1897 



GLEANINGS IN BIvI- CULTURE 



857 



again have I raised my heart in thanks<jiving 

 and praise to God lor what electricity is doing 

 to light and cheer our homes. Already elec- 

 tric globes are kept going by the power cf the 

 wind that sweejis over our heads, and they are 

 getting to be ni jre and more common. This 

 church was not only lighted by ekctricily, 

 but it was warmed by sieani. The radiators 

 are iyr/iainr/i.'a/<is\\e\\ as useful ; and by their 

 use the room can be evenly warmed all over so 

 there are no coUl spols and almost no .s})ols 

 that are h>o warm. The decoralicn is new 

 and very pretty. On a large plain plastered 

 wall the figure of a shepherd's crook and of a 

 cross is seen resting in the clouds. I looked 

 at it again and again, and enjoyed it as I did 

 the strains of l)eautiful music from the trained 

 choir. And this reminds me that ihe veteran 

 elder who told about the old times spoke 

 about the singing in the old kjg schoolhouses. 

 He said that, away back in thoiC early da^s, 

 they had some old hymns that, in his opinion, 

 would never be surpassed. He mentioned es- 

 pecially the one beginning — 



A charge to keep I have, 

 A God to glorify. 



He turned to the choir, and said : "Oh ! 

 yes, you can sing it, I know you can ; but you 

 can't sing it as they did then." 



Some of them smiled because hew'as so very 

 positive ; but he remarked again, " I beg your 

 pardon, but you can't do it, neither can any 

 man or woman living. Those things are gone 

 by." 



Although they had some fierce conflicts in 

 the church in those times, they had consider- 

 able of the grace of God also. When it first 

 began to be customar}- to have an organ for 

 worship, one old deacon stood out very stub- 

 bornly He w.is a man of wealth and influ- 

 ence. Well, the good church people, after ex- 

 hausling their eloquence and grace in tr} ing 

 to soften him, prayed for him, and prayed 

 th;it God would help them to get an organ. 

 Another meet ng was held, and, greatly to 

 their astonishment, the good brother wound 

 up his remarks something in this wise : 



" Friends, if you absolutely insist on wor- 

 shiping God by machinery, let us not have 

 any poor aflfair brought into our church. We 

 warn one of the very best ' machines ' made, 

 and I will help pay for it." 



We may gather two lessons from this inci- 

 dent. First, prayer avails when nothing else 

 will move the stubborn heart. Second, there 

 is oftentimes a good deal of grace in a man, 

 even when he seems, to outward view, all 

 stubbornness and flint. 



Then he spoke of the progress that is being 

 made, not only in electric lighting, steam heat- 

 ing, church decoration, etc., but he said he 

 felt sure we were coming nearer to God than 

 we did sixty years ago. He pointed to the 

 row of ministers belonging to the difl'erent de- 

 nominations, and said in substance : " Von 

 could not get five churches to unite fifty years 

 years ago as they unite and are united now." 

 And as I heard the five different pastors speak 

 to a congreg ition made up of people from 

 every denomination — yci, and many of them 

 of no denomination — I felt that what he said 



was true. There has been an advance in the 

 last twent}' years. As each one of these five 

 pastors spoke, if he spoke what he really be- 

 lieved and felt (and I think he did), no one of 

 them thought of saying none would be saved 

 except lliose belonging lo his own creed. The 

 thought came to my mind tiiat was beautiful- 

 ly expressed l)y our own pastor in a recent 

 sermon. I think he said the words were first 

 spoken by Augustine, one of the Fathers of 

 the Christian Church : "In essentials, unity; 

 in non essentials, liberty ; in all things, chari- 

 ty." At the time of my conversion the sight 

 of united bodies of Christian people was in- 

 spiring ; and whenever I see a movement in 

 this direction it renews and revives that very 

 feeling and inspiration again. In business 

 matters we arc learning charity, and, more 

 than all, we are learning to lorget injuries. I 

 am sometimes astonished to see people who 

 have had a fierce lawsuit connnence friendly 

 relations as soon as it was over ; and I am sur- 

 prised to see the man who has been wronged 

 and cheated turn around and do a kind act to 

 the neighbor who cheated him ; and when 

 business matters have unexpected!}' Ijrought 

 men together who have had serious difficulty, 

 I have been gratified again and again to see 

 them do eacli other a good turn, just as if 

 their former unpleasantness had never hap- 

 pened. Notwithstanding serious troubles lie 

 before us as a nation, I do feel that we are 

 gaining ground spiritually, and sometimes 

 people seem to be catching the spiiit of the 

 beatitudes without even knowing or realizing 

 that they are unconsciously showing forth a 

 Christian spirit. I once heard a merchant say, 

 who was very patient, and seemed almost 

 Christianlike, " Oh ! we never quarrel with 

 people, especially with customers. That 

 would not be ' business.' " 



I want to call attention to one point made 

 by the good brothtr who raised the money. It 

 was something like this: "Now, look here, 

 my good people. You know who have sub- 

 scribed. You have heard their names men- 

 tionetl here. You will remember pretty near- 

 ly just how much each one has given. To- 

 morrow morning when you go out on the 

 streets you watch their faces. Every one who 

 has helped in this work will wear a good 

 broad smile. The people who have not given 

 any thing will look sour and cross. Probably 

 they will be cross at the weather and at almost 

 everybody. Can you afford to let such an en- 

 terprise go forward in your town, and not lend 

 a helping hand ? " As he spoke of the enter- 

 priss he waved his hand as if directing atten- 

 tion to the electric lights aloft, the beautiful 

 niottc.es on the wall, the new, easy, and com- 

 fortable seats, steam-radiators, not forgetting 

 the ample ventilation and all the other things. 

 Dear reader, are you wearing a broad and 

 happy smile about your daily tasks? If not, 

 is it not possible you have forgotten or neg- 

 lected to look after the churches in your vi- 

 cinity, and to lend a helping hand ? Have 

 you been present on such occasions as I have 

 nientionerl ? ami have ) ou been one of those 

 who were " gathered together " as in the lan- 

 guage of our text? 



