that the Spirit of God was at work upon the hearts of the congregation. On Sunday, though quite a number of the campers had left the ground, a call was made for money to defray the expenses of the camp-meeting, and to replenish the tent fund. More than eight hundred and forty dollars was pledged for this purpose, which shows the loyalty of the brethren and sisters in the old Texas Conference. The young people's work was well represented by Brother O. B. Watson, and we hope to see many of the young people from this conference engaged in some branch of the Lord's work. Besides the regular workers in the conference, there were present Elder Geo. F. Watson, president of the Southwestern Union; Elder J. P. Anderson, of China; Profs. C. B. Hughes and H. H. Hamilton, representing the educational interests of the conference; and the writer. EUGENE LELAND. Where the Responsibility Rests
By W. F. Martin
Since the close of the Christian Citizenship Conference, in Portland, Oregon, there has been considerable criticism of the methods employed by the promoters of the meeting, and the failure on their part to give value received for the cost of the conference to the city. A good part of this criticism has been directed against Dr. Clement H. Congdon. The writer has carefully followed the work of the Christian Citizenship Conference, both in its preparation and in its sessions. It can truthfully be said that the National Reform Association is in the fullest sense responsible for all that was done, both before and during the conference. In the July, 1911, number of the Christian Statesman, the official organ of the National Reform Association, it was stated that Henry Collin Minton had gone to Europe to secure speakers for the Second World's Christian Citizenship Conference, and that Clement H. Congdon was making a tour of the Middle and Far West seeking a location for the meeting. These men were both working under the auspices of the National Reform Association, and clothed with the authority of the association. When Portland had been chosen and duly announced, the September issue of the Statesman had a three-column article on the conference. It is here stated that the purpose of the conference is to secure “a revival of national religion.” Again in the October, 1911, Statesman is issued the first call for the conference. Contained in this call are the following words: “The immediate result to be sought through this conference, and through all the work of preparation for it, is the revival and diffusion of national religion.” The only way for a nation to speak or make a profession is by and through its laws. For a nation to make a profession of religion, it must legislate upon the subject. That would be religious legislation. Religious legislation inevitably results in a union of church and state. Clement H. Congdon was the regularly authorized publicity manager for the conference, appointed as such as verily as any of the other officers. Again, as to the principles enunciated at the conference, there were two questions emphasized more than any others. These were the teaching of religion in the public schools16 and Sunday legislation. This was in perfect accord with the avowed purpose of the association holding the meeting. On the inside front cover of the Christian Statesman each month one can find the following:— “The Christian Statesman is a monthly magazine of thirty-two pages, designed to promote needed reforms in the action of the government touching the Sabbath, the institution of the family, the religious element in education, the oath, and public morality as affected by the liquor traffic and other kindred evils; and to secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, and to indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.”
To show that the carrying out of these ideas was the central thought of the conference, note the following taken from the November, 1912, Statesman:— “The Second World's Christian Citizenship Conference will, therefore, serve the greatest practical use by not only awakening and deepening popular sentiment in behalf of Christian legislation, but by bringing to bear at the same time upon political organizations and governments some definite pressure that may lead ultimately to their open espousal of Christian political principles.”
The enforcement of religion is not within the purview of human government. The true American principle is that government should have nothing whatever to do with the control of religious belief. Whenever the National Reform Association or any other organization or any man sets himself against this, he is setting himself in opposition to true American principles.