1887 



ULEA.Ni.NGS iN BEE (CULTURE, 



153 



that summer; nor ran I tell you how much 

 father was pleased to s<i around Avith mother 

 and to see how much tiiihgs]had grovVn dur- 

 ing his absence. As an illustration of the 

 change that came over her boy, I will men- 

 tion a little circumstance. 



Motlier was the only one of the whole 

 family who knew how to milk a cow, and in 

 father's absence she milked the cow winter 

 and summer, and oftentimes when the older 

 ones sat around the stove. One stormy 

 morning, I think it was when snow and 

 sleet came with the rain, she started to milk 

 the cow as usual. I jumped up and took 

 the pail, saying, '" Here, mother, you have 

 milked tluit cow long enough." 



Siie expostulated gently. " Why, Amos, 

 yon have not learned how. Let me milk 

 "this morning, and when we have more time 1 

 will teach you to milk, if you really want to 

 do it." 



Now, I had begun to have quite an idea 

 by this time of being a man and being man- 

 ly, so I toi)k the pail from her with a good- 

 natured smile. 1 told her that, if I did not 

 know how to milk, I guessed I coiild learn. 

 I had been taking care of our big red bossy, 

 winter and summer, so that she knew nie 

 and I knew her, and there was not very 

 much trouble on that score ; but before I 

 ^•ot the pail full I concluded it was a bigger 

 job to milk a cow than I had ever supposed. 

 1 was ashamed to go back and tell motlier, 

 so I stuck to it ; and, if I remember correct- 

 ly, mother never milked the cow any more. 

 I hardly need tell you that the experience 

 of thatVinter and summer has had its ef- 

 fect on my whole life; nay, further: it has 

 produced a marked effect on the lives of 

 every one of those seven children. My poor 

 father was not blessed with mother's natu- 

 ral hopefulness, but he seemed rather 

 given to doubt and darkness. He once 

 made the remark, that he should have had his 

 name taken from the church records more 

 than once had it not been for his wife. The 

 good ])astor to whom the remark was made, 

 replied. " Brother Root, you may thank God 

 for your good wife who has pulled you 

 through so many seasons of darkness ; and 

 by his grace we hope she may yet pull you 

 into the gates of the eternal city.'' And I 

 believe the prediction has been fullilled. 



You may say, " But, Mr. Root, how are 

 we to get* that overflowing spirit of trust 

 and faithV Must we go to revival meetings, 

 and go forward, and get up an enthusiasm V'' 



I do think, my friend, you should make it 

 a point to attend the revival meetings held 

 in your vicinity ; but besides this 1 think it 

 is the duty of "every Christian to attend the 

 regular prayer-meetings as well as the 

 preaching services: not only be on hand, 

 but take up the cross and do your part. If 

 you have met discouragements and trials, 

 just such as I have pictured to-day, get up 

 among your brothers and sistei-s and tell 

 them you want to be nearer to Christ, and 

 ask their prayers ; and when you do this, 

 be sure your daily conduct is in keep- 

 ing; examine your own heart well, and see 

 whether you are fulfilling the commands of 

 the Scriptures. Read your Bibles, and see if 

 they don't touch on" the point of your 



troubles. I told you about our friend Rob- 

 eit. in jail, a short time ago. Robert says 

 lie is a menil)er of tlie church ; he says 

 he wants to be a Christian ; but when 1 

 read those passages to him about loving our 

 enemies, and doing good to those who hate 

 us, he declared flatly, that, if that was what 

 the Bible taught, he didn't want any of it. 

 When it came right down to the plain teach- 

 ings of the Bible, he refused to obey, point 

 blank. Now, then, has your child seen you 

 repeatedly love your enemies, and do good 

 to those who hate you ? When you get ui) 

 in the prayer-meeting, and say that you are 

 hungering and thirsting for an outpouring 

 of the Holy Spirit, does every one who hears 

 you say it know that you are complying 

 with the conditions laid down in (ioiFs ho- 

 ly word ? Another thing, that I know is 

 helpful : Go often to your pastor; tell him 

 your ditficulties, and ask him to pray for 

 you and with you. You may object, and 

 say that he is already overburdened, and 

 will not care to know about it. It is a mis- 

 take — it will help him in writing his ser- 

 mons, to know the needs of his flock, and it 

 will help him to talk over these things. 

 You can not be a Cliristian and keep it all 

 to yourself. No such baptism of the Holy 

 Spirit would have been poured out upon my 

 mother's life had she not been among God's 

 children, and habitually gone around through 

 the neighborhood in scenes of sickness and 

 death. 



The great point is, to get Satan out of 

 your own heart, and the great danger is 

 that you may be misled to thinking you are 

 doing a Christian duty when jou "are al- 

 most wholly in the bonds of Satan. Be- 

 ware of how you get into a set and formal 

 way of reproaching the child over and over 

 again. I once heard of a boy who was ask- 

 ed what his name was, and he replied that 

 it was " Willie Dont.'' He was probably 

 a boy of an inquiring turn of mind, and had 

 heard it over and over so much, " Willie 

 Dont,'''' that he thought it must be his 

 name. Sometimes a parent says, "Why, 

 do you suppose a body can stop his Avork, 

 and go and take time to have a long palaver 

 with that child over some trifling matter?" 

 My friend, the molding of the mind of the 

 child, and the fashioning of a Christian 

 character, is the most important work God 

 ever gave to any human being to do. If 

 there is any work in this world that is of 

 any more consequence, let us hear what it 

 is. Instead of standing at the foot of the 

 stairs, and calling your child to get up, in 

 hackneyed phrases "that liave been used over 

 and over again, go patiently clear up stairs, 

 no matter if you are wearied and in a hurry; 

 stand by the"^ chiWs bedside; wait until he 

 is fully awake, then win good-natured ac- 

 quiescence before you go down. Win him 

 with Christ's love in your heart. Go up 

 with a i)rayer and go down with a pra>er. 

 and yours shall be the victory over the 

 schemes of the Lvil One, and the victory 

 shall be through Clirist .lesns. And to him 

 be all power and glory and honor for ever. 



When a man"s ways please the Lord, ho maketh 

 even his enemies to be at peace with him.— Pkov. 

 16: 7. 



