1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



265 



there is chance to exercise judgment and in- 

 telligence as well as conscience in this mat- 

 ter. If we should show more zeal in observ- 

 ing the letter rather than the spirit of the 

 law. we might in this way dishonor Christ, 

 and cause our brothers to stumble. We 

 may ask, that, where opinions difter so 

 much, how shall w^e avoid hurting the feel- 

 ings of some? Well, it may be dilflcult ; but 

 I think a good deal may be' accomplished by 

 talking over these matters. Ask your pas- 

 tor, the deacons, and good Christian people 

 wliat they think in regard to certain cases, 

 and try to have some sort of agreement laid 

 down beforehand for emergencies. A father 

 and mother should be very careful about 

 exhibiting differences of opinion or disa- 

 greements before the children ; so should 

 Christ's people beware how they dispute, or 

 have controversy before the Vorld. The 

 spectacle of large bodies of Christian people 

 disagreeing in regard to the proper day to 

 be observed as a day of rest, it seems to me, 

 is a sad spectacle, and, I fear, may be a seri- 

 ous stumbling-block. Are they not strain- 

 ing out gnats? 



At first thouglit one might think that no 

 one could go to too great lengths in honor- 

 ing his father or mother ; yet I have heard 

 people urge, as an excuse for absenting 

 themselves from public worship almost en- 

 tirely, that they felt it a duty to stay with 

 the old people. I think there^ are extremes 

 here. 



" Thou shalt not kill," the Bible says ; 

 and yet a few months ago, when I gave it as 

 my opinion that it miglit be a Christian act 

 to" shoot down the burglar who makes his 

 way into our dwelling at midnight, a good 

 brother took me to task almost fiercely. He 

 said the Bible command was, '' Thou shalt 

 not kill," and that we have no right to kill 

 anybody under any circumstances. I might 

 have urged that the New Version changes it 

 to " Thou shalt do no murder;" but he would 

 probably declare emphatically that killing of 

 any kind is mnrder, therefore 1 felt it was 

 hopeless to try to reason with him. I think 

 that Christian people may hinder Christ "s 

 cause in the hearts of men by taking posi- 

 tions like these. Some say tliey must stand 

 by their honest convictions; but I don't be- 

 lieve I would admit even this, as they put it. 

 Apply the same rule to that, which I have 

 just given above in regard to working on 

 Sunday. Present the matter at your prayer- 

 meeting; and if the great majority of 'the 

 good men and women, inclnding the pastor 

 and deacons, are against you. I think it is a 

 Christian duty to give way. If the church 

 of Christ is not a unit on such matters, of 

 what avail would it beV " United we stand, 

 divided we fall.'" 



In regard to the seventh commandment, I 

 do not know that I ever heard of any individ- 

 ual laying too much stress on this. In fact, 

 Christ himself laid a tremendous emphasis 

 on it when he said, we should not only keep 

 it in deed, but in vei y thought. May God 

 help us to live up to all liis commands, not 

 only in deed, but in very thought. See Mat- 

 thew b : 2S. 



" Thou shalt not steal." 



Here, too, there is not very much danger 



of anybody carrying the command to excess, 

 especially if we define the word " steal " as 

 it is defined in the dictionary. Of course, 

 this would not include forbidding one to help 

 himself to anybody's property, to save life. 

 A boy once drank some bedbug poison, think- 

 ing it was only vinegar. His mother ran 

 over to tlie neighbor's after some milk, and 

 the folks wei e away. She kicked the door 

 down, tore the house upside down for milk, 

 ran home, and made the boy drink the milk 

 until he begged piteously not to l)e made to 

 drink more. She, however, kept him at 

 it until he vomited up not only the milk, 

 but also the corrosive sublimate dissolved 

 in the vinegar. She not only took property 

 without leave, but she was guilty of' 

 housebreaking ; but woe betide you, my 

 friend, if you should ever be tempted to 

 construe G6d"s commandments or the teach- 

 ings of Christ into any thing that would for- 

 bid your doing the same imder like circum- 

 stances. Let all of the commandments be 

 kept in the spirit of enlightened reason and 

 common sense. 



I am often very greatly pained, not only 

 in the talk I hear, but through letters that 

 are written to me, by hearing the expression, 

 '' He lies;"" " He is a liar;" " It is a lie."" In 

 almost every case where these words are 

 used, I feel like taking the user by the 

 shoulders and shaking him. "Look here, 

 my friend; you have no right to use such 

 language. It is not true." I am answered, 

 perhaps, " But it is true. He tells what is 

 not so." 



Now, very likely a great many of my read- 

 ers will insist that, when a man tells what 

 is not so. he lies. But, my friend, you are 

 making a mistake. Even if a man tells a 

 thing that he knoirs is not true, it does not 

 follow that he is a liar, or that the thing that 

 he tells is a lie. Go to your dictionaries once 

 more. I do agree with you, that one of the 

 saddest things to contemplate in this world of 

 ours is the wit ruth that passes current ; there 

 are few things that I know of that would help 

 us more in our slow plodding from earth to 

 heaven than a more careful observance of 

 this very commandment — " Thou shalt not 

 bear false witness against thy neighbor." 

 As I contemplate the matter, my little 

 prayer wells up again, '• Lord help! Lord, 

 help me to be more careful about bearing 

 false witness against my neighbor."" I am 

 ]-eally afiaid, my dear friends, that in some 

 way dr other I break this commandment 

 every day of my life, and I came very near 

 saying almost every hour of my life. The 

 world gives me credit for being truthful and 

 honest ; people want to come and work for 

 me l)ecause they think me truthful and 

 honest, until I am obliged to put a notice in 

 the papers every little while, " No more 

 help wanted."' But I tell you, there is an 

 unexplored region in this matter of truth 

 and honesty that no human being has ever 

 entered ; but notwithstanding these strong 

 expressions there is such a thing as carry- 

 ing this matter to foolish extremes. People 

 every little while insist as an excuse for the 

 commission of grave wrongs, that " it is the 

 truth,'" imagining that the truth should al- 

 ways be told. People's feelings are hurt by 



