July, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



M 



A Y the 



Lord in his 



great 

 mercy bring to 

 your hearts this 

 message that I 

 am dictating- to 

 you on this 2d 

 day of June, 

 1919. At differ- 

 ent times recent- 

 ly I have been 

 thinking that, 

 before long I 

 shall probably 

 dictate my last 

 Home paper; 

 but rest assured, 

 dear friends, 

 that, as long as 

 I have life and 



strength, this department of our journal 

 shall be kept uj). Just now there is a series 

 of articles appearing in the Sunday School 

 Times, entitled " How Lawyer Scofleld was 

 Won to Christ," by my good friend Charles 

 G. Trumbull. Well, in the issue for May 

 17, Mr. Trumbull writes as follows: 



Shortly before this chapter of the Life Story went 

 to press, the writer received a letter from Dr. Scho- 

 field that he gladly incorporates here, so that many 

 may rejoice in the marvel of its testimony. 



After the above, the letter was given; 

 but I have space to put in only the con- 

 cluding earnest appeal to his long-time 

 friend Mr. Trumbull, as below : 



And — oh ! Trumbull, put it into the story, put it 

 big and plain: instantly the chains were broken 

 never to be forged again — the passion for drink was 

 taken away. Put it " Instantly," dear Trumbull. 

 Make it plain. Don't say, " He strove with his 

 drink-sin and came off the victor." He did nothing 

 of the kind. Divine power did it, wholly of grace. 

 To Christ be all the glory. C. I. Scofield. 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



He lirought ine up also out of a horrible pit, <iut 

 of the miry clay, and set my feet iipon a rock, and 

 established my goings. — Psalm. 40:2. 



liet the words of my mouth and the meditation 

 of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, my 

 streingth and my redeemer. — Psalm 19:14. 



If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good 

 gifts unto your children, how much more shall 

 your hGa\ enly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 

 (liat ask him? — Luke 11:13. 



The point in the above that particularly 

 impressed me was the expression, " He did 

 nothing of the kind." The reason why it 

 impressed me is because it was so emphati- 

 cally my own experience. I did not, like 

 Scofield, strive with the drink habit; but I 

 did strive with Satan; and I am impressed 

 that it does not make very much difference 

 how he comes — it is all the same thing. 

 Again and again did I resolve to break 

 loose and be a man, but only to be tripped 

 up once more until I lost faith in myself 

 and faith in God, and, I fear, faith in 

 everything. I shall always remember vivid- 

 ly going out into the woods one Sunday 

 afternoon. I sat down on a log, and 

 thought it all over. I went over my child- 

 hood and thought of my good mother's 

 teaching, and how she would be grieved to 

 find that I had, after all, turned out a 



463 



wreck. Yes, I 

 meditated that 

 if things should 

 go on as they 

 had been going 

 1 might, in proc- 

 ess of time get 

 behind prison 

 bars. Finally, I 

 rose up an d 

 raised my right 

 hand and called 

 on God to wit- 

 ness that hence- 

 forth and for- 

 ever I would be 

 a different man. 

 I started home 

 feeling brighter 

 and happier, 

 without a single 

 doubt in my mind but that I, and Z alone, 

 mind you, could carry out what I had been 

 planning and proposing. Now, please note, 

 dear reader, I did not say a word in my 

 pledge out there in the woods, in the way 

 of asking God to help me, I alone was go- 

 ing to do it all. What was the outcome? 

 I am asliamed to tell you. Almost before 

 I reached my own door Satan tripped me 

 up more completely than ever before. I 

 lost heart. I said it was of no use. Let 

 me digress a little. 



Months later, Avhen I really knew the 

 good Lord had lifted me out of the " miry 

 clay," and placed my feet on the " rock," I 

 visited a poor soul who was a slave to in- 

 temperance. I told him what the end would 

 be if he kept on; but he said something 

 like this: 



" Mr. Root, I realize all you say ; but 

 when I get astride that horse I have got to 

 ride wherever it goes. I really can not 

 help myself." 



Now, I had that same feeling after that 

 final defeat. Please read that sentence 

 again from Scofield. He said to Mr. Titim- 

 bull, " Do not say he strove with drink 

 and came off victor." Scofield, like myself, 

 gave up discouraged and defeated. He 

 adds with emphasis that he " did nothing 

 of the kind. Divine power did it. To 

 Christ be all the glory." 



I often used to work away on toward 

 midnight when things were crowding. 

 Well, one night when the shutters to the 

 store had been put up, the lights put out, 

 and I was alone in the darkness, I knelt 

 on the dusty floor and prayed. It had been 

 years and years since I had uttered any- 

 thing in the form of prayer, and the words 

 were something to this effect: "0 God, 



