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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



" wherefore," like a beautiful bar in a strain 

 of music, as I repeat the text over and over, 

 comes vs^ith wonderful beauty and power. 

 It seems to say, " Where, In all your ex- 

 perience with me, have you found reason to 

 be afraid? Have I ever failed, or have I 

 ever been mistakenV Did you ever know 

 me to call upon the elements of nature 

 when they were not obedient to me? Where 

 in all our past pleasant intercourse and ac- 

 quaintanceship did you all together have 

 reason for doubt or fear? Can you not trust 

 me, my good, faithful, and devoted friend 

 Peter? Can you not trust mef Matthew 

 tells us no more, but only adds that, when 

 they were come into the ship, the wind 

 ceased, and together they united in wor- 

 ship, saying, " Of a truth, thou art the Son 

 of God." They soon landed, and then com- 

 menced the busy life again. When the men 

 of that place had knowledge of him, they 

 sent into all the country round about, and 

 brought the sick and the diseased. And 

 now we are told that they begged only for the 

 privilege of touching the hem of his gar- 

 ment ; and as many as even touched him 

 were made whole. 



And now, dear friends, is there not a 

 practical application for us? Is not the 

 great trouble, and the great lack of all hu- 

 manity, in the same line of thought of Peter 

 — "O thou of little faith"? Is not that 

 your trouble, dear reader? It surely is mine. 

 Jesus is near, and ready to help. And not 

 one of us in all our past experience can say 

 that we have trusted him in vain. A new 

 railroad is coming through our town. 

 Crowds of new people are already camping 

 in the suburbs. At the dinner-table some 

 one expressed a fear that this new element 

 coming into our midst would be demoraliz- 

 ing to our community. I knew as well as 

 they that there was danger in this direction ; 

 but yet, if it is Christ Jesus that we are 

 trusting, have we anything to fear? I smiled 

 as I commenced my little text, " O thou of 

 little faith ! wherefore didst thou doubt?" 

 A few weeks ago two good friends of mine 

 had trouble. They are both professing 

 Christians, but they talked hard, and I fear 

 they did some things besides talking. With 

 all my busy cares I felt a responsibility laid 

 upon me. I must go to each of them— per- 

 haps get them both together, and may be 

 plead in rain for Christ Jesus the Savior. I 

 feared it would not do any good. As we 

 knelt at our bedside at night, I prayed ear- 

 nestly that God would put it into their hearts 

 to consider how wrong it was for them to 

 cherish such feelings toward each other. I 

 prayed that they n)ight each feel moved to 

 ask forgiveness of the other. What did I 

 do next morning? Why, I went to one of 

 them with a very sober, downcast face, and 

 with a trembling voice commenced my task. 

 To my surprise he laughed outright as he 

 put his hand on my shoulder, and said, 

 '' Why, Bro. Root, we knew as well as you 

 do that we were out of place as Christians, 

 and we have made it all up. and fixed the 

 things that made the trouble, so I think I 

 can assure you it will never happen again." 

 I opened my mouth in astonishment as my 

 face softened into a smile, as I realized that 



I was relieved in this unpleasant task. Then 

 I remembered the prayer of the night be- 

 fore, and the text stood out strong and 

 clear before me—" O thou of little faith ! 

 After your earnest prayer last night, where- 

 fore didst thou doubtV^ As I look back and 

 see the victories that have come from pray- 

 er, and the obstacles that have been over- 

 come ever since I chose Christ Jesus as my 

 guide, then it comes again, as I look in 

 open-mouthed astonishment, and see what 

 changes have been wrought through the 

 name of Christ Jesus ; and I say to myself 

 fondly, "Wherefore! wherefore! where- 

 fore I didst thou doubt?" A few weeks ago 

 1 stood on the brink of danger. I seemed, 

 for the time being, changed over ; some 

 evil spirit had got a hold upon me. I once 

 heard of a man who felt sure he could keep 

 sober if he kept off from a certain street. 

 On that street was a saloon that he knew 

 from sad experience he was not capable of 

 passing by. The tempter was too strong 

 for him, if he even passed before the door. 

 He avoided that street, and passed around, 

 even though it cost him considerable addi- 

 tional travel when he was tired out and 

 weary. But it was the safer way. And yet 

 it was very hard to keep away from that 

 street. Although he knew from past ex- 

 perience that it was dangerous, still he 

 could hardly keep away from it. I think 

 he was wise in doing so. I have been 

 through a similar siege with the tempter. 

 For many weeks, in my want of faith I 

 rather concluded that the rest of my life 

 would have to be passed in just that way — 

 wearing myself out with useless travel just to 

 keep out of Satan's way. When it occurred 

 to me, however, to reach out in utter help- 

 lessness, as did Peter, saying, " Lord, save, 

 I am utterly discouraged in trying to save 

 myself, and have lost hope ; save me or I 

 perish " — when I got right there, like a flash 

 of light the tempter, with all his machinery, 

 gathered himself up and departed. There 

 are no saloons at all now on that dangerous 

 street ; in fact, there is no such street. The 

 shackles have fallen, and I smile to think 

 of them now. The whole trouble was little 

 faith. It was in Doubting Castle that I 

 was imprisoned, and the key of promise was 

 hidden in my bosom, unused because I for- 

 got I had it. "Years ago, when I knelt down 

 by mvself and uttered that first prayer to 

 my Maker, " O God, if there be a God that 

 cares for a poor helpless child to whom he 

 has seen fit to give a place in this great uni- 

 verse, help me if thou carest for me" — when 

 I uttered that prayer I could scarcely com- 

 prehend that Jesus could or would help one 

 who did not help himself any better than I 

 had been doing. I knew I was had and 

 tvicked, but I had got it into my head and 

 heart, that, before one prayed he must be 

 good. I could not comprehend that there 

 was any possible help for one who kept slip- 

 ping back and yielding to temptation. 

 When help came, and I felt a strong arm 

 round about me, I was utterly astonished. 

 It was a new experience, and a revelation 

 too. And, dear friends, this experience 

 and this revelation continually come up ; 

 and as I am helped out of one piece of miry 



