1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



679 



of evil, and madness is in their heart while 

 they live." I know that some of our unbeliev- 

 ing friends reject this; but after having tried 

 my level best to do right in the sight of God, 

 and for a period of a good many years also, I 

 have discovered again and again to my sorrow, 

 that not only is the human heart sinful, but 

 that )ny heart is sinful. Evil impulses and 

 sinful thoughts sway me this way and that. 

 My opinion is, that Paul had a like experi- 

 ence of his own in mind when he uttered these 

 words: and that very passage you quoted has 

 been wonderfully helpful to me again and 

 again. When 7 fail (or jxtrtly fail), even after 

 having battled earnestly, 1 rind that even St. 

 Paul himself did the sann*: for he has left on 

 record his own experience where he says, "The 

 good that I would. I do not; hut th(> evil which 

 I would not, that I do." Let me remind you. 

 dear friend, that we are not apt to discover 

 these imperfections in ourselves until we com- 

 mence rowing upstream, as I explained in our 

 last issue. It is only when we begin to strive 

 with real earnestness and vigor to root up and 

 put down the inborn sin of our natures that we 

 find these obstacles, and are reminded that the 

 path that leads to eternal life is not only 

 straight and narrow, but it is an up-hill path. 

 It is climbing up. up, up, like the trail I told 

 you about up Wilson's Peak. But yet, dear 

 friend. St. Paul was a free agent so far as the 

 choice of his mind was concerned. Like you 

 and me he was created in God's own image, in 

 that the power was bestowed on him of choos- 

 ing right or wrong. And this is where respon- 

 sibility lies. We are not always responsible for 

 the result, but we arc responsible for choosing 

 the path in which we intend to go. Paul chose 

 the straight and narrow path, and therefore he 

 could say, honestly and truly, when near his 

 end. "I have fought a good tight, I have fin- 

 ished my course, I have kept the faith; hence- 

 forth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 

 eousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, 

 shall give me at that day."' 



Another thing, free agency belongs to other 

 people as well as to ourselves. Other people 

 have their rights in this very matter of free 

 agency. When any thing we wish to do con- 

 flicts with the free agency of our neighbors, of 

 course there is difficulty in the way. When we 

 decide, in a theological sens?, that man is a free 

 agent, we do not mean that he is free to trespass 

 on the rights of his neighbors, nor even to do 

 any thing that would interfere with their free 

 agency. When a man says that he could not 

 help stealing, and urges as an excuse for so 

 doing that he is not a free agent, then we have 

 a right to question. 



Here is another letter from a very good friend 

 of mine, as you will see from the way in which 

 he addresses me. I have taken the liberty to 

 cross out considerable of it, as it was rather too 

 long for our space. 



Did)- Bra. Root:—! take a ^reat Interest in your 

 talks in Gle.vnings under the head of Ourselves 

 and Neighbors, and I believe they are calculated 

 to do ;i jrreat deal of good. I ^vas much interested 

 in J. D. Kaufman's letter, and your reply to it. 

 You liave done it well. But tlie principal object of 

 tliis letter is to draw your attention to the low 

 St mdard of Cliristianity wliicli jou teach when 

 compared witli tlie te;icliint;- of Clirist and tlie 

 apostle-s. I sliould like to se(; you put the standard 

 up wliere Christ puts it: " Tliy will be done on eartli 

 as it is done in lieaven;" " Be j'e therefore perfect, 

 etc.;" and as Paul puts it in the 8tli chapter of 

 Romans. Paul says in Galatians, "Walk in the 

 Spirit, and ye sliall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." 

 And the Savior says in John, " He that abideth in 

 me, and I in him, the same brareth much fruit." 

 Now, We do not find anjjer. noi' any thing- of tluit 

 kind, in the fruit of tlie Spiiit. Don't depend on a 

 drink of milk, Bro. Root, to keep you from giving' 



way to temptation, or you will surely fail; hut if 

 you fully trust God, never. I am not writing about 

 something that I kuow nothing about experimental- 

 ly. I have been trying- to live a Christian about 25 

 years, but have learned only within the last two 

 years the privilege of having my heavenly Father's 

 will done continually, allowing- the Holy Spirit to 

 teach and guide, to work in me to will and to do of 

 his good pleasure. Moses Pierce. 



Brinsley, Out., June 2.5. 



You will notice that these two letters are 

 from opposite standpoints. The former takes 

 me to task because I place too much responsi- 

 bility on humanity; the latter, because I do not 

 place enough responsibility. I like this latter 

 letter, however, and agree in the main with all 

 the writer says. ] do know it is our privilege 

 to stand on higher ground spiritually if we will; 

 but I am not yet satisfied that even God him- 

 self intended that we should live on a plane so 

 far from earth and so near to heaven that we 

 do not have struggles with temptation. I fear 

 I can not quite agree with him where he says, 

 " Do not depend on a drink of milk." If he 

 means that I must not place too niuc/j depen- 

 dence on a drink of milk, then all right; but if 

 he means that we need not even take the trou- 

 ble to nourish our bodies before meeting hard 

 trials, then I think he is going too far. A part 

 of the Lord's prayer is, " Lead us not into 

 temptation."' By this I understand that we 

 are to avoid danger; that we are to take all 

 reasonable precaution against being surprised 

 by the enemy, or taken unawares. Perhaps it 

 may be well to define what anger is. I know 

 there are Christian people among us who say 

 they never get angry; and much credit is due 

 them, certainly, if they have so much regard 

 for Christ Jesus, whom they are trying to serve, 

 that they never let it be evident to those about 

 them that they are disturbed in spirit. I al- 

 ways look with respect on a man who has 

 grace enough to keep still and not say a word, 

 even though he may show by his face that he 

 is vexed and sorely tried. For instance. In an 

 altercation between neighbors, one strikes 

 another in the face. If the man who is struck 

 has any spirit at all, the hot blood of resent- 

 ment will show itself in his countenance; but 

 if he can, under such provocation as this, keep 

 still and hold steady, I for one should call him 

 a soldier. I do not care if his Jace is flushed, 

 nor do I think a whit less of him, even though 

 his voice be so unsteady that he can scarcely 

 speak. Now, there are these, and some excel- 

 lent Christians too, I grant you, who insist that 

 one should be cheerful and .siniling, even under 

 such a trial. If I am mistaken in this, I wish 

 to be corrected. Dear friend Pierce. I hope 

 you will bear with me when I say that I should 

 like to inquire of your neighbors whether it is 

 really true that you have so far succeeded in 

 what you advise, that you never need to apolo- 

 gize for having given way just a little to some 

 wrong impulse. There is in our community, as 

 well as in most communities, I believe, a class 

 of people whom we designate as ■• sanctified " 

 or "holiness "" people, and they are most excel- 

 lent people too. We have much cause to com- 

 mend them; but I do think they go to extremes 

 in just the matter I am speaking of. They 

 hold up an exceedingly high standard, and they 

 exhort with much energy that others shall 

 come atid stand b(^side them on this higher 

 plane. One good friend of mine spoke so ear- 

 nestly on this matter in a public meeting that I 

 made the remark that I should really like to 

 inquire of this man's neighbors whether or not 

 he lived up to his preaching. Now, please do 

 not think that I mean to be harsh or unkind 

 when I tell you that I did have an opportunity 

 of finding oiit in regard to this very matter. 



