Earlier text: LIBERTYAtlantic Union Conference
By I. H. Evans
Received on the $150,000 Fund
up to Oct. 1, 1907 Atlantic Union Conference
Central New England .......... $ 2,635.61
Chesapeake .................... 480.20
Eastern Pennsylvania .......... 1,793.50
Greater New York .............. 462.07
Maine ......................... 563.78
New Jersey .................... 552.63
New York ....................... 1,626.50
Southern New England .......... 1,138.50
Vermont ....................... 922.83
Virginia ....................... 468.58
West Pennsylvania ............. 1,376.84
West Virginia ................. 351.86
Western New York .............. 1,675.50
Total ......................... 14,048.49 Canadian Union Conference Maritime ...................... 317.43
Quebec ........................ 63.64
Ontario ....................... 716.58
Total ......................... 1,097.65 Colorado ...................... 2,391.57
Iowa .......................... 4,087.23
Kansas ........................ 2,559.39
Missouri ...................... 1,279.39
Nebraska ...................... 5,399.82
Wyoming ....................... 740.94
Total ......................... 16,458.34 Washington churches .......... 1,325.94 East Michigan ................. 1,872.66
Indiana ....................... 5,177.27
North Michigan ................ 422.57
Northern Illinois ............. 2,568.91
Ohio .......................... 4,602.50
Southern Illinois ............. 1,080.08
West Michigan ................. 3,577.34
Wisconsin ..................... 3,238.07
Total ......................... 22,539.40 North Pacific Union Conference Conference not specified ..... 429.66
British Columbia .............. 122.80
Montana ....................... 452.48
Upper Columbia ................ 2,286.53
Western Washington ............ 1,807.37
Idaho ......................... 863.40
Western Oregon ................ 2,025.35
Total ......................... 7,987.59 Northern Union Conference Alberta ........................ 156.10
Manitoba ....................... 239.70
Saskatchewan Mission Field ..... 37.60
Minnesota ...................... 5,129.95
South Dakota ................... 2,645.47
North Dakota ................... 1,768.66
Conference not specified ....... 73.82
Total .......................... 10,051.30 Arizona ........................ 387.74
California-Nevada .............. 7,764.09
Southern California ............ 1,169.61
Utah ........................... 395.08
Total .......................... 9,716.52 Southern Union Conference South Carolina ................ 135.69
Alabama ........................ 264.05
Tennessee River ................ 723.55
Florida ........................ 551.77
North Carolina ................. 455.50
Kentucky ....................... 30.36
Cumberland ..................... 732.74
Louisiana ...................... 390.61
Mississippi .................... 252.76
Georgia ........................ 357.89
Total .......................... 3,894.92 Southwestern Union Conference Not specified .................. 20.18
Arkansas ....................... 374.86
Oklahoma ....................... 2,562.23
Texas .......................... 1,200.41
Total .......................... 4,157.68 Unknown ........................ 158.20 Algeria ........................ 13.33
Australia ....................... 163.84
Bermuda ......................... 35.00
China ........................... 31.60
South Africa .................... 278.16
Jamaica ......................... 13.41
Yukon Territory ................. 20.00
England ......................... 256.81
West Africa ..................... 14.06
Mexico .......................... 2.00
Costa Rica ...................... 6.25
India ........................... 18.88
South America ................... 40.95
Switzerland ..................... 9.60
Panama .......................... 19.00
Nicaragua ....................... 4.00
Central American Mission ........ 26.00
Trinidad ........................ .34
Norway .......................... 25.00
Japan ........................... 12.50
Hayti ........................... 5.00
Egypt ........................... 51.55
Palestine ....................... 2.00
Tobago, W. I. ................... 1.22
Cuba ............................ 8.00
Hungary ......................... 3.00
Tahiti .......................... 11.88
France .......................... 6.80
Philippine Islands .............. 1.00
Total .......................... $ 1,081.27
Grand Total .................... $92,517.30 All remittances should be made to the treasurer of the State conference wherein the remitter resides. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then remittance should be made to I. H. Evans, Treasurer, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., and not to the Review and Herald Publishing Association. Conferences Complete Their Fund Allotments
By Editor
We are glad to add the name of another conference to the list of those having finished their allotments to the $150,000 fund. The list now stands:— District of Columbia, Arizona, Nebraska, Southern New England, Central New England, Egypt, Indiana, Utah, Ohio, Virginia, West Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wyoming, Vermont. Jesus, I’ll Go Through with Thee
By Claude Wiltsie
I AM passing o’er the pathway
That the saints before me trod,
Leading up from sin’s dark valley
To the glorious heights of God.
Though my way’s beset with demons,
And my crosses heavy be,
Through the grace of God abundant,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee. Take my trembling hand and lead me
O’er life’s waters dark and wild;
Though earth’s sin and strife surround me,
I would be thy trusting child.
Lead me as thou led’st Moses,
And thy hosts across the sea;
And though all the world forsake me,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee. When I reach the time of trouble,
And man’s heart with terror faints,
When all faces gather blackness,
Thou wilt not forsake thy saints.
In thy blessed, sure pavilion
All thy waiting ones shall be.
In the time of indignation,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee. When the earth is rent beneath us,
And thou send’st the storm of hail,
Lord, thy angels then shall keep us;
Not a word of thine shall fail.
When the sun shall scorch all nature,
Thou wilt food and shelter be.
My Redeemer and Creator,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee. When I’m taken up to heaven,
And the shining gates behold;
When I view the walls of jasper,
And the streets of glittering gold;
When I see life’s crystal river,
Flowing there so calm and free;
When the ransomed ones shall enter,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee. Beneficence
By Ellen G. White
The Needs of a Mission Field
For many years, the Lord has been keeping before his people the needs of the work among the colored people in the Southern States of America. The moral darkness of this field is, in itself, a powerful plea for the exercise of liberality. In the past, some have done what they could to support this branch of our work; and their beneficence has borne fruit in the conversion of many souls. Although much remains to be done for the colored people, we have cause for rejoicing over the good beginning that has been made. In a recent number of The Gospel Herald it is reported that “fifteen years ago there were not over twenty colored Seventh-day Adventists south of Mason and Dixon’s line; but to-day there are seven hundred. Twelve years ago there was only one colored Seventh-day Adventist church; to-day there are fifty, not counting those in Africa and the West Indies. . . . The tithes of the colored people last year in the United States amounted to five thousand dollars; fifteen years ago it was not over fifty dollars.” Let us thank God, dear brethren and sisters, and take courage! God is laying bare his arm to do a mighty work in this mission field within the borders of our own land. He is now giving his people an opportunity to extend the message rapidly in the South, by revealing a spirit of beneficence at the time the yearly offering for the support of the colored work is taken up, the first Sabbath in October. God has reposed confidence in us by making us stewards of means and of his rich grace; and he now points us to the poor and suffering and oppressed, to souls bound in chains of superstition and error, and assures us that if we do good to these, he will accept the deed as though done to himself. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,” he declares, “ye have done it unto me.” The poor are not excluded from the privilege of giving. They, as well as the wealthy, may act a part in this work. The lesson that Christ gave in regard to the widow’s two mites, shows us that the smallest willing offerings of the poor, if given from a heart of love, are as acceptable as the largest donations of the rich. In the balances of the sanctuary, the gifts of the poor, made from love to Christ, are not estimated according to the amount given, but according to the love which prompts the sacrifice. Thousands of colored people in the South may now be uplifted, and become human agents to help their own race, if they can receive the help God is calling upon us to give them. Multitudes of men and women in this field feel their deep poverty and necessity of elevation. And when faithful teachers shall come in to open to them the Scriptures just as they read, presenting truth in its native purity, the darkness will disappear. Bright beams of light will shine upon the soul searching for truth. And with those who have had advantages, a close and intelligent investigation will take place upon the subjects of truth revealed in the Scriptures. Many will be taught of God. They will learn aright from the Great Teacher, and will accept with joy the truths that will sanctify and uplift. The moral image of God will be restored in the soul, and many will be eternally saved. My dear brethren and sisters, Christ is now saying to you, Lift up your eyes and look on this Southern field; for it needs workers—sowers of the seed, and reapers. It needs your means for the maintenance of these workers. The grace of Christ is unlimited, it is God’s free gift. Then why should not this neglected people have some hope and courage and faith brought into their lives? There is sunshine in the heart for all who will accept Christ. Sharing in the Joys of the Redeemed
There is reward for the whole-hearted, unselfish workers who enter this field, and also for those who contribute willingly for their support. Those engaged in active service in the field, and those who give of their means to sustain these workers, will share the reward of the faithful. Every wise steward of the means entrusted to him, will enter into the joy of his Lord. What is this joy?—“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” There will be a blessed commendation, a holy benediction, on the faithful winners of souls. They will join the rejoicing ones in heaven, who shout the harvest home. How great will be the joy when the redeemed of the Lord shall all meet,—gathered into the mansions prepared for them! O, what rejoicing for all who have been impartial, unselfish laborers together with God in carrying forward his work in the earth! What satisfaction will every reaper have, when the clear, musical voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” The Redeemer is glorified because he has not died in vain. With glad, rejoicing hearts, those who have been co-laborers with God see of the travail of their soul for perishing, dying sinners, and are satisfied. The anxious hours they have spent, the perplexing circumstances they have had to meet, the sorrow of heart because some refused to see and receive the things which make for their peace, are forgotten. The self-denial they have practised in order to support the work, is remembered no more. As they look upon the souls they sought to win to Jesus, and see them saved, eternally saved—monuments of God’s mercy and of a Redeemer’s love—there ring through the arches of heaven shouts of praise and thanksgiving. “And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy; . . . for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.” The Need of Prayer
By D. H. Kress
THERE never was a time when prayer was needed more than at the present, and probably there never was a time when there was less prevailing prayer. True, the form of prayer is still kept up, but the Spirit of prayer is greatly lacking. One of the first essentials of prayer is a feeling of need. Before it is possible to plead for divine strength, man must appreciate his need. The Pharisee prayed, but his prayer expressed no need. The petition of the publican who felt himself the chief of sinners, and of Peter when in danger of being swallowed up by the angry waves, expressed a need. Such prayers are always heard and answered. When the news came to Jehoshaphat, “There cometh a great multitude against thee,” he “set himself to seek the Lord,” and “all Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord.” When he had realized and acknowledged his helplessness and utter dependence upon God, “God undertook the battle for him.” Then came the words to Jehoshaphat from the Lord, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. . . . Ye shall not need to fight in this battle.” The Lord next told them how to go out against their enemies. And Jehoshaphat appointed “singers unto the Lord, . . . that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever,” and “when they began to sing and to praise,” the Lord sent confusion into the camp of their enemies, and “every one helped to destroy another.” Judah needed not to fight, for their enemies destroyed themselves. God desires to-day to fight the battles for his people. He does not want them to fight, for “they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” On the other hand, when their enemies arise, they are not to settle down in ease and say, “Well, the work is the Lord’s, and he will take care of it,” or, “He has his hand on the lever of circumstances, and works everything after the counsel of his own will.” While all this is true, this truth should not act as an opiate and lead to inactivity and a false trust. It should stimulate and lead men to do as did Jehoshaphat and all Judah, “to ask help of the Lord.” There are two dangers that confront the army of Israel to-day when assailed by their enemies. One is the tendency to fight when God says, “Ye shall not need to fight.” The other is to do nothing, under a false hope that God is able to do it all without their aid. While we have been commanded not to fight, we have also been commanded to pray, and to come to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Prayer makes the battle the Lord’s, and gives a confidence that will lead men to venture all they possess and are. In every case where the enemies anciently came against Israel, when they sought the Lord with their whole hearts, humbled themselves, and put away what was wrong, the Lord fought for them, and “gave them rest round about” from all their enemies. The same God lives and reigns to-day, and if Israel to-day would fight less and pray more, and then place all they are and have on the Lord’s side, he would undertake for them and would soon subdue their enemies. It would be seen that the battle is the Lord’s. It was when Christ prayed that the “heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” It was when the church prayed that “the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. . . . Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.” “And believers were the more added.” Prayer connects the finite with the Infinite. It allies man’s weakness with God’s strength. It moves the arm of the Omnipotent. Should we call upon God to-day as did Jehoshaphat, and then believe as did he, that God has heard our prayer and has undertaken our battles, such a faith would lead us to give ourselves and our all to the Lord, and the work would soon be cut short in righteousness. How to Revive the Church
By G. B. Thompson
THERE are many churches that need reviving. Members have lost their first love, and the coming of the Lord, though nearer than when they first believed, does not seem so to them. The form is there, but in some cases only a spark of life remains. Secret prayer, the very life of the soul, is neglected. In some homes the family altar has fallen down. Weekly prayer-meetings have died in churches because the members were too much occupied with the affairs of this world to attend once a week. And though it may still live in some instances, it is but a cold, formal affair. Covetousness has come into many hearts, and as a result little or no tithes are paid; and from their abundance but a mere pittance is given to help carry the last message that men will ever hear. Some, becoming absorbed in worldly things, fail to read and study the Bible very much. The Testimonies are read but little, and some who once believed in the spirit of prophecy are not quite sure in reference to the matter now. Brother, if any of these conditions prevail in your church, they indicate a dearth of spiritual life, and explain why souls are not converted and gathered into the church. A revival is needed very much. Yes, you say, we do need a revival in our church: we have been hoping for a long time that a minister would come and start one. But this is not necessary. A genuine revival can be effected in every church in the denomination, and many souls be converted, without ministerial aid, thus leaving the laborers free for work in new fields. Do you ask how? Have you ever studied the revival at Sychar, recorded in John 4; and considered the agency through which it was accomplished? Sychar was a wicked place, worse perhaps than the neighborhood in which you live. The revival began with a woman. She was not a young woman, for she had had five husbands. Talk about humble and unworthy instruments! Here is one. She was living with a man who was not her husband, a reproach to the town in which she resided. And yet a great revival was brought about through this woman. I hear people say they can not do any missionary work. Say that no more. Is there a member in any church who could not do as much in his neighborhood as this woman of Sychar did in her neighborhood? What she did you can do. How was it done? 1. She had a face-to-face and heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. This poor sinful creature, a slave of Satan, led captive at his will, saw the Saviour and communed with him. She saw herself a sinner, and Jesus, the Messiah, as her Saviour. She drank of that “living water.” This is the real secret of the Sychar revival. It began with one person, and many believed. “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.” A like personal experience will work wonders in your church. It will result in an ingathering of souls. 2. After she had had a face-to-face talk with Jesus, she had a face-to-face talk with her neighbors. “Come,” she said, “see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” This kind of work will result in a revival in your church. Do something for Jesus. Go to your neighbors with the message, and tell them that he who sat at Jacob’s well is coming again. All that is needed to revive your church, and kindle anew the love of God in your own heart, is to go to work. Many are spiritually idle. You “do not feel like working,” you say. Then you need to talk with Jesus. Something is separating you from him. “Not more surely is the place prepared for us in the heavenly mansions than is the special place designated on earth where we are to work for God.” Certainly we shall never fill the place prepared for us in heaven, unless we first fill the place prepared for us here. Are we filling that “special place,” or imperilling our eternal salvation by refusing to work for him? Many will be lost unless they go to work now. She went and told others. She began work in her own neighborhood, with those whom she had known. She told them of the man who told her all things that she did. The face-to-face talk with Jesus had no doubt transformed her whole life, and the people could see that a marvelous change had taken place, and were thus led to go out and see and hear for themselves. She did not remain at home, excusing herself from doing anything by saying that she had no talent. She went to work diligently for those near by. All that is needed to revive us as individuals and as churches is for a revival of personal missionary work to take place in our local churches. May the Lord awaken us to our individual responsibility. The Sabbath—The Man
By W. M. Healy
In a recent number of the Christian Leader and the Way, appears an article from J. H. D. Tomson on the subject of the Sabbath. He quotes Mark 2:27, 28, —“The Sabbath was made for man,”— and says: “Now we admit that the Sabbath was made for man, and that God commanded men to keep it.” Then he asks, “Who told Christians to keep it?” He asserts that the patriarchs and Christians never were commanded to keep the Sabbath. We have always supposed that the patriarchs and Christians belong to the class of beings called “men.” But this writer teaches that the words “man” and “men” do not include them. With this as a basis, he proceeds: “Now, sir, I propose to show what man the Sabbath was made for.” He informs us that “man” meant only the “Israelite,” the “Jew.” In the following words he gives his reason why this has not been known before: “Sabbatarians, like other sectarians, seem to have given no heed whatever to studying the Word of truth with a view to its proper division.” But what a different meaning the Scriptures would have had, if such an interpretation had been made as that above indicated. Thus, when God, at the creation of the earth, said, “Let us make man,” he only intended to make a “Jew,” though this was two thousand years before there ever was a “Jew.” When the Lord said, “I will make a man more precious than . . . the golden wedge of Ophir,” did he mean only the Jew? In 1 Cor. 11:9, we read: “Neither was the man [Jew?] created for the woman; but the woman for the man [Jew?]” If this divider of the Word of truth had been present when Christ uttered the words, “The Sabbath was made for man,” and had given the information that “man” only meant Jew, and the Christian need not keep the Sabbath, he could have informed the world that the Christian was free also from all responsibility of keeping the woman; as she was made for “man,” that is the Jew. Just let the Jew with his “Sabbath yoke” draw the matrimonial cart with all its cares and burdens. It is his natural lot to have trials, for Job said, “Yet man [Jew, of course] is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7. It is strange that mankind will run into such absurd positions to avoid the plain command of God. The term “man”, used by our Saviour in Mark 2:28, had the plain meaning of the human race, the family of mankind for whom the Sabbath was made. As it was for the whole race, it was given to the first man, and will continue to the last one. It was given in Eden before there was any sin, and will exist when sin is no more. Isa. 66:22, 23. As the Sabbath belongs to a pure and holy state, and as the Sabbath command is part of a pure and holy law, the carnally minded find it against them, as the command, “Thou shalt not steal,” is against the thief, and, “Thou shalt not kill,” is against the murderer. But such commands are not a yoke nor a burden to the honest and pure in heart. To those who keep the Lord’s Sabbath, it is a blessing and a “delight.” Come walk therein, and God will prove his promise true. Our Refuge
By GEO. O. STATES
As I read the frequent accounts of earthquakes and other disasters in various parts of the earth, my mind has been many times called to our refuge spoken of in Heb. 6:19. Those of us who passed through that terrible experience in California in 1906 know that it looked as if everything was going to pieces. Our hope was then appreciated as never before. One Sabbath soon after the earthquake, just as we were assembled for Sabbath-school in San Jose, there was quite a shock, which caused some excitement, and the superintendent stood up and read the forty-sixth Psalm, which quieted all, as God’s protecting care over his people was brought to view. In speaking of what is before God’s people, the servant of the Lord says: “There was a mighty earthquake. Buildings were shaken down on every side. I then heard a triumphant shout of victory, loud, musical, and clear. I looked upon the company, who, a short time before, were in such distress and bondage. Their captivity was turned. A glorious light shone upon them. How beautiful they then looked! All marks of care and weariness were gone, and health and beauty were seen in every countenance. Their enemies, the heathen around them, fell like dead men; they could not endure the light that shone upon the delivered, holy ones. This light and glory remained upon them, until Jesus was seen in the clouds of heaven, and the faithful, tried company were changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory. The graves were opened, and the saints came forth, clothed with immortality, crying, ‘Victory over death and the grave,’ and together with the living saints they were caught up to meet their Lord in the air, while rich, musical shouts of glory and victory were upon every immortal tongue.” “I saw that God will in a wonderful manner preserve his people through the time of trouble. As Jesus poured out his soul in agony in the garden, they will earnestly cry and agonize day and night for deliverance. . . . The foundations of the earth shake; buildings totter and fall with a terrible crash. The sea boils like a pot, and the whole earth is in terrible commotion. The captivity of the righteous is turned, and with sweet and solemn whisperings they say to one another, ‘We are delivered. It is the voice of God.’ With solemn awe they listen to the words of God. They fear and tremble, while the saints rejoice. Satan and his angels, and wicked men, who had been exulting that the people of God were in their power, that they might destroy them from off the earth, witness the glory conferred upon those who have honored the holy law of God. They behold the faces of the righteous lighted up and reflecting the image of Jesus. Those who were so eager to destroy the saints can not endure the glory resting upon the delivered ones, and they fall like dead men to the earth. Satan and evil angels fall from the presence of the saints glorified. Their power to annoy them is gone forever.” It seems to me that we should appreciate the counsel given us as never before, for the Lord has given us light above all people on the earth. FAITHFUL men who are distributing the Scriptures among heathen tribes endure no small amount of hardship and privation, and often, in addition to all this, ill usage at the hands of the people. One colporteur who works in Argentina, South America, offered a Bible one day to a gentleman, who replied, in scornful accents, “Do you think I am a fool, that I should buy a Bible?” “I wish,” said the colporteur, “that you would read it, and then you would become wise. Those who read this Book, and practise its teachings, cease to be fools. Won’t you try, and see if it does not have the same result for you?” They talked for a long time, the colporteur showing him that those who take no interest in their souls exhibit great foolishness. Finally the gentleman seemed moved; he bought a Bible, and went on his way disposed to read it. Another colporteur in Germany was offering his books to some workmen, who did not believe in God. While he was talking, one of them dipped a whitewash brush in lime, and splashed it all over the gentleman’s clothes. With remarkable self-control, he continued to speak to them of the Scriptures, with the result that the lime-splasher expressed his contrition, and bought a Bible, and twelve of his companions bought New Testaments.—Selected. Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us
“WHEN a man sees himself as God sees him, he hasn’t a word to say about there being so many hypocrites in the church.” Apart with Christ
By Robert E. Speer
HAVE you and I to-day
Stood silent as with Christ, apart from joy or fray
Of life; to see by faith his face,
And grow, by grief, companionship more true,
More nerved to lead, to dare, to do
For him at any cost? Have we to-day
Found time in thought, our hand to lay
In his, and thus compare
His will with ours, and wear
The impress of his wish? Be sure
Such contact will endure
Throughout the days, will help us walk erect
Through storm and flood; detect
Within the hidden life, sin’s dross, its stain;
Revive a thought of love for him again;
Steady the steps which waver; help us to see
The footpath meant for you and me.
—Robert E. Speer. The Ministry of Children
By Frederick Lynch
AFTER all, are not children the real teachers? Do we not learn more from them than we give? Do there not come to us from our association with them the finest and sweetest qualities of manhood? The Master recognized this, and on more than one occasion set up a little child in the midst of the people, and said that if they would enter the kingdom of heaven, they should become as this little child. And the poets and seers have always seen this. Wordsworth's poetry is full of it, and there is nothing sweeter in Longfellow than the lines beginning,— “Come to me, O ye children!
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.
“Ye open the eastern windows
That look toward the sun,
Where thoughts are singing swallows,
And the brooks of morning run.”
See how true this is, and what enviable things children have to teach us. For instance, one can not be much with children without seeing that the faith element is strong and shining and the secret of their joyous living. Another engaging trait of childhood is its eagerness. It is full of zest for new things. Its forever open-mindedness to new truth, its eager anticipation of big things to come, its curiosity, its insatiable seeking of knowledge, is its most charming quality. Then, too, it is free from fixed, preconceived ideas. This trait, of all others, is very hard to keep, yet it is the one quality that makes manhood full of intense interest to one's self, and makes one an inspirer and leader of other lives. What is more refreshing than to see a man approaching every new day with all the eager interest of a child to see what it will bring forth, with open mind for every new truth of God? But we lose this power so soon. We grow blasé and cynical. We become soured with life. We grow indifferent to the changing world. We lose the faculty to enjoy unreservedly and deliciously the things which in youth made our pulses leap and our hearts bound. Nothing can now unlock again those great fastnesses of the soul. It is life's tragedy. An old man, bemoaning this, told me that when he first, as a young man, stood on the Gorner Grat and looked over those immense fields of ice and snow, and those great rock bastions, rising right into the face of heaven, he wept with uncontrolled tears, like a child; but forty years after, it was all only rock and snow. Another man told me that the first time he saw the ocean, he was as one exalted; but now it is only salt water. Another man told me that once great music swept him off on its golden wings into the infinite heavens; but now it was only sound, and often fury. Neither the mountains, nor the sea, nor the symphony had changed; alas, the soul had lost its childlikeness. But to lose that is to lose the kingdom of heaven, said the Great Teacher. If we are in danger of losing it, let us go out and play with the children till it comes again. It is an awful thing to lose. It is too much like losing one's soul. It is said of Piers, the plowman, that all through his old age there was “a great light of wonder in his face.”—Frederick Lynch. ONE of the occupations in Australia is sheep-raising. There are large ranches upon which many sheep and lambs find food, and the shepherds guard their own. One day a man was arrested for stealing a sheep. The man claimed that the sheep was his own, that it had been missing from his flock for some days, but as soon as he saw the animal, he knew it. The other man claimed the sheep, and said he had owned it since it was a lamb, and that it had never been away from the flock. The judge was puzzled how to decide the matter. At last he sent for the sheep. He first took the man in whose possession the sheep was found to the courtyard, and told him to call the sheep. The animal made no response, only to raise its head and look frightened as if in a strange place and among strangers. Bidding the officers to take the man back to the court room, he told them to bring down the defendant. The accused man did not wait until he entered the yard, but at the gate, where the sheep could not see him, he began a peculiar call. At once the sheep bounded toward the gate, and by his actions showed that a familiar voice was calling. “His own knows him,” said the judge. Virginia’s Letter
By J. W. C. Pickering
THE other day I received a letter from the little blue-eyed girl, now grown to womanhood, who, in the days long gone by, waited at the gate for my daily homecoming. How I am thrilled when I think of those meetings. Looking away down the road, she would recognize her papa, and how she would run to meet me, rushing into my arms, putting those chubby arms about my neck, greeting me with a kiss. Enclosed in the letter was another. From its hiding-place in the pocket of my office coat, I have taken it out this morning to read it over. I often do so, for it brings to me so many sweet memories of other days. Let me quote a few words from the first letter: “When I told Virginia I was writing to grandpa, she wished to write you a letter also. You probably can read it,” and Virginia’s letter is the one I have before me now. Shall I describe it? The paper is the same as the mother’s, on which are four closely written pages. Did I say written?—Yes, written in the child language—a language perhaps not taught in the schools, but understood by so many, many loving hearts. Those long, scrawling lines, characters that no Mongolian would attempt to imitate; scratches of pencil or pen no expert would attempt to duplicate; and yet this is the letter I carry about me as I follow the routine of a busy life. There may be some reason why an epistle like this has so much value to me. I remember years ago my family physician came to me one day and told me that the mother of my five babies must go away for a change; she must leave the cares of home and children for a few months; and so she left us never to come back. All through those anxious days, when my time was divided between home and the sick chamber miles away, I would never visit the sick one, who was constantly growing weaker, but I was the bearer of letters like the one before me. With what eagerness that mother would break the seals of those missives, and smile or weep, when she would say to me, “I understand every word they have written.” Virginia’s grandmother and her mother’s baby brother lie side by side. The other babies have grown to be men and women, and have left the old home, and I am alone. But when I receive such letters as the one I carry in my office coat, “I understand every word,” and am young again.—J. W. C. Pickering.