294 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Atkii. J5. 



that ihi^ gt'iitlc lepioof may suggest the idea of 

 dropping this offensive liijuid over the "curb- 

 stone into the gutter, instead^of on the beauti- 

 ful elean walk. 



The city of San Diego is, in many respects, 

 like Los Angeles, but is not building up at the 

 present time. During the three years since I 

 visited it before, it has suffered pretty severely 

 in consequence of being '" boomed"' to an extent 

 it would not bear. Houses in the suburbs are 

 deserted and empty, and many tine blocks in the 

 heart of the city are unoccupied. A storeroom 

 that used to rent for .*150 per year now brings 

 on\Y $30. With its beautiful climate and mag- 

 nificent harbor I can not quite understand why 

 this is so: hut I presume it is because so few are 

 really engaged in farming, manufacturing, etc. 

 The Christian element seems active: and when 

 the people get over waiting for a chanc(^ for 

 speculation, or for some opportunity of getting 

 money from a fiesh •' tenderfoot." I predict great 

 things for San Diego. 



OURSELVES AND OUR NEIGHBORS. 



If any of you lack wisdom, let liim ask of God. — 

 James 1:5. 



I have been familial- with the above text for 

 many years: but it is not till within a few 

 weeks that I really understood it: or. perhaps I 

 should say. within a few weeks past a new ap- 

 plication of it has come to me: and it has help- 

 ed me so much 1 want to tell you about it. For 

 many years I have been in the habit of praying 

 for wisdom in a general way. I have admired 

 that little prayer of Solomon's, wherein he ask- 

 ed for wisdom rather than riches, long life, and 

 victory over his enemies. I have prayed in that 

 way for wisdom. But some way the subject 

 has .seemed too wide for me. and too general. 

 Now for the new application. It is this: 

 When we come to a point where we are unde- 

 cided what is best to do, especially at times 

 when we feel that we are just a little out of the 

 influences of the Holy .Spirit, then is the time to 

 make a practical use of the text. Stop right 

 where you are: and. if it be practicable, get 

 away by yourself alone in your closet, and on 

 bended knee ask (xod for wisdom to decide in 

 regard to this specitil nuitter that is before you. 

 It may be well enough to pray for wisdom in a 

 general way in your morning devotions, for 

 this, of couise. is all right and pi'oper: but the 

 new point is to me. to ask (Jod for just what 

 you want in the line of wisdom at the very time 

 you feel the lack, exactly as you would go for a 

 crowbar to move a weight that you could not 

 move by unaided human strength. And I have 

 often felt that prayer should be one of the tools 

 that a Christian workman uses to get along 

 nicely with his work. Perhaps the first essen- 

 tial to use this prayer in the way I have indi- 

 cated is to feel your own weakness. A couple 

 of lines in a familiar hymn read: 



I am weak but thou ai-t mig-lity; 

 Hold me witli tliy powerful liaiid. 



And that is what W(; need to fetd. and we 

 need to feel it oftener. lOspecially do those who 

 are in authority need this little prayer in tlie 

 way I have mentioned — a teacher in the pub- 

 lic schools, a public ollicer, a ticket agent (oh 

 how I do wish we had more ticket agents and 

 conductors who are ChristiansI), one who lias 

 charge of men. a minister of the gospel — yes, 

 most emphatically do ministers of the gospel 

 need ^to] pray for wisdom, not onlyjevery hour, 

 but sometimes almost every minute. We pray 

 for the influences of the Holy Spirit in a gener- 

 al way: yet how frequently, when an issue lies 



right before us. and we are compelled to decidf- 

 one way or another, we find to our consterna- 

 tion that the Holy Spirit seems to have desert- 

 ed us. Then Satan whispers. ""Circumstances 

 alter cases."" or something of that sort, and we 

 decide hastily, and then suffer the pangs of re- 

 morse of conscience afterward. In the line of 

 our text, if a matter is to be decided, and it is 

 something involving the comfort and happiness 

 of individuals, by far the better way is to ask a 

 little time to think the matter over. If you are 

 talking with a professing Christian, you need 

 not hesitate to say, "Dear brother, before I decide 

 in regard to this "matter I should like to have a 

 little time to consider it, and to pray over it: 

 and I wish you too would think of it and pray 

 over it. If we both do this, the Master whom 

 we both lov<' and try to serve will surely lead 

 us to decisions which shall not be very widely 

 different." Oh what a world this woiild be if 

 even professing Christians through all their in- 

 UM'course would do this! I know that some of 

 you will say that many professing Christians- 

 would pray over it and decide in a selfish way 

 just as if tliey hadn't prayed over it at all. Well, 

 now. let us not be too hard on our neujhhors, 

 hut let us come back toour/ioj/Jt'sand (lurselves. 

 Who has not tried to pray over some quarrel or 

 disagreement, but even while praying has felt 

 that self was crowding sohard to be uppermost, 

 it was almost imi)Ossible to give an unbiased 

 opinion'.' I have myself prayed as I thought 

 (|Uite earnestly, to let the Holy Spirit rule and 

 decide: but as my mind went back to the mat- 

 ter in question, self and selfish intei'ests pushed 

 and crowded so strongly tliat there was not 

 very much Holy Spirit about it. In fact, when 

 I undertook to "write on this text I felt such a 

 sense of my own unworlhiness that it seemed 

 almost a shame for one who "" practices" so- 

 poorly what he "preaches."" to undei'take tO' 

 tedf'h at all. Neveith<'less. I have been helped 

 a great deal in just the way I have tried to tell. 



In the first place, we want to recognize that 

 human wisdom is so insignificant compared 

 with God"s wisdom that it is hardly worth con- 

 sidering. ■' As the heavens are higher than the- 

 earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 

 and my thoughts than your thoughts."" 



Now, the great point is to realize this: That 

 human wisdom unaided is exceedingly faulty. 

 We are l)iased and ])rejudiced. even the best of 

 us, by so many circumstances and conditions, 

 that, without this cleansing power of the Holy 

 Spirit, we are totally unfit to decide any thing 

 for the public good. Let us once feel that, and 

 feel th(^ necessity of wisdom from on high, and 

 we are making great progress. Now, this may 

 sound like riddles or enigmas to some of you. 

 Does God really speak now as he did in oiden 

 time, and tell us what to do or what to say ".* 

 Yes. my friends, in one sense he does: but now 

 please don't think that I am going into some- 

 thing visionary or untangible. The religion of 

 the present day is a matter of )>l<tin. siinjilc 

 coinmoii sense, and nothing more: and hert^in 

 comes in another thing that it took me a great 

 while to learn: How does any one know wheth- 

 er God is si)eaking. or whether it is an impulse 

 from the evil one^ himself".' Why. by applying- 

 a simple rule of common sense and nothing 

 more. The whole wide world recognizes a 

 Christian spirit: and small boys on the streets 

 will tell you pretty clearly what is Christianity 

 and what is not. When the report has gone 

 around that a man has "'got religion." even 

 these same small boys on the street have a 

 pretty clear and distinct idea of how the man 

 should net after he has got religion. Perhaps 

 some of you remember a story that I have told 

 before. After a revival meeting in our town it 

 was talked on the streets that Mr. got re- 



