Earlier text: The Great Conflict of the AgesReligion in the Public Schools
By G. B. Thompson
THERE is, perhaps, no other place in the United States which has been so deeply stirred over the question of teaching religion in the public schools as the District of Columbia during the present agitation. And it is not without its significance that this matter is being urged upon the people here in Washington. This is the capital of the nation, and what is done here has a great influence upon other sections of the United States. In some form or other this same question will come up in other places. The thing will spread, as it has in it all the essential elements of a complete union of the church and the state. The following, taken from an editorial in the April number of the Pilgrim Teacher, shows something of the wide-spread attention this question is receiving elsewhere:— The most significant feature of the Sunday-school outlook at the present7 time is the Religious Education Association. It is, in the first place, an organization with a great object,—to inspire the educational forces of the country with the religious ideal, and to inspire the religious forces with the educational ideal. Then, like the International Sunday-school Association, it is inter-denominational and non-sectarian, and includes in its membership Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews. It appointed a commission at Boston to undertake the difficult task of compiling a book of devotional readings which Protestants, Catholics, and Jews alike could approve for use in the public schools. It is thus emphasizing the points of agreement between the different denominations and faiths, rather than their differences. There is no weakening of the definite convictions of any, but there is a joining of hands of all the best elements in the country in the interest of the real religious education of its youth. It is an organization led by great men. On the Boston program were thirteen presidents of American colleges, seminaries, and universities. It included scores of the leading educators and Christian workers of the country. [Italics mine.] If the church would do her appointed work, there would be no call for religious teaching by the state. The demand for the state to do the work committed to the church, of instructing the children in religion, is an acknowledgment by the church that she has lost her power to do the work for which she is commissioned of the Lord. We have been warned that new controversies are to arise, and that the old and the new are to commingle. We know of no way this could more quickly be brought to pass than to introduce religious instruction into the public schools. What shall be taught, how it shall be taught, and by whom, would bring in endless complications, and arouse controversies which nobody could settle. Religious animosities and sectarian strife would be kindled, and confusion would reign everywhere. That we have entered upon interesting times is very evident. The Ten-Cent-a-Week Plan
By I. H. Evans
EVERY Seventh-day Adventist whose heart is in sympathy with the third angel's message can but feel a burning desire to see the work of God prosper in the earth, and rejoice at every advance step that is made. When we hear of new fields entered, or new territory into which the standard of the Lord has been erected, our hearts leap for joy; but to establish the work in these regions beyond and to carry it steadily forward, requires a constant resource with which to sustain the workers who are in these distant fields. The ten-cent-a-week plan has been encouraged throughout our conferences. If each individual or family can not always pay the specified amount, each church should endeavor to make up a sum equal to what would be ten cents a week for each member. The poor sometimes have large families, and can not give this amount without great sacrifice, while there are others in the church who could easily give more, and not suffer in the least. To contrast what ten cents a week will do with what is actually done, one of our good conference secretaries has sent in the following statistical report from his conference. There are many other conferences that could undoubtedly work out a similar statistical report:— | Church |
Members |
Amount |
Amount per capita for nine months |
|---|
| A. |
75 |
$53.05 |
70 2-3 cts. |
| B. |
11 |
1.64 |
14 1-2 cts. |
| C. |
44 |
.60 |
1 1-3 cts. |
| D. |
93 |
.85 |
9-10 ct. |
| E. |
55 |
27.58 |
50 1-7 cts. |
| F. |
14 |
1.80 |
12 6-7 cts. |
| G. |
83 |
6.12 |
7 1-3 cts. |
| H. |
26 |
.25 |
1 ct. |
| I. |
69 |
2.62 |
3 3-4 cts. |
| J. |
8 |
|
Nothing |
| K. |
10 |
|
Nothing |
| L. |
13 |
|
Nothing |
| Totals |
515 |
$94.51 |
|
The average amount paid per capita for nine months was eighteen and one-third cents; the average amount paid per capita for one week, one third of a cent. Had we paid ten cents a week we should have paid, $1,854. The amount we did pay the first nine months this year was $94.51. According to the ten-cent-a-week plan, we withheld from the treasury $1,759.49. Had we paid one cent a week for each member, we should have almost doubled the amount which we did pay. Does not this call for earnest effort on our part lest we have the blood of souls on our skirts? We believe the Lord would be well pleased if we could bring ourselves to take a deeper interest in the foreign mission work. It is wonderful what a systematic plan can accomplish, when understandingly carried out. Will not our brethren and sisters throughout the field take hold of this plan, and help in carrying forward the gospel work? There may be other plans that you think would be more advisable and workable; but we hope that every church will contribute as much as possible for the support of the foreign missions. Then if each individual will pay an honest tithe into the Lord's treasury, it seems as if there would be an abundance of funds with which to carry forward the Lord's work. We greatly desire that our churches may cheerfully and gladly respond to the calls of the present time to assist in building up our work. I. H. EVANS. THE BIBLE “has not been given to tell how the heavens go, but to show man how to go to heaven.” THE following from a press dispatch dated at New York, March 27, calls to mind the prophetic words of the Saviour regarding signs of the last days in the physical world,—“the sea and the waves roaring:” — Officers of many ocean liners of the last two weeks have told of hurricane winds the like of which they have never seen before, but it remains for the men who command the Hamburg-American liner “Pretoria,” in to-day, nearly four days overdue, to tell of a meeting with cyclonic gales that they rate higher on the seaman’s wind scale than any other reported this winter. The “Pretoria” ran into the storm on the night of March 14. Captain Schrotter says the wind was blowing one hundred and twenty miles an hour. For five hours the “Pretoria,” leviathan as she is, was rendered helpless by the terrific power of the wind. Seldom does an ocean liner of her size pour oil on the waters, but this was what was done by Captain Schrotter. Otherwise, he says, the “Pretoria” might have rolled over. THE editor of the Christian Statesman, organ of the party which advocates state religion in this country, says:— In that theater on which the gaze of the world is riveted to-day, we believe that a righteous God is smiting Russia for her sins, and is saying to other nations of the world, “Except ’ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” We believe that he has raised up Japan for this purpose, as an instrument of his will, and if she, in turn, should be lifted up with pride and refuse to acknowledge the Ruler of nations, she also will be punished. The Statesman should remember that Russia does acknowledge the Ruler of nations, and is a “Christian nation” in the fullest sense in which the practise of state religion can make her such. If God is smiting Russia, it is certainly not for any failure on Russia’s part to recognize him in her laws and official utterances. The Statesman should also remember that the greater part of the injustice and oppression of which Russia is guilty before the world to-day comes directly from the union of the state with religion in that country. For years the “procurator of the holy synod” has been the most influential man at the Russian court, and it is well known that it is the church which, more than any other agency, has inspired and directed the policy of Russian conquest. Without an alliance of these two, there could have been no religious despotism in the empire of the czar. Certainly it is not because Russia has failed to be as religious as it is possible for any civil government to be, that she is now, as the Statesman affirms, beneath the rod of the Almighty. Memories of Jesus
By Irving P. Emerick
Of thoughts ye are the sweetest,
Fond mem'ries of my Lord;
In all my mind and feelings
I give thee full accord. Nor shall my recollections
Forget the gracious love
That brought thee to my rescue,
That bought me with thy blood; Nor all thy many sorrows,
Thy deep, atoning pain,
The cross by which thou'st entered
My heart fore'er to reign. For all thy gracious mercies,
With freedom from my maze
Of sin and jumbled nature,
I give thee hearty praise. And treasured in my mem'ry,
For earth and heaven above,
I'll faithfully be keeping
The tokens of thy love. O, grant me, then, the power
To give thee all my love;
To serve thee without ceasing,
Till brought to thee above! An Open Letter
By Ellen G. White
“ELMSHAVEN,” SANITARIUM, CAL., Jan. 11, 1905. To the Leaders in Our Work at Takoma Park:— I exhort all who are connected with the work at Takoma Park to bring Christ into all that they do and say. Lift him up, higher and still higher, that by beholding him, you may be changed into the same image. To you, and to all others who believe in him, he becomes an inspiring force. To all who receive him he gives power to become the sons of God. Only by obtaining this power can we gain perfection of character. We can be partakers of the divine nature. In the strength of the Redeemer, we can live pure, noble, helpful lives. Make yourselves acquainted with every detail of the life of Christ. Strive to become like the Saviour, who was meek and lowly and self-denying. He was inspired with the purest purposes. So must you be if ever you see the King in his beauty. Pure, unselfish love was the principle that governed all that he said and did. He has power to imbue us with the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. I thank the Lord that we have men in charge of our work at Takoma Park who have taken a firm stand that they will not be corrupted in any of their transactions with worldly men. Thus business men will be convinced that the faith of Seventh-day Adventists is not a pretense or sham, but that it leads men to walk in the way of the Lord and to do his will. I have been instructed that strong temptations will come to men who are connected with our institutions. The work we are called upon to do in Washington is to keep every jot and tittle of the law in surety and in strength, in might and in power. When worldly men present temptations to you, listen not to their offers, and accept not their bribes. I thank the Lord that you have not betrayed the sacred trusts committed to your hands. Our physicians also will have opportunities to gain advantages for themselves, by following worldly policy. Let them distinctly tell those who offer these temptations that they will not enter into any worldly schemes. I rejoice to think that those who have charge of the work in Takoma Park are Christians, men who can teach the youth in their charge to do acceptable work. My brethren, let unselfishness and scrupulous integrity characterize all that you do. Do not allow your actions to be tainted with dishonesty. Work for time and work for eternity, remembering that the Lord sees and hears all that is said and done. His all-seeing eye examines every work. Never resort to the slightest dishonesty to gain an advantage. Do not buy or sell dishonestly. In all that you do, inquire, “Is this the way of the Lord?” Cherish a clear sense of what you must be and do in order to develop a character that is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It is the perfect man in Christ who meets God’s ideal. The work of those who are guided and controlled by Christian motives will bear witness for God. Christ lived the very life that he requires his followers to live. The Saviour has a deep contempt for all deception. The stern punishment meted out to Ananias and Sapphira shows this. Desiring to receive commendation for good deeds, yet unwilling to give all to God, they sold their possessions, and keeping back part of the price, laid the rest at the apostles’ feet. They hoped to be thought liberal and self-denying, but the Holy Spirit read the deception, and sudden punishment came upon them. To-day the same Spirit condemns all underhand dealing. All selfish meanness is to be put away from the character. This is the lesson that God would have us learn from the experience of Ananias and Sapphira. There are virtues that are to be daily strengthened. A reverence for justice and equity is to be cultivated. He who permits in himself that which he condemns in others is doing himself a great wrong. “Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.” Cherish a supreme reverence for justice and truth, and a hatred for all cruelty and oppression. Do unto others as you would wish them to do to you. God forbids you to favor self, to the disadvantage of another. A terrible deception has taken possession of the Christian world. There is a high profession, but a dwarfed godliness. Let us so live that at last God can say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Our lives may show a steady spiritual growth. But I have seen that which makes me tremble—men and women dwarfed in character, possessing the Word of God, which tells them what they must do in order to be saved, yet unsanctified and unholy. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” This is a time for every one to deal truly with his own case. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father that is in heaven.” Daily, hourly, the leaders in the work are giving lessons to those with whom they are associated. My brethren, be reasonable in your every requirement, as men of intelligence, whom God has chosen. Let all that you do reveal the strictest integrity. Be true and faithful. Set an example that all may safely follow. Do not draw into the web of your character one thread of selfishness; for this would spoil the pattern. As you advance in the work, you will find that there are many things that must receive careful consideration. Allow no shiftlessness. When a man is employed in the work of God, he is under obligation to use all his capabilities in the very best service that he can offer. He is to remember that God has hired him to work in his vineyard. Every woman is to stand in her place, helping to perfect her own character and the characters of the members of her family. Father, mother, and children are to do honor to the principles of heaven, that the influence of angels may unite with their efforts in the preparation of character for the higher life. A Loyal People
By E. K. SLADE
THE purpose of the plan of salvation is to develop a people who will be loyal to the ways and requirements of the kingdom of God. To this end the law of God with all its requirements is ever held before us as a rule of action, loyalty to which is required on the part of every one. It was pleasing to God when this people took a firm stand for obedience to the commandments of God. The Sabbath commandment was a test of loyalty in a special sense. For one to step out and obey the fourth commandment, and thus take a position so different from the practises of the nominally Christian world, in the face of ridicule and great9 sacrifice, was a stand for loyalty that was most pleasing to God. While this position was taken at a great sacrifice, the experience was necessary in order to develop a people that would be loyal subjects for the coming kingdom. To the same end are all the requirements of God that entail a sacrifice on our part. The Lord has committed to us many rich blessings, all of which he would have us use in harmony with the law of heaven. In the use of these gifts we are training for a better world. This is especially true in reference to temporal things. We are made stewards of his goods. He is the owner of all, as he has ever been and will always be, and in our stewardship he would have us recognize his ownership. Until our loyalty in this respect is fully established, he can not commit to our trust the eternal riches. Any disposition of monopoly ownership is displeasing to God, and foreign to his kingdom. It had its origin in the fall of Satan, and the same test was involved in the disobedience of Adam and Eve. The selfishness that permitted the reaching out for that which God had reserved to himself is the same as that seen in all monopoly ownership wherein God is not recognized as the owner of all. This selfishness is foreign to heaven. God in his mercy purposes to establish loyalty in his people in this respect, in order that he may commit to them these enduring things that are in store for them. In order to bring this about, the great work in the plan of redemption is committed to humanity, and at the same time means have been placed in our hands to be devoted to that work. Appealing hands are reaching out to us from the darkness of the heathen world, asking for the message of salvation. The word of God comes to us, that all that we have is his, that he has given us the power to get wealth, and that the wealth that we have gained is his, and he is waiting to see if we will respond to these calls. He has made this provision as a rebuke to our selfishness and the spirit of monopoly ownership, in order that he may develop in us a disposition to do as it will be natural to do in the new earth. He does not require tithes and offerings because he is short of means, and dependent upon us; he requires them because we are so needy, and because we have come so far short of the high standard of heaven in this respect. He requires the same loyalty in reference to these principles as in the obedience of the Sabbath commandment, and they become just as much a test of loyalty as the observance of the Sabbath. The tithing system is a test to us in the same degree as was the tree of knowledge of good and evil to Adam and Eve. I can not believe that the Lord will change his mind and say to any of his people, I will withdraw this test, and ignore this principle of heaven in the development of human character. All heaven is looking upon the needy conditions of our world, and taking note of our loyalty in responding to these conditions. Instead of saying, Well done, to those who have been unfaithful in this respect, he says, “Ye have robbed me in tithes and offerings.” He would have us understand that we are not simply robbing humanity, those who have a right to look to us for the blessing that this gospel may be to them, but that we are robbing him as well, if we are not carrying out the principles he has laid down concerning that which he has committed to us. He is being robbed, not only in tithes, but in offerings. Many who are paying a faithful tithe fail to make the offerings which are also required. Others are soothing their consciences by paying indefinite amounts, which they choose to call tithe. Still others are ignoring the Lord's requirements altogether, and pay no tithe at all. To such the Lord will not say, Well done. Loyalty on the part of all will be required in these matters. If you have loyally taken your stand for the Sabbath truth, the Lord has been pleased with that; but he will not overlook this weakness of character, and he will not permit this selfishness and disloyalty to jeopardize the new earth. He will not say, Well done, of that which he has always condemned. Can you afford to be without the blessing that will surely come to you through faithfulness in these matters? Shall we not be loyal to every requirement of God, and heartily and nobly respond to what is so evidently a test of loyalty at this time? Is Our Work a Failure?
By J. B. Blosser
As year after year goes by, and we see so few enter the canvassing work, and many of those who do soon pass on to something else, we may be inclined to think that after all our work is a failure, or of minor importance, and that these conditions must of necessity exist. Then our brethren, sharing our feelings, look upon it as a needless expense, and so, step by step, we lose our interest in it, and finally give up in despair, or watch for the first opportunity to get into something else. That the foregoing is the experience of many who have been in this work is only too true. Now, shall we look at things in this light? Come, brethren, let us all say, No! Let us repeat, with more emphasis, the words spoken to us: “Where there is one canvasser in the field, there should be one hundred.” “This is the very work the Lord desires his people to do at this time.” “God has ordained the canvassing work as a means of presenting before the people the light contained in our books; and canvassers should be impressed with the importance of bringing before the world as fast as possible the books necessary for their spiritual enlightenment.” “And let all the people say Amen!” Let us all, then, leaders, people, or brethren in responsible positions, put away our doubts and criticisms of this work, and regard it as God would have us, as second to none, hence worthy of our best energies and financial assistance. How shall we secure more recruits? First of all let me suggest to our canvassing leaders that we can not “preach” it into the people to enter this work. Let us present the work in simplicity and faith, believing that God will impress those who should enter the work; and when we find those who should engage in it, see to it that they get a proper preparation, and have the needed help in the field. Our school men are in a position to render valuable aid. From our schools the youth should go out to learn to deal with minds, and to become soul winners; and in no other way can this be so successfully done as by selling books on present truth. I was greatly encouraged by the hearty response to the call for recruits from the Mount Vernon school recently. Over twenty bright, consecrated young people received special instruction at an institute held in connection with the college, and I attribute this to the efforts of the teachers who hold up this work as a successful way of saving souls. Then we need to come close to the ministers who are guardians of the flock. Show the president of your conference how he can assist you, and you will not be disappointed. Ask him to go with you to some of the churches where there are those who should enter this work, and while he presents the missionary value of this work from the pulpit, you can come close to the individuals who are interested, and can definitely arrange for their training and help in the field. And shall our conference men regard this work as undeserving of financial assistance because as sowers we do not seem to reap as many souls as some other workers? Shall it be valued by the dollars and cents received for books? — No; its value lies in the great truths contained in the books, and in the great number that may be reached in this way. And we as workers should rejoice in the fact that we can do so much toward spreading this truth with so little financial burden to the conference. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” THE love which Christianity exemplifies is not something to talk about merely or to rhapsodize about, or to become sentimental about, but it is something which finds expression in giving. Any other thing called love is not love. When you find one who says he loves, and on the strength of that demands something, be sure that you have not the genuine thing,10 but only one of its many counterfeits. What you are willing to give is the test of your love always. It is the test of God's love. “God so loved that he gave.”—Northwestern Christian Advocate. The Christian Sabbath
By Stephens
O SABBATH! Needed for a world of innocence, without thee what would be a world of sin! There would be no pause for consideration, no check to passion, no remission of toil, no balm of care! He who had withheld thee would have forsaken the earth! Without thee, he had never given us the Bible, the gospel, the Spirit! We salute thee, as thou comest to us in the name of the Lord, radiant in the sunshine of that dawn which broke over creation's achieved work, marching downward in the track of time, a pillar of refreshing cloud and guiding flame, interweaving with all the light new beams of discovery and promise, until thou standest forth more fair than when reflected in the dews and imbibed by the flowers of Eden, more awful than when the trumpet rang of thee in Sinai! It is a day of heaven upon earth! Life's sweetest calm, poverty's birthright, labor's only rest! Nothing has such a hoar of antiquity on it! Nothing draws along with it such glory! Nurse of virtue, seal of truth! The household's richest patrimony, the nation's noblest safeguard! The pledge of peace, the fountain of intelligence, the strength of law! The oracle of instruction, the ark of mercy! The patent of our spiritual greatness! The harbinger of our soul's sanctified perfection! The glory of religion, the watch-tower of immortality! The ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reacheth to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending on it.—Stephens. GEORGE MULLER says, “God’s way leads always into trial so far as sight and sense are concerned. Nature always will be tried in God’s ways.” Again he tells us, “We love the easy days, the pleasant days, but trials are what faith feeds upon.” So we see the divine necessity of our close places. They are a needful discipline for the development of a faith that can walk before the unseen God in steadfast confidence and obedience, no matter what that may involve. But we naturally think quite the opposite, and expect an unobstructed path in the way of God’s leading. We forget that when the Master constrained the disciples to get into the boat and go across the lake after the feeding of the five thousand, he led them right into the teeth of a tempest. “It was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them,” is the first graphic stroke of the picture. Then they are toiling in mid-sea, making no headway, the winds contrary unto them, until the fourth watch of the night—and still Jesus has not come. They could not see him, but he saw them, and let the trial of baffling winds and waves continue until flesh and heart were ready to fail. Then he came walking over that storm-tossed sea, giving relief, and revealing his presence. They never had had anything quite like that, and out of it there came a new and never-to-be-forgotten manifestation of Christ’s power and love. For Israel in the wilderness every foot of the way was divinely chosen, but their journey was one series of testings, with here and there a respite, as at Elim. Their provings were never fancied difficulties. It was the continued story of man’s extremity and God’s opportunity. We read it, and say to ourselves, O, if they had but trusted in the dark every time and never murmured, what a grand record they would have made! How faith would have grown with each added proving, until at Kadesh-barnea they would boldly have crossed over to take walled cities, overcome giants, and possess the land! Hedged in at Pi-hahiroth and pursued, there really was no way. They had yet to learn that God can make a way where there is none, and that with him there are no providential impossibilities. Their straits were seldom, if ever, precisely duplicated. There was always with them, as there is with us, some new feature, so that they could say, in memory of past deliverances, “But this is different;” Well would it have been for them, and well would it be for us, to remember our Father can not be surprised by circumstances. He is as equal to the altered conditions as to the previous trial. If you walk in providential darkness, stand still, as George Muller again would say, and wait to see what God is doing for you behind the clouds. He has not forsaken them that seek him. Ps. 9:10. If you have come to Marah, and the waters are so bitter that you can not drink, don’t question his goodness, but trust; and Marah, with its sweetened waters, will be a memorable spot in your pilgrimage. “Say not, my soul, From whence
Can God relieve my care?
Remember that Omnipotence
Hath servants everywhere.
His methods are sublime,
His heart profoundly kind.
God never is before his time,
And never is behind.”
—Esther Tuttle Pritchard, in The American Friend. Heart Keeping
By George E. Willmonton
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Do you keep your heart for God,
For the Saviour’s holy dwelling,
Emptied quite of sin and self,
Every sinful lust expelling? Has your pride its room surrendered
That the Spirit may abide?
Has truth’s key to conscience’s closet
Let the door swing open wide? Have you memory consecrated,
Cleared its shelves of useless store
That the senses have collected
From the refuse on life’s shore? Has God’s ointment box been broken?
Does sweet incense fill the room,
Like a fragrance wafted earthward
From eternal fields of bloom? Have you windows of taste’s chamber
Cleared of dirt and made to shine,
That the soul may see the landscape
And the stars by light divine? Is your watch-tower closely guarded?
Is your sentinel awake,
Watching with the glass of promise
For the morning light to break? Do you seek the secret closet
Where alone you talk with God,
Where you get your strength for conflict,
And your feet with peace are shod? For this closet is the conduit
That connects us with God’s throne,
And if this is seldom opened,
Satan will your heart soon own. — George E. Willmonton, in the Watchman. An Alphabet of Christian Duties
Attend divine service every Lord's day. Heb. 10:25. Distribute to the necessity of saints. Rom. 12:13. Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph. 4:3. Follow peace with all men and holiness. Heb. 12:14. Give, not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Matt. 5:6. Keep yourselves unspotted from the world. James 1:27. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Matt. 6:20. Not to be weary in well doing assures a time of reaping. Gal. 6:9. Take up your cross and follow after Christ. Matt. 16:24. Vigilance is necessary if the devil is not to control. 1 Peter 5:8. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Phil. 2:12. Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Rom. 6:19. Zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to excel to the edifying of the church. 1 Cor. 14:12.—Selected. Good Night
By S. Weir Mitchell
Good night. Good night. Ah, good the
night
That wraps thee in its silver light.
Good night. No night is good for me
That does not hold a thought of thee.
Good night. Good night. Be every night as sweet
As that which made our love complete,
'Till that last night when death shall be
One brief “good night” for thee and me.
Good night. That Spare Bed
By Edith E. Bruce
I BELIEVE that if there is any one thing more than another that is heartily appreciated by those of our laborers who are constantly called away from their own home and fireside, it is a good, comfortable place to sleep after a hard day of mental and physical labor. We sometimes conceive the idea that it is a very easy thing for our ministers, canvassers, and other laborers to travel from place to place, laboring in the cause, and some even imagine they are receiving a rich remuneration for their services, but this, my friend, is a mistaken idea. Just stop and think what it would mean to us to be away from home and those we hold most dear, week after week, sleeping and eating wherever we chance to be. This, I am sure, they do most cheerfully, but not without a sacrifice. I believe, if we should stop to take these facts into consideration, we should be more careful in providing for those who come to us a good, comfortable place in which to sleep. Can you imagine anything more uncomfortable than to get into a cold, damp bed with scant clothing in a cold room? The bed has been made up for days, possibly for weeks and months, and the room closed to fresh air and sunlight. Such conditions have caused many a serious illness, and even death. In view of these facts, we would like to offer a few suggestions. First of all, keep the room clean, and free from dust. No matter how plain and simple the furnishings, they may be kept clean. Air the room every day, and then leave the curtains up, and let the sunshine in. If there is no means of warming the room, leave the door open leading into the other rooms a part of the day. And then that bed. I know of but one thing more repulsive than to get into a cold, damp, musty-smelling bed on a cold winter night, and that is to get into a soiled bed in the hot summer where there are bugs. This is very plain language, but it is something that one is often obliged to meet in traveling from place to place. Such a condition should never exist among our people. Bedding is very cheap. Soap and water are cheap, and there is no excuse for offering any one a soiled bed. Then we would emphasize—have the bed clean. The top sheet should be long enough to turn well down over the covers, and thus protect them from getting soiled. Another very good way of protecting the comfortables and quilts is to have a strip of cloth about one-half yard wide tucked on either side of the top covers. This can be removed from time to time, and laundered, and thus the covers may be kept clean and fresh. Be sure that there is enough clothing on the bed, and that it is well aired before putting it on. It is an easy matter to throw off a cover, but it is very disagreeable, to say the least, to be chilly all night for want of sufficient covers. Besides having plenty of covers, the bed should be warmed by means of hot water bags if you have them, if not, place two hot bricks wrapped with cloth (not a soiled towel or old apron, but some clean old cloth) in the bed in the early evening; and when the occupant is ready to retire, he will find a nice warm bed. Such little attentions will be gratefully appreciated by our workers, and they are truly missionary work. A pitcher of drinking water and a glass should be provided at night, and warm and cold water in the morning, with plenty of clean towels. And thus our workers will be made to feel more at home, their burdens lightened, and the cause we love will be better promoted. In epidemics the excessive use of alcohol is almost identical with a death-warrant. Of one hundred hard drinkers attacked by the cholera ninety-one die, of moderate drinkers only nineteen. A wounded man who has poisoned his blood with alcohol is always in greater danger than an abstainer. According to English statistics the abstainers live on an average fourteen years longer than drinkers. Insanity, idiocy, moral depravity, hysteria, and epilepsy are only too frequently the lot of the offspring of a drunken father. A Swiss physician closely watched twenty families. Ten were moderate drinkers or abstainers, ten were used to excess for some generations. The former had, altogether, sixty-one children. Five of these died young, two were malformed, two were slow of development, two suffered of St. Vitus's dance. In the families of the heavy drinkers were seventy-five children. Twelve died young, and only nine were healthy. The rest were idiots, misshapen, deaf and dumb, or epileptic. Of eighty-three epileptic children at the Salpetriere, sixty had drunken parents. Eggs subjected to alcoholic vapors give misshapen, sickly chickens. Dogs treated to doses of alcohol have epileptic young, or fail to produce live young at all. No wonder that terror seizes the heart of nations. Unless there is a change for the better, the majority of people in future generations will be unfit to live. Nor has all been told. We have statistics of those who die or are locked up as the result of alcoholism; but the many who go about free, who manage to do some kind of work, to marry and beget children, are not counted. They give the nation its death wound, from which it can not well recover.—The Literary Digest. The Romance of Achievement
By Orison Swett Marden
THERE is nothing else so fascinating in American history as the romance of achievement under difficulties — the story of how men and women who have brought great things to pass got their start, and of their obscure beginnings and triumphant ends, their struggles, their long waitings amid want and woe, the obstacles overcome, the final victories; the stories of men and women who have seized common situations and made them great, or of those of average ability who have succeeded by dint of indomitable will and inflexible purpose. What grander sight is there than that of a stalwart man made irresistible by the things which have tried to down him,— a man who stands without wavering or trembling, with head erect and heart undaunted, ready to face any difficulties, defying any cruelties of fate, laughing at obstacles because he has developed in his fight with them the superb strength of manhood and vigor of character which make him master? No fate or destiny can stop such a man,— a man who is dominated by a mighty purpose. Thousands of young men of this stalwart type every year burst the bonds which are holding down the weakling, the vacillator, and the apologist. That which dominates the life, which is ever uppermost in the mind, generally comes somewhere near realization; but there is a great difference between a lukewarm desire and a red-hot purpose. It takes steam to drive the piston in the engine; warm water will never turn the wheels. The longings that fail of realization are usually just below the boiling-point.— Orison Swett Marden, in Success. The Greatest of All Faults
THE greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.—Carlyle.