1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



615 



and strugfg-ling- to get out! Our opinion is 

 that a black wire cloth would be far better 

 than glass if zinc is not to be used. 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



l,et your light so shine before men that they may see 

 your good works, and glorify your Father which is in 

 heaven. — Matt. .5: 16. 



The sermon had commenced when I reach- 

 ed our little church, so I did not get the 

 text; but as nearly as I could make out it 

 was the one I have given above, or some- 

 thing very nearly like it. Toward the close 

 of the sermon the pastor took up a side of 

 the text I had never thought of, or at least 

 had never thought very much about. He 

 said, in substance, a professing Christian 

 might shed darkness instead of " light " on 

 those about him by dishonoring his Savior 

 and his profession by his conduct. He said 

 a very profane man had recently been con- 

 verted ; and, from the way he spoke, I 

 judged it was some one not very far remov- 

 ed from our locality. This man had a 

 kicking cow, and he admitted to his pastor 

 that his greatest trial would come should 

 this cow again get on one of her kicking- 

 spells, and kick over the milk. His pastor 

 told him to make this very matter a subject 

 of special prayer. This newly converted 

 man did so; in fact, if I heard correctly, he 

 spent a great part of one night in praying 

 that God would help him to overcome this 

 one grievous sin. I can easily imagine this 

 to be true, for I have passed through simi- 

 lar experiences. If I am correct, Satan 

 kept putting the idea into his thoughts that 

 he had made a great blunder in ever thijik- 

 hig of becoming a Christian. Satan kept 

 sa3ang, "If that cow kicks the pail over 

 again, and gets on one of her 'tantrums,' 

 as she is almost sure to do, you know you 

 will swear, and no power on earth or in 

 heai'en can keep you from it with that tem- 

 per of yoiirs.'''' 



I can imagine the poor man trying again 

 and again to get the matter out of his mind 

 until he was worked up into a fever. Sa- 

 tan held up before him how the neighbors 

 and the whole town would laugh and com- 

 ment on the fact that Mr. Blank, who had 

 just "got religion," and united with the 

 church, got mad and swore at his cow so 

 they could hear him all over town. There 

 was no brave or manly way to get rid of 

 the trial or ordeal, however. The cow }>iust 

 be milked, and he must do it. He got along 

 very well until nearly through. Then she 

 became restless, and began to switch her 

 tail in the old way. Our friend began to 

 pray for grace, for control; but the cow be- 

 gan to kick, notwithstanding his prayers. 

 She kicked the pail over, but he, by a 

 mighty effort of self-control, shut his teeth 

 and did not let an ugly word come out. 



Finally she kicked with both feet, and struck 

 our newly converted man so as nearly to 

 knock him off his feet, but not quite. He 

 managed, by a strong effort, not only to 

 keep Yi\s feet, but, in a like manner, to keep 

 his religion and his hold on the Lamb of 

 God who taketh away the sin of the world, 

 and gained the victory. 



The pastor didn't tell us any more about 

 the man; but we all knew it without his 

 telling us. He continued to let his light 

 shine for Christ Jesus — of course, he did. 

 Very likely his whole future Christian lite 

 hinged on this one trifling incident. From 

 that moment his mind began to enlarge and 

 expand, and he began to see the awful fol- 

 ly — nay, absurdity — of letting such a tri- 

 fling thing as a " kicking cow " induce a 

 man to take his Maker''s name in vain. 

 For the first time in years or in his life, 

 perhaps, he was " clothed and in his right 

 mind," sitting at the Savior's feet, and 

 learning of him. Instead of sending dark- 

 ness and curses out in every direction, he 

 was sending out beams of light and beams 

 of joy and hope to a suffering and sinful 

 world. 



Does soine one ask about the cow? Well, 

 the pastor didn't tell us about her either, 

 after the incident I have mentioned; but our 

 up-to-date stock-breeders will tell you that 

 the probabilities are that, in process of 

 time, she was a changed cow. O my dear 

 friends! the gospel of Christ Jesus gets 

 hold (indirectly) of even the domestic ani- 

 mals. The swearing and blows. were the 

 very things that fanned and kept at fever 

 heat the satanic behavior that had been 

 trained into her. Let me go back a little. 



This young minister did not know how 

 many in that Sunday-evening meeting need- 

 ed just that sermon; but I know some who 

 did. Some weeks ago one of my boys (the 

 boys who work for me) was obliged for a 

 little time to put up with something from 

 another person that was not very pleasant, 

 and, lie thought, entirely uncalled for. I 

 did what I thought best under the circum- 

 stances, and exhorted him to be patient and 

 let it pass. He said he could bear about 

 so much; but when his temper got up he 

 could not control it. I tried to tell him 

 that, when the great Father above made 

 the world, he made provision for just such 

 cases as this, and provided a helper, even 

 his only Son, who was always ready to re- 

 spond to our call. He seemed to think, 

 however, that nothing of the kind would 

 avail much with his temper. 



Another yoimg friend who is trj'ing to 

 lead a Christian life says he gets along 

 very well until he is " real mad," and then 

 he doesn't care for any thing. At such 

 times, in his rage he calls the person he is 

 mad at "every mean name he can think 

 of." It just now occurs to me that children 

 (or, if you choose, young people) are not 

 the (?«/>' ones who at times give certain peo- 

 ple " a piece of their mind," and perhaps 

 pride themselves on their "plain speak- 

 ing." Men sometimes term it "giving him 



