1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



887 



should be. Let me illustrate by a little inci- 

 dent. I tell it because I wish to show you 

 liow to keep the fountain flowing, and not 

 because I wish to praise my own acts. 



A man brought us some bees this morn- 

 ing. He made the remark that he got ac- 

 quainted with A. I. Hoot a good many 

 years ago. When asked about it he said 

 something as follows : 



He said he once had some bees to sell, and 

 he was going to bring them out to us. One 

 of his neighbors remarked that A. I. Root 

 always did exactly as he agrees. He re- 

 plied : 



" I know better. A. I. Root does not al- 

 ways do as he agrees.'' 



'• How so V " was the reply. 



"Why," said he, "he agreed to give me 

 $5.rj0 per colony for some Italian bees. On 

 the strength of this I drew them out to him ; 

 and when he saw them he did not do exact- 

 ly as he agreed, for he gave me $G.OO instead 

 of $.3.50." 



Now, I have forgotten all about the trans- 

 action. I can only remember tluit, at dif- 

 ferent times, I have enjoyed doing business 

 in just that way ; and a great many times I 

 have been glad of a chance of doing it, be- 

 cause such things honor the Master, and I 

 always feel happy afterward. 



If your money-getting, and getting ahead 

 of your neighbor, are dearer than your love 

 toiGod,this living fountain must cease for 

 ever ; and by and by it becomes a daily task 

 to keep out the weeds of selfishness, and to 

 keep unobstructed the passageways for 

 God's lovB to come into your heart. Jesus 

 strikes the point where he says, " If any 

 man will follow me, let him deny himself 

 and take up his cross daily, and follow me." 

 You can not have this constant enjoyment 

 otherwise. Lately I have learned particu- 

 larly to enjoy going to sleep at night with a 

 conscience void of offense toward my fel- 

 low-men. I have had some experience in 

 going to sleep with the guilty feeling that I 

 was cherishing, or coveting, something that 

 was not lawful for me to have. Then this 

 spring of joy was choked ; my spiritual life 

 was clouded ; and when awakened in the 

 morning, my mind would begin to grope for 

 some dreaded remembrance. And, oh what 

 a feeling it is to be obliged to face the rec- 

 ollections of guilt and shame of the day be- 

 fore. Now, let us contrast the joyous feel- 

 ing of being able to look over the record of 

 the day before, and find it clean. Eor a few 

 months my first conscious thoughts have 

 been something like this : 



" Let me see ; is there any thing on my 

 conscience this morning, to mar the new 

 day V Did 1 cherish evil and iniquity in my 

 heart?'' As memory brings up one after 

 another Incident, are there any great black 

 spots— any great loads or burdens of sin 

 that I must shoulder to-day— any remorse 

 and regret because 1 have turned from the 

 Savior and listened to the tempter V Per- 

 haps it takes only a few seconds to review 

 the day before ; but, oh what a glad feeling 

 comes when I can say there is nothing to 

 feel bad about ! I often feel to say in my 

 heart, " Thank God, thank God, there was 

 nothing when I closed my eyes in sleep last 



night to make me feel guilty and wretched 

 this morning. I fought the good fight, and 

 by the help of Christ Jesus I came oft tri- 

 umphant." Now, when I do commence in 

 this way I am sure to have those experi- 

 ences I have told you of— thrills of joy and 

 thanksgiving— thrills that come along in the 

 line of some remembered text that I never 

 thought of before. 



This is Monday morning. Last Saturday 

 night w^e all sat up rather late in planting 

 our new dynamo, and making attachments 

 to the electric lights, so they would be 

 ready to illuminate the saw-room at one 

 o'clock this morning. AVlien the expert 

 who was putting up the plant announced 

 that all was ready, we stationed ourselves 

 in the room, which was pitchy dark, while 

 he turned the lever and sent a current 

 through the wires. In an instant the room 

 was in a blaze of beautiful soft light from 

 the incandescent globes. I called some 

 friends to come into the room and see it. 

 While they were making some experiments 

 with the wires, the current was suodenly 

 cut off. In an instant we were in utter 

 darkness. Rut very soon, with a flash, the 

 lamps were all in a blaze again. Perhaps 

 these bright spiritual visions are hardly as 

 quick as the electric current, but to the one 

 whose heart is in perfect accord with Bible 

 teachings, and to the one who is earnestly 

 and honestly striving to follow Christ Jesus, 

 texts of Scripture frequently light up with 

 a wonderful new meaning, almost as vividly 

 as did these beautiful electric lights. They 

 fairly shine in their beauty and grandeur, 

 and keep shining for evermore unless we 

 darken them by deliberate acts of sin. For 

 experiences like these, who would be guilty 

 of such folly as to cloud and extinguish the 

 light of God's love by things that can only 

 sink us down in guilt and remorse. 



As an illustration of the way these texts 

 suddenly stand out with startling distinct- 

 ness, I mention one that came into my mind 

 a few days ago. I had been studying the 

 lesson about restoring the daughter of 

 Jairus. The servants came to him, saying, 

 "Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the 

 Master." Jesus, however, spake to him, 

 saying, " Fear not ; believe only.' ^ The two 

 words, " believe only," came into my mind 

 with sudden and startling distinctness. It 

 is an exhortation to faith. Jesus told the 

 father, that, even though his daughter was 

 dead, he need not fear nor be troubled, pro- 

 viding he h?id faith— believe only. Have faith 

 in Christ ; trust the matter entirely to his 

 hands, and nothing more is needed, and the 

 promise comes down to us to-day— fear not, 

 believe only. Another text has been much 

 on my mind of late, and it is this : Most of 

 us are constantly relapsing into a sort of in- 

 fidelity, or want of faith. We can not be- 

 lieve, and steadily hold fast to the belief, 

 that God has any "great amount of care for 

 us individually ; or, in other words, we can 

 not comprehend that the whole human 

 family is dear to him. While this was in 

 my mind, the thought came to me of what 

 Jesus said, in speaking of the lilies of the 

 field—" Ye are of more value than many 

 sparrows ;" and this I have been saying 



