1887 



CrLEAXTNGS TN BEE CULTURE. 



951 



dm pejiEp. 



Therefore I say unto you, Take no thouslit lor 

 your life, what ye sluill eat. oi- wluu ye shall drink; 

 nor yet for your body, what ye shall i)nt on. is not 

 the life more than meat, and the liody than rai- 

 ment? -Matt. 6: ;?,5. 



'HEN I loft home on Monday eveninc: 

 to go to the Micliigaii Slate ( 'oiiven- 

 tion, 1 felt very much as it' I otight 

 to stay at hohie ; and, to tell the 

 truth. 1 did not want to go very much. 

 It seemed like teaiing myself away from 

 duty, and the business that" needed mo here: 

 and for a good while I cotild hardly feel 

 reconciled to the thought of l)reaking the 

 threads of home matters, nnd fixing them on 

 something else ; but I tried to think, in the 

 language of our text, that God would i>ro- 

 vide work for me, and that it was my duty 

 to go away from homo and mingle more 

 with my fellow-men and the great workl at 

 large. An hour later, and I was waiting at 

 the depot in Elyria for the incoming train. 

 But it seemed wicked for me to sit there 

 idle when there was so much to be done ; 

 and yet I knew from previous experience in 

 like circumstances that there was probably 

 plenty that God would have me to do, and 

 perhaps very near by. I have no right to 

 speak for others; but 1 am sure that God 

 calls on me, in like circumstances, to get ac- 

 quainted, and to 1)6 doing something. A 

 bright-looking young man near the stove 

 remarked to a companion the time, as he 

 looked at his watch, and I added that we 

 had just about an hour more to v^^ait. His 

 next remark indicated that he knew me, and 

 I soon found that he was the son of an old 

 neighbor who lived near us on the farm, and 

 that he was now located in aneighboring town 

 where he liad been practicing medicine for 

 the last five years. I recognized the town 

 as one wherein 1 had labored to build up the 

 church and Sunday-school, and I was glad to 

 have him lell me about it. 



" I suppose, friend , you have preach- 

 ing now every Sunday, of course V When I 

 was there, the minister came from an ad- 

 joining town every other Sabbath ; but now 

 I presume you have a regular pastor." 



'' 1 am sorry to say. Mr. Root, that it is just 

 as it was years ago. The church is not strong 

 enough to keep a minister, and have preach- 

 ing every Sunday. Why, there are only fifteen 

 or twenty menibers in the church, all to- 

 gether."' 



'' They were mostly women at the time I 

 was there ; is that the case still V '' 



He replied, to the effect that there w^ere 

 only four or five male members in the church. 



Said I, '' And of course, friend , youaxe 



one of these four or five faithful ones '? " 



He cast his eyes down, and admitted that 

 he was not. In his previous conversation 

 he told me that he loved the Bible and 

 Christianity, and remarked to the effect 

 that he was hungering and thirsting after 

 righteousness. I think he said his wife was 

 a member of the church, and he admitted 

 that there was no reason why he shoidd not 

 be among those four or five who wore help- 

 ing to bear the cross of Christ. I told him, 

 as well as I knew how, what influence a 



physician of the town might exert over the 

 people, and I reminded him that he could not 

 very wel I exhort others to accept Christ,unless 

 he stood up boldly before men and practiced 

 what he would have others do. In reply to 

 my ((uestions, he declared there was nothing 

 ill his life or habits that he would have to 

 give up, to l)ecome a professor, and that it 

 was only because he hadn't got around to 

 it, or got readv. that he had been all these 

 years aloof. The minutes did not drag any 

 longer. As we talked, an old gentleman 

 who sat near came up to us, and I saw by 

 his looks that ho was interested. As I part- 

 ed from my young friend on the train, there 

 was a briglit happy look in his eye as he 

 gave me his hand and thanked me. • I told 

 hiin I should pray for him. and that the best 

 news I should ever hear of himself Avas that 

 he was making Jesus first, and all else sec- 

 ondary. 



At the convention I met a man and his 

 wMfe with whom I plead some years ago on 

 exactly the same subject. Their family was 

 growing up around them, and they were not 

 members of any church. The lady confessed 

 tome that she had been conducting a Sab- 

 bath-school which she h;id been instrument- 

 al in starting in their neighborhood, because 

 there was no church : but neither herself 

 nor husband had united with the church 

 nearest them 



Now, this kind of exhortation is all very 

 well, providing the one who exhorts makes 

 his life in keeping with what he professes. 

 May be I was getting a little vain of my 

 ability to lead others, and may be I w^as 

 thinking I was getting to be a pretty good 

 sort of Christian. In any case, I had a re- 

 minder very soon that I needed to pray for 

 myself as well as for others. 



I was ready to start home ; but for certain 

 reasons I wished to purchase a ticket at first 

 only to a neighboring city, and I asked the 

 agent how much it was. He said $;>.3-5. I 

 gave him four paper dollars. The train was 

 ready to start, and he hurriedly handed me 

 a silver dollar, half a dollar, a "dime, and a 

 nickel. In my haste I came pretty near not 

 counting it; but when I got the silver dol- 

 lar in my fingers, and held it up, it occurred 

 to me that I ought not to have a whole dol- 

 lar back in change. In other words, he had 

 mnde a blunder. Now, I am ashamed to 

 say it ; but I guess I had better acknowl- 

 edge that self suggested putting all the 

 change in my pocket, without telling him. 

 I believe I have boasted several times that 

 the '•almighty dollar "' never tempted me 

 from the patiiof duty ; but there I was, ac- 

 tually coveting that bright round silver dol- 

 lar that I knew was not my own. I did not 

 hold it in my fingers, I presume, a whole 

 second; but in that second, self i or Satan) 

 whispered, '■ You must have misunderstood 

 him. He probably said S2.35.'' Then came 

 the thought. " \\"hy did he not give me 

 back one of the paper dollars I gave him ?" 

 But .self put in again, '• There is not time to 

 bother with it now, anyhow ; besides, it is 

 /u'.s business— not yours. You gave him the 

 money, and he gave you back what you 

 ought to have." Self seemed to get a little 

 bolder here, and added, " Your expenses on 



