Jan. 1, 1912 



29 



®w[p \^®um 



A. I. Root. 



I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. — Matt. 

 25:43. 



Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for there- 

 by some have entertained angels unawares. — Heb. 

 13 : 2. 



And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye 

 more than others? Do not even the publicans so? 

 —Matt. 5 :47. 



Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 

 dom prepared lor you from the foundation of the 

 world; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: 

 1 was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stran- 

 ger, and ye took me in. — Matt. 25 : 42, 43. 



Mrs. Root has quite a fondness for reading 

 old books — those, for instance, that she and 

 I read together when we were first married, 

 and she persists in reading them again, even 

 when I tell her there are new books just as 

 good, or even better; and therefore when we 

 started on our two-days' trip to our Florida 

 home she laid out to read on the way an old 

 book entitled "Knight of the Nineteenth 

 Cenlury," by E. P. Roe, as she has always 

 had an especial fondness for all of Roe's 

 books. Well, one day when I began to get 

 a little tired of looking at the landscape I 

 happened to glance at the open book I had 

 read perhaps 50 years ago. At that date I 

 was not a professing Christian; and although 

 I found the book entertaining I fear I did 

 not get hold at all of the great point the au- 

 thor had in view when he tried to show forth 

 what is real Christianity, or, if you choose, 

 what the real Christlike spirit means. The 

 leading character is a young man who, 

 through faulty bringing up, "went to the 

 bad." He tried to turn over a new leaf and 

 atone for his errors, but everybody seemed 

 to make sport of his efforts to retrieve, and 

 he becauie discouraged and went down 

 again, lower and lower, until even his own 

 mother lost faith in him; and when he was 

 truly converted, she seemed to be more skep- 

 tical than any one else. When he tried to 

 follow the teachings of his Savior, his re- 

 buffs and discouragements from a cold and 

 unfeeling outside world were almost unbe- 

 lievable, did we not all see this same thing 

 still going on almost everywhere. I was 

 particularly impressed with his reception at 

 one of the fashionable churches, where a 

 kind friend had induced him 1o attend. I 

 shall have to confess I have for some time 

 been feeling troubled about the final out- 

 come of so much money and fashion that is 

 becoming so great a part of our town and 

 city churches. In my previous Home paper 

 I mentioned a pastor so eloquent and gifted 

 that he was offered and accepted a much 

 larger salary, while he was at the same time 

 guilty of murder. What shall become of 

 us if we continue to })ermit "grafters " and 

 hypocrites to get in among the clergy? 



After finishing the book, I told Mrs. Root 

 I wished every member of Gleanings could 

 read this old book, by one of (iod's faithful 

 and devoted servants (she got it by mail of 

 Sears, Roebuck tS: Co., for 33 cts.). Well, 

 while having this whole matter in mind 



you can imagine with what interest I read 

 the following letter: 



Mr. A. I. Root: — I have just this hour received 

 your journal; and since your department, Mr. Root, 

 is the very first and often the only thing I am read- 

 ing in Gleanings I notice the letter that Mr. Kla- 

 buhn, of Conneaut, O., has written you, and your 

 reply to it. (See page 707, Nov. 15.) I am a German 

 myself, and this is only the sixth year I have been 

 in this country. In other words, I am another 

 "stranger " to you Americans. 



Now, before I proceed any further let me thank 

 you for the generous spirit with which you answer 

 my landsman's letter. I pay you my highest respect 

 for your nobility of mind, since Mr. Klabuhn must 

 inevitably, although without intention, have slight- 

 ly offended you. The reason for Mr. Klabuhn"s 

 opinion is, no doubt, his experience. 



I simply love to read all your talks; but I must 

 confess that I have never been to church in this 

 country— not because 1 don't believe in God and 

 his church, but simply because I have not yet found 

 a human being here in America who would prac- 

 tice a true neighborly or Christian spirit. All with 

 whom I come in contact have shown me, beyond the 

 shadow of a doubt, that they can spare me some of 

 their time only if there is some advuntaue in it lor 

 them — even ministers, every one of the few with 

 whom 1 come in touch. 



When 1 landed, six years ago, I could not speak 

 English, and I began right away to study the lan- 

 guage. After a while I became a member of the ^'. 

 M. C. A. of Providence, K. I. There I was, sitting 

 all alone, and none of your young men of that or- 

 ganization spoke asocial word to me, and my heart 

 was yearning for social intercourse. Mind, Mr. 

 Root, they did not yet know my way of thinking. 

 They simply left me alone, and literally discouraged 

 me from getting acauainted with them. 1 think 

 they felt too important to associate with a foreigner. 



A little later, again, I went to Boston to find work 

 in that city: and there, being a member, I frequent- 

 ed the Boston Y. M C. A.'s reading and other 

 rooms, and there I met with tlie same fate. Only 

 one lady clerk and one gentleman clerk of that in- 

 stitution proved an exception, inasmuch as they 

 were really friendly to me, and gave me informa- 

 tion iiuite cheerfully. You know both the lady and 

 the gentleman were studying ( lerman. and tried to 

 get me talking ( ierman with them, which I, by the 

 way, was glad to do. 



Tlie Boston Y. M. C. A. maintains a house orches- 

 tra which practices on certain evenings, and plays 

 Sunday afternoons for about an hour for the bene- 

 fit of the other members. Now, since I am a violin 

 player 1 offered to join tliis orchestra. Well, of 

 course they let me play with them; but do you 

 think, Mr. Root, they would let me get acquainted 

 with them in a personal way? Not much! I felt 

 exactly as if I were coming, playing, and going 

 without being noticed at all. And they were, all of 

 them, highl,y respectable members of that excellent 

 organization. How I felt, you may or may not 

 imagine. But all tliose and other experiences shat- 

 tered my confidence in humanity au'l my belief in 

 the sincerity of the men who pretend to be Cliris- 

 tians. 1 do not wish to flatter you, Mr. Root; but 

 1 think you are one of the very few exceptions 

 which do exist, because your work proves it to some 

 extent. I Hrmly believe in our Lord, but I do not 

 visit the chui-ch, and 1 often feel that I am wrong 

 in not going to church. 



Now, 1 wrote you all of this to show how one may 

 be educated up to the point where Mr. Klabuhn 

 seems to be. He says in his letter, ' I am an old 

 * lerman." Now J am a young man— 31 years of age; 

 let me live another 20 years, and if. during tliat 

 time, I meet with the same conduct of men, 1 shall, 

 perhaps, suffer morally for it. Or will those suffer 

 who made the misanthropist of me? 



As it is, 1 am still wavering, and can not for the 

 life of me decide regarding this vital question — i. e., 

 whether I should visit the church and pretend to 

 believe that my fellow-men are Christians, wlien, 

 right down in my heart, 1 know they are not. 



Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 22. Bernhard Kunz. 



Dear friends, you especially who love the 



