OCTOBER 1, 1913 



Our Homes 



A. I. Root 



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

 eousness, and all these things shall be added unto 

 you. — Matt. 6:33. 



Lay not up treasures for yourselves upon earth, 

 ■where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves 

 break through and steal. — ^L\tt. 6:19. 



In our last issue, page 663, I suggested 

 to our good friend Doolittle that if the 

 world could be taught the importance of 

 seeking first the kingdom of God and his 

 righteousness, all our State and national 

 troubles would be ended; but thinking it 

 over since then I am led to believe that I 

 did not half realize what I was saying. Let 

 us consider the matter a little. What is the 

 world just now seeking? My good friend, 

 what are you seeking? And, to come still 

 nearer home, I have been asking myself 

 wliat am I seeking? I have told j^ou several 

 times in years past, that my thought was 

 largely devoted to hunting up " God gifts." 

 Tliere is a great deal said about the " high 

 cost of living of late;" and several have 

 suggested that we had better put it "the cost 

 of high living." putting the emphasis on 

 the word '" high." Well, I have found en- 

 joyment and liappiness — yes, great happi- 

 ness — by showing the readers of Gleanixgs 

 how they could live and keep in good health 

 without having it cost all one can earn. Our 

 friend Teriy has given us excellent lessons 

 and suggestions along this line; and I fear 

 a great many of us. men and women, have 

 mistaken and exaggerated ideas in regard 

 to what we must have to be decent and re- 

 spectable. When I talked about having a 

 little mill and grinding our own flour and 

 wheat so as to have better nud cheaper food, 

 a great many w'ere inclined to sneer at the 

 idea. Let me branch off a little right here. 



The good people in Cleveland have in- 

 augurated what they call the '" Fresh-air 

 Club." They gather up a lot of poor chil- 

 dren during the hot summer months and 

 send them out into the country to get fresh 

 air and outdoor exercise. This society asks 

 the country people to take one or more of 

 these children. For several years quite a 

 few have come here to Medina. Xow, this 

 is all right. It is a splendid undertaking. 

 Keeping these children free of charge for 

 two or three weeks is. without question, 

 seeking the kingdom of God and his right- 

 eousness, instead of living altogether for 

 self; and I hardly need tell you that self 

 and selfish interests are not " God's king- 

 dom " by any means. It is something of a 

 task to take two or three youngsters, 

 brought up in the streets of a. large city, 

 and make them inmates of your home. If 

 you have tried it vou know sometliina' about 



it. There is a difference in children, of 

 course. Some will meddle with and destroy 

 things, and have to be watched almost con- 

 stantly. Others, who have been properly 

 brought up, will be orderly and helpful. 

 Xow comes mj- point : 



A couple of children that came from the 

 city were taken by a famih- of moderate 

 means. Pretty soon the children began to 

 grumble, and they gi'umbled at having steel 

 knives and forks on the table. They had 

 not been used to that way of living. In 

 another case a family of moderate means 

 undertook to care for three children. I be- 

 lieve, however, that somebody who was 

 abundantly able paid for the board and 

 lodging of two of the three. Well, one little 

 girl one day volunteered the information 

 that her pa in the city received quite a little 

 higher wages than the man who had volun- 

 teered to help care for the poor children ! 



I have related the above incidents to show 

 you that even the children have exaggerated 

 ideas of how we ought to live. Their jDar- 

 ents, evidently, had not been seeking first 

 God's kingdom and his righteousness. 



Since we have been discussing the prob- 

 lem of the high cost of living, somebody 

 has suggested that the "high cost of dying" 

 ought to receive some attention. When my 

 good friend Metcalf helped us to put the 

 Anti-saloon League on its feet something 

 over twenty years ago, he gave liberally, 

 and also gave repeatedly, to get the new 

 organization under way. He was always 

 giving for praiseworthy undertakings all 

 his life; but when he came to die he pro- 

 tested against money that might do good 

 being buried up and wasted on an expen- 

 sive coffin. He put a clause in his will say- 

 ing that his coffin must not cost over $25.00. 

 I am told that, when the friends went to the 

 undertaker's, they could not find any kind 

 of coffin so cheap. You who have paid fit- 

 neral bills know how it is in your own lo- 

 cality. An article in the Cleveland Plain 

 Dealer of a recent date- intimated that there 

 is a combine among undertakers, and that 

 they have a peculiar opportunity to com- 

 bine, because no one ever disputes or cjues- 

 fions the correctness of funeral bills. 



Our friends will recall that, for a great 

 l^art of my life, I was an enthusiast on 

 greenhouses; but of late I have gTadually 

 lost my interest in them. Shall I tell you 

 Avhy? Because the greenhouses nowadays 

 are mostly devoted to growing strft' for 

 funerals. I have seen a wagonload of beau- 

 tiful and expensive flowers throAvn away at 

 the funeral of a comparatively conmion- 



