NOVEMBER 1, 1913 



779 



Our Homes 



A I. Root 



Be still, and know that I am God. — Psalm 46: 

 10. 



What is man that thou art mindful of him? and 

 the son of man that thou visitest him? — Psalm 8:4. 



But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil. — 

 Matt. 5:39. 



In our issue for Feb. 15 I gave you a 

 sketch of my childhood days; and I men- 

 tioned one of my boyhood playmates who 

 was greatly interested in electricity and 

 chemistrj' as well as myself. In later years 

 our ways were far apart, or since we were 

 about twelve years old. But recently we 

 have hunted each other up, and renewed the 

 acquaintance of childhood. Below is a 

 letter from my old friend " Corwin :" 



Dear old friend Amos: — I wish to thank you for 

 Gleanings that still reaches me regularly. I read 

 your talks with interest, though, as I have told you 

 i)efore, I can not think that God, who has 8,325,000 

 suns with accompanying worlds to look after, ac- 

 cording to recent estimates by our astronomers, is 

 taking so much interest in you and a lot of young 

 " toughs " who try to annoy you for riding in an 

 old runabout auto. If you would get a six-cylinder, 

 goggles, gauntlets, and a big cigar, and put on some 

 "style" (even if it took a mortgage on the plant), 

 you would not be troubled, and would only have to 

 stop and pick the arms and legs out the wheels now 

 and then. Yes, Amos, I was annoyed in the same 

 way when I was driving my old pet horse years 

 ago. It is all a question of style with the young 

 Arabs. 



It seems more reasonable and tangible to think 

 that, when your prayers are an.swered, it is by some 

 friend who is interested in you on the other side of 

 life. The Rev. Lyman Abbott has said recently that 

 influences come to us from the unseen. There is 

 little that is tangible in your belief, and that is what 

 is the matter with your churches. The little girl's 

 definition in the enclosed clipping is too true. 



Discussing the lamentable fact that, according to 

 the last census, half the American people never go to 

 church. Canon Hughes Scott recently said: 



" The trouble is, perhaps, that Americans have a 

 wrong idea about the church. They think the church 

 wants them to believe a lot of outworn dogma. That 

 is not true. 



" Yes, the trouble is that the people define faith 

 as the little girl defined it in school. 



" ' Faith,' the little girl said, ' is believing what 

 you know isn't true.' "• — Washington Star. 



I am enjoying the best of health. No "meats' 

 in mine. T. C. P. 



My good friend, don't you suppose you 

 could knock off a couple of millions from 

 the figures you give? And who is it among 

 the scientists and astronomers of the whole 

 human family that have been able to figure 

 out just 8,325,000? Why not say five mil- 

 lions or ten millions? Are we not all get- 

 ting into pretty " deep water " when we 

 attempt to let our imagination go out into 

 space? Suppose the astronomer is correct, 

 and that there are all of those millions of 

 suns with their accompanying worlds. After 

 having so many, what is there outside? In 

 other words, how far does space extend 

 beyond the heavenly bodies ? This is an old, 



old question. It has baffled the human mind 

 ever since the world was created; and in 

 contemplating this vast universe, no wonder 

 the Psalmist broke forth in the language of 

 our text — " What is man that thou art 

 mindful of him? and the son of man that 

 thou visitest him? " 



It is a stretch of faith, I admit, dear old 

 friend, to believe that God has in mind each 

 and every one of us. We might, for in- 

 stance, suppose that all of these planets, 

 with their millions of suns about which they 

 revolve, are inhabited like this world of 

 ours, and we might go on and question 

 whether one God could oversee and keep 

 track of it all. With our feeble and child- 

 ish intellect we might suggest that there are 

 many gods as do the heathen. But would 

 tliat help the matter anj^f 



There is another text in Isaiah which 

 says, " For my ways are not your ways, 

 neither are my thoughts your thoughts." 

 And in all this groping with the imagina- 

 tion, shall we not recognize or keep in mind 

 that the only one true God is incomparably 

 beyond hitmanity, even our best specimens, 

 and bej-ond human comprehension? If we 

 fail to comi^rehend space, is it not likely 

 we shall in like manner fail to comprehend 

 God? Our days are but few — that is, here 

 on earth, and his are for ever and ever. If 

 all the books on astronomy and theology 

 were collected together they would give us 

 no information that touches or comes any- 

 where near the Bible, God's holy Avord. 

 Whatever we may say about the Bible, or 

 think of it. we must recognize that it is 

 unlike any thing else; and it is not only 

 unlike any thing else, but it holds up a 

 higiier standard of morals than do all the 

 books together in this world of ours. Wher- 

 ever the Bible goes, civilization goes with it, 

 and progress also, such as our own nation 

 is making just now. 



There are many bad things and bad 

 people in this world of ours; but notwith- 

 standing all this, is it not generally true, 

 as we have it in that brief legend on our 

 coins, " In God we trust," that this great 

 and adorable being has sent just one mes- 

 senger here to earth — his only Son? and the 

 message brought is not only unlike every 

 thing else, but it is above and beyond every 

 thing else. 



We started off to consider prayer. Jesus' 

 little flock of followers were once worried 

 about this very matter of prayer. They 

 came to him and said, '" Lord, teach us to 

 pray." While we have all of us repeated 



