1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



619 



JlilYgEIiF MD ]aY]^EI6pB©Rg. 



Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel 

 of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, 

 nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. — Psalm 1:1. 



TT was a bright Sunday morning in Jnly 

 M when I started out for a walk of perhaps 

 M a mile and a half. Of course, T should 

 ^ not take such a walk on Sunday morn- 

 ing unless something called me. One 

 who had w^orked for me at different times 

 for a number of years was lying at the point 

 of death. Perhaps I should not say lying, 

 however, for he could not lie down at all ; he 

 was sitting up by the table, and had not been 

 able to lie down for over a week. I had vis- 

 ited him the night before, and he was very 

 anxious to have me pray for him. He knew 

 he could not get well, but he told me that 

 rebellious thoughts and feelings would keep 

 coming up. He said that Satan seemed to 

 keep insinuating that God had not dealt 

 fairly by him. The poor fellow had reason 

 for such thoughts, it would seem, if anybody 

 ever had. Almost all his life he had been a 

 cripple. Nearly a year ago his lameness be- 

 came so much woise that he was taken to a 

 hospital, and a surgical operation was per- 

 formed upon him. The bone had decayed, 

 and a portion had to be removed. For a 

 time it seemed doubtful whether he would 

 ever recover. As springtime came on, how- 

 ever, the wound seemed to heal, and he was 

 able to walk around by the aid of crutches. 

 On the Fourth of July he came up town and 

 seemed qviite joyous to think that he might 

 soon be at work again. He even removed 

 his crutches from the ground, and stood up 

 straight on both feet. Not very many days 

 after, however, erysipelas set in, and the 

 doctor said the unfortunate man could prob- 

 ably not live a week. He was suffering 

 bodily pains besides his mental troubles. 



'' Robert," said 1, " is there any comfort or 

 satisfaction in indulging in these thoughts, 

 that God has not dealt fairly by youV 



" No, Mr. Root," said he promptly, " there 

 is no comfort or satisfaction at all, but quite 

 the contrary." 



Did you ever think of it, dear friends, there 

 is no comfort or satisfaction of any sort in 

 comparing ourselves with the rest of the 

 world in a way that reflects on God the 

 Creator? There is no comfort in any kind of 

 rebellion against the God who made us. 1 

 questioned Robert considerably, and talked 

 with his wife, and I also talked with the two 

 little children, three and five years old. The 

 father and mother had at one time, during a 

 revival meeting, gone forward and asked for 

 the prayers of Christian people. I supposed 

 they had at the time uuited with the church, 

 but I now learned tli;it they had not— the 

 whole matter had been dropped. Like many 

 others, however, they did not seem to think 

 it a matter of very much moment whether 

 they joined the church or not. As they had 

 not joined it, of course they had not attend- 

 ed, and I am afraid that Bible-reading and 

 prayer had also mostly been laid aside in 

 that household. My poor sick friend seemed 

 to wonder why he should be troubled with 

 rebellious thoughts at such a time, especially 



when he was so near to death. Every time 

 I visited him he seemed particularly anxious 

 that I should pray that he might have grace 

 to say, " Thy will, not mine, be done." 

 When I suggested that, had they united 

 with the church during that winter when 

 they felt so strongly called that way, these 

 temptations might have been for the most 

 part avoided, they seemed somewhat sur- 

 prised. The above conversation happened 

 the night before ; and at the time of which 

 I am writing, 1 was perhaps half a mile out 

 of our town of Medina, toward the cottage of 

 my friend. All at once I was startled by the 

 sound of a reaper ; and right before me, on 

 the hill, was a machine in operation. I stop- 

 ped and spoke out loud : 



" Why, is it possible that we have a man 

 in our neighborhood who has so little fear, 

 either of God or man, as to start a reaper 

 right within hearing of our churches, and 

 within hearing of the congregation as they 

 gather for worship !" Another man was 

 taking care of the bundles, so there were at 

 least two of them who openly defied public 

 opinion and the laws of God and man. They 

 started out to work on the Sabbath day ex- 

 actly as if it were any other day. I passed 

 along, feeling sad. When I reached Rob- 

 ert's home I found him somewhat weaker 

 than on the night before, but still troubled 

 by these same doubts and rebellious feel- 

 ings. Could it be a kind Father's hand that 

 thus afflicted him while all the world seemed 

 happy, joyous, and free from pain? I com- 

 forted him as best I could, and he seemed to 

 get into a better frame of mind. 1 said : 



'■' Robert, you are by no means the worst 

 off of any one in the world. I would far 

 rather be in your place, and sit in your chair, 

 than to sit in the place of a man whom I 

 passed but a few minutes ago." 



He looked up in surprise, as did also a 

 neighbor who had just dropped in. 1 ex- 

 plained what I meant, and the neighbor told 

 me who it was that was running the reaper. 

 He added that, if it were himself, he should 

 expect the reaper to break down, or some 

 other bad luck happen, at every round he 

 made in the field. He further informed us 

 that it was the man's regular habit to work 

 on Sunday ; that he claimed he could not 

 get along unless he worked on Sunday as 

 well as on week days. 



" But, does he get along ?" asked I. 



'' No, he does not," was the reply. "He 

 has the worst luck of any man in the neigh- 

 borhood, and his bad luck comes so repeat- 

 edly and continually that I don't see how he 

 can ever expect to do any thing at all." 



You see, friends, this comes right in line 

 with our opening text, or rather, perhaps, 

 in a line with the rest of the verses of that 

 short chapter, the first Psalm. 



In our last talk I told you how much hap- 

 piness I had found in paying people prompt- 

 ly, and in contriving to save their time, es- 

 pecially during this busy season of harvest. 

 Well, dear friends, I have had some sad ex- 

 perience in finding out what it is that 

 makes one unhai)py and miserable. I found 

 out long ago, as did poor Robert, that noth- 

 ing makes a man miserable and unhappy 

 sooner than rebellious thoughts against 



