February, 1919 



THE parable 

 that con- 

 t ai n s our 

 fii-st text has 

 sometimes been 

 called " the par- 

 able of the rich 

 fool." As a geii- 

 e r a 1 rule all 

 mankind agree 

 that it is a good 

 thing to make 

 provision for a 

 rainy day. Ev- 

 ery man should 

 make it his busi- 

 ness to provide 

 for himself, his 

 wife, and for his household. In fact, we 

 are in the habit of thinking this is the first 

 and highest obligation that rests ujion our 

 shoulders; but evidently the dear Savior 

 did not consider it as the most important 

 thing. Humanity would naturally inquire, 

 " Well, what is a fellow to do if he is not 

 to provide first for the needs of his house- 

 hold for the coming winter?" Our second 

 text answers the question. " Seek ye first 

 the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, 

 and all these things shall be added unto 

 you." Well do I remember the time when I 

 first discovered this precious text. I had, 

 perhaps, seen it in my childhood, and very 

 likely repeated it in Sunday-school ; but 

 I did not think or consider what it meant 

 until I had grown up to manhood. May 

 God forgive me for those selfish years when 

 I had little in mind but to make money and 

 more money. 



The question naturally arises, " Wliat 

 did our Savior mean by the expression, 

 ' the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 

 ness"?" AVhere ?s God's kingdom'? On this 

 11th day of October, 1918, the whole wide 

 world is getting a better glimpse of man's 

 kingdom, or a man-made kingdom, than 

 ever the world had before. God forbid 

 that tliere should ever be again, in the 

 history of the world, another kingdom like 

 that of Germany at the present dav. Man's 

 kingdom is a selfish one — all selfish. The 

 kaiser is held up before us every day just 

 now as an instance of the most awful 

 kingdom the world has ever seen, and it is 

 fast being set aside. God's kingdom, or 

 something like it, and his righteousness, are 

 to take the place of such a kingdom as 

 Germany represents. When the United 

 States first entered the war Germany tried 

 to persuade us that this nation Avas just 

 after " more territory," like Germany and 

 all the rest of the world. In vain did our 

 good President and the heads of our nation 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 

 years; take thine ease; eat, drink, and he merry. 

 — Luke 12:19. 



Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his right- 

 eousness; and all these things shall he added unto 

 you. — Matt. 6:33. 



Love ye your enemies and do good, and lend, 

 hoping for nothing again. — Luke 6:3.5. 



109 



declare we did 

 not want more 

 territory — es- 

 pecially more 

 territory gained 

 b y bloodshed. 

 If o u r nation 

 could gain more 

 territory by 

 fair and satis- 

 f actoi-y p u r - 

 chase, as in the 

 case of Alaska 

 from Russia 

 and the Danish 

 West Indies 

 from Denmark, 

 it would be all 

 right, but not right otherwise; and the 

 world has been watching our nation to see 

 if we act as we talk. 



Our third text reads, " Do good, and 

 lend, hoping for nothing again." I think 

 that, when I first got hold of that precious 

 promise or command, I gave a shout. I 

 read it to my mother; and the readers of 

 Gleanings of 45 years ago will recall some 

 of the experiments I made to test its truth- 

 fulness. I sent Gleanings to missionaries 

 free of charge, and many copies of it are 

 still going to them. I know what the 

 postal administration says just now about 

 cutting off complimentary copies. But the 

 copies that go to missionaries are at pres- 

 ent paid for just the same as all others; 

 but the missionaries did not pay it. You 

 will remember I told our clerks years ago, 

 when even postage stamps were scarce in 

 our little printing-ofiice, that the great 

 Father above would furnish the stamps 

 to pay the postage on our journals to the 

 remotest missionaries on the face of the 

 earth ; and the stamps have been forthcom- 

 ing dulling these jiast forty years and 

 more. 



It just begins to be plain to me that this 

 little text, " do good and lend, hoiDing for 

 nothing again," may apply to nations as 

 well as to individuals. There has been 

 quite a little criticism from certain quar- 

 ters because the United States did not keep 

 out of the war; and I sujopose that every 

 one of you knows that our nation had no 

 selfish motive in becoming involved as she 

 is now. It was really to " do good and 

 lend," tliat prompted America to do good 

 to other nations, not only to France and 

 England, but the whole wide world. How 

 much do you suppose the United States 

 has "lenf'f My stenographer and life- 

 long friend, W. P. Root, says the amount 

 lent to the allies up to Oct.' 21, 1918, was 

 $7,520,476,666 — an amount of money more 



