MAY 15, 1913 



353 



Our Homes 



A. I. ROOT 



Be ye clothed with humility. — I Peter 5 :5. 



Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 

 earth. — Matt. 5:5. 



Charity is not easily provoked . . beareth all 

 things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, en- 

 dureth all things. — I CoR. 13 :7. 



When I first began reading the Bible 

 with an enlightened conscience years ago 

 my good wife was often shocked and almost 

 alarmed because I not only smiled but 

 sometimes laughed outright. The good 

 woman had been brought up to look at the 

 Bible and every thing pertaining to it as 

 something so sacred and solemn that one 

 should not only look sober, but grave and 

 serious when consulting its pages. Some 

 of you may remember that years ago one 

 scarcely smiled in prayer-meeting; and to 

 laugh outright there, would have been con- 

 sidered a grave breach of etiquette. Things 

 have changed. Well, I think it was when 

 I was reading the " beatitudes " that I 

 laughed, especially when I came to the ■J4th 

 verse of the fifth chapter of Matthew, where 

 we read, '' Love ye your enemies ; bless them 

 that curse j'ou, and do good to them that 

 hate you," etc. The tiling seemed so un- 

 natural, and I do not know but it seemed 

 to me then so utterly unreasonable, that T 

 laughed outright at the new presentation of 

 this wonderful truth. I soon put it in prac- 

 tice, or tried to do so, and the older readers 

 will remember the \actories that I achieved 

 by following out the teachings of that chap- 

 ter. One would think after these j^ears of 

 experience along this line that I, A. I. Root, 

 the author of these Home papers, would 

 not be likely to be ensnared, especially in 

 the 73rd year of his life, after having 

 taught the doctrine of returning good for 

 e\al for close on to forty years. 



I am going to tell a story of my conflict 

 with the enemy in two different ways; and 

 I shall try hard to make both of them truth- 

 ful. It occurs to me right here that I want 

 to ask grace and wisdom from on high 

 while I tell my little story. May I be 

 clothed just now with that garb of humility 

 mentioned in our first test, even if that garb 

 was allowed to drop off and be trampled in 

 the dust for a little time. 



I think I have mentioned before in these 

 pages that some of the boys in Bradentown 

 had a fasliion of hanging on behind my 

 automobile. At first I did not mind it much ; 

 but when too many of them hung on, it 

 hindered progress and I ordered them off. 

 Mrs. Eoot asked me if I was not a little 

 harsher in my demand than the occasion 

 required. I replied that it was an outrage, 



and that notliing but severe talk would 

 make the boys behave. Later on, when I 

 had a flat tire they loaded down the ma- 

 chine so the engine could scarcely pull it. 

 At this I ordered the boys off the vehicle, 

 and told them to get clear away, and in 

 terms not very gentle. A good many times 

 I put on speed and ran away from the 

 boys; but after dark they would slip up 

 unnoticed; and before I thought about the 

 cause, I imagined there was something 

 wT'ong about the machinery. Finally one 

 night on my way to prayer-meeting, when 

 I was obliged to slow up on account of 

 some piles of mateiial for repairing the 

 road, they stopped the machine entirely. 

 They not only got hold of the springs be- 

 hind, but they grabbed hold of the wheels, 

 stopping the machine so I had to crank it 

 to get under way again ; and as soon as my 

 attention was taken up by running they 

 stopped me again. I threatened to have 

 them arrested, but they replied by shouts 

 of merriment. 



I got to meeting late. My conscience be- 

 gan troubling me; but I defended myself 

 by sajdng that the good of the community 

 demanded that the boys be arrested for 

 laying hands on my j^roperty and interfer- 

 ing with my free passage of the street. I 

 consulted neighbor Rood, who is a fairly 

 expert attorney (or has been), as well as 

 market-gardener, and he is also superin- 

 tendent of the Presb}i:erian Sunday-school. 

 Friend Rood declared it was an outrage. 

 He said the only thing to do was to get the 

 boys' names. I told him that none of them 

 would give me the names of the ring-lead- 

 ers. He said if it were himself he would 

 get out and " chase tliem down." Said I, 

 "Mr. Rood, have I the legal right to lay 

 liands on any of these boys, even under 

 such circumstances? " 



" ]Mr. Root, I would chase them up, and 

 lay hands on them without any regard to 

 the law." 



I think he added something more; but 

 my conscience began to utter a vigorous 

 protest. I tliink that the little alarm-bell 

 I have told you about in times past began 

 to ring out pretty vigorously, to the effect 

 that A. I. Root, who writes these Home 

 papers, would be sadly out of place chasing 

 schoolboys, even if they did run out of the 

 schoolyard to annoy him in passing along 

 the street with his automobile. 



I went home and prayed about it, and 

 asked the dear Savior in plain words if T 

 should cha.se the boys, Almost before the 



