66 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



give him more than he wanted or needed. 

 Chicago soon waked up to the fact that he 

 was doing more to arrest crime in that great 

 city, than all the combined efforts of their 

 great and expensive system of police machin- 

 ery, because he not only stopped bud men, 

 but he made missionaries of them, and they, 

 in torn, started out doing good too. Did the 

 world forget to say that they approved of his 

 work? Did they pass it all by with careless [ 

 indifference? They may have done so for a 

 little while, but very soon busy men stopped | 

 to note these new reform movements, and 

 skeptics and ungodly men paused to take a 

 view of a kind of religion that was acted out, 

 not preached only, and dropping all views 

 of doctrine, and without stopping to ques- 

 tion or argue, they not only proposed to take 

 stock in the work, but did take stock, and | 

 set to work to help him. Men who never 

 dreamed of such a thing as kneeling in ! 

 prayer soon felt the need of a God and the 

 need of prayer too, and followed, without 

 questioning, the simple, childlike plan that 

 Moody pointed out to them. 



Moody started out to do God's work for 

 Christ's" sake; and for no other reason, did 

 he strive to save the lost. I do not know 

 whether anybody ever called him a hypocrite 

 or not, but if they did, it matters little to 

 him ; he knew God would take care of all 

 that, and so he did. Moody had left mother, 

 home and friends, and, in truth, did it be- 

 cause lie loved the haunts of vice more, so 

 long as there was a place for doing God's 

 work. Would he have succeeded as well, if 

 lie had done it all from a love of approbation, 

 and that he might win a great name? To be 

 sure, he would not ; for it is not in the pow- 

 er of any human being, to put on a sem- 

 blance of Christianity, and wear it very long, 

 without the cloven hoof's betraying its -If. 

 Even the little boys in the street would de- 

 tect the bogus coin, and rroelaim it to the 

 world, in almost the very outset, as God has 

 intended they should. But say many, we 

 cannot, all of us, be Moodys. No, indeed, 

 we cannot, and God does not want us to be, 

 but we can be followers of Christ, and can 

 commence this very minute. 



How? Well, suppose you are among a crowd 

 who are swearing, quarreling, or telling 

 impure and obscene stories, or even speak- 

 ing ill of an absent one, with nobody to take 

 his part. Shall you sit still, smiling and 

 pleasant, as if nothing was wrong? Church 

 members sometimes smile, when swearing 

 is heard; perhaps I should have charity 

 here, for I know how hard it is often times, 

 to break abruptly in upon those with whom 

 you are little, if any, acquainted, with a re- 

 proof. Yet, if you love God more than any- 

 thing else, or if you choose to put it in a dif- 

 ferent way, if you love humanity and the 

 morals of our people and nation more than 

 money, the praise of your fellows, or selfish 

 things, you cannot consistently sit still and 

 look pleasant and unconcerned. Nevermind 

 the objections that Satan throws in your way 

 or suggests to your mind. Do your work 

 fearlessly and faithfully ; if you have not a 

 gift for this work, ask God to help you, and 

 then do it the best you can. Very soon, you 

 will hear the voice of God speaking approv- 



ingly, and that, too, very often, through the 

 very people you have reproved. Help and 

 encouragement will come, if the motive in 

 your heart is a right one, and one who hon- 

 estly goes to God for guidance, cannot go 

 wrong very far. Even though persecution 

 may come, clear, sharp, and strong is the ap- 

 proving voice. 



It is true, that a course which one most 

 strongly condemns another as stoutly ap- 

 proves, and if there is one lesson that I have 

 learned above all others, during the past 

 year, it is the importance of having a very 

 broad charity. A thing may be related to 

 us, and then the question asked, "Now, is it 

 possible for a man who does so and so to be 

 a Christian?' 1 It may seem to be utterly im- 

 possible, but, my friends, be careful how you 

 judge, especially if you have heard only one 

 side. No matter how dark things may look, 

 nor how utterly impossible it may seem that 

 there is room for an excuse, beware how you 

 judge. We are different, widely different, 

 and we do not look at things alike. How 

 often this is illustrated when we try to heal 

 up quarrels ; how plainly an outsider can see 

 the unreasonableness of both parties to each 

 other, and yet how blinded, and utterly in- 

 capable they each seem of seeing their own 

 false reasoning; it is for these cases, that 

 Christ told us to have mercy, as we hoped to 

 obtain mercy. 



Now, where one urges a certain course, 

 and somebody else directly the opposite, 

 what shall we do? Where a large class take 

 one view, and an equally large class the op- 

 posite, where shall we find the voice of God? 

 Suppose one-half of my readers declared 

 these Home Papers were out of place in a 

 bee journal, and the other half wished me 

 to go on, what should I do? Ask God in 

 prayer? Most certainly, but how would he 

 answer? Some may say lie would impress 

 it on my mind, and there may b2 those 

 who think God directs by dreams. With 

 all respect to the latter ciass, I am free to 

 say that I do not think Cod has ever direct- 

 ed me in anything, by that means. Things 

 are often impressed on my mind, but so far as 

 I recollect now, these impressions often come 

 from the acts or words of my fellow men. 

 The wonderful answer to prayer narrated 

 last month, came through one of my read- 

 ers, and the message and help was brought 

 by a visitor, and one who made no profes- 

 sions of Christianity. Every human soul 

 seems to have a sense of right and wrong, and 

 through the ruins of a wasted life, there 

 shine, at intervals, especially when some- 

 thing comes up to draw it out, glimpses of 

 Gods image. 



In the jail, a few days ago, the b >ys said 

 they could see no reason for prayer. They 

 could not take up a duty, without under- 

 standing how it could be of any avail. [ 

 tried to tell them if they had faith enough in 

 God to obey when they did not understand 

 all his reasons, they would be pretty sure to 

 obey when they did understand. They still 

 insisted on having a reason which they 

 j could fully understand, for everything 

 which they were required to do. Said I: 



"Boys, are you sure you will obey in 

 ; things you do understand?" 



