1897 



GLKANINGS IN BKE CULTURE. 



89!l 



There is not a siiiijle day hut I t'liul soinetliiiii; 

 to thank God for in the weather. I do not l)e- 

 lieve, dear friends, this is extravajrance. T. 

 B. Terry once said he coukl always find rea- 

 sons to he happy when it rained, and he coidd 

 also find other reasons for being happy when 

 it did tiot rain. That is the ritrht s])irit. Let us 

 be so loyal to our ]\Iaker, our heavenly leather, 

 our ijreat, good, and wise h'ricud, that we 

 shall never be tempted to be rebellious and 

 cross about the things we can not help, and 

 which are unquestionably in his domain. 

 The courts of law, you know, specify that a 

 man is not held responsible for certain things 

 they term " the acts of God." Now, it seems 

 to me it is an excellent thing to remember the 

 weather in our daily petitions, and in giving 

 thanks. When the community in general 

 needs rain, let us ask God for the rain that is 

 needed, day after day, until it comes. When 

 it comes so as to cause disaster, as it did down 

 in the Mississippi Valley last spring, let us 

 unite in asking him day by day to withhold 

 the x\\\\ till it ceases: and let iis, in our daily 

 petitions, beware of confining onr thoughts 

 to our oivn little home or neighborhood. 

 Ever}- family reads the papers enough nowa- 

 days to know of the suffering in different parts 

 of the world. Let us pray for these neigh- 

 bors, while we remember the great Feather 

 above always; let us also always remember the 

 chief officers of our government. Do not for- 

 get to pray for the President of the United 

 States, no matter what political party you or 

 he may represent; and do not forget to be loy- 

 al afterward in vour talk during the day, to 

 be consistent with your daily prayer. Be frank 

 and free to tell (iod all your troubles. In 

 your closet alone, remember your children, 

 calling them by name, and the same with your 

 friends and neighbors; and by all means re- 

 member the editor of your favorite home pa- 

 per. 



And this brings me to the concluding words 

 in the question at the end of the kind letter 

 at the head of this talk. Mav I address her 

 in my answer ? Dear sister, I believe my dai- 

 ly Bible reading and praver have much to do 

 with that portion of God's Holy Spirit which 

 you and other friends give me the credit of 

 having received ; and I know full well that 

 there are many praying for me that I may not 

 make a mistake nor go amiss nor be lefl away 

 by atiy thino;. I have been helped by the 

 thought that many are praying for me. I 

 have been greatly helped, also, by such letters 

 as the one I have given. They have been com- 

 ing constantly ever since this, my lifework, 

 was commenced. 



Once more, dear sister, it has been my good 

 fortune to have kind Christian friends and 

 helpers here at home. The dear old mother 

 who watched my wayward steps in infancy, 

 and again through middle life, when I was for 

 a time led away, is near me still, although she 

 is now 8.") years of age. Many of the helpful 

 thoughts I have given you perhaps belong to 

 the dear wife; and now as my sons and daugh- 

 ters have come to maturity it gives me more 

 joy than I can express to see them give me 

 helpful suggestions and encouraging words 



May God be praised for all these things I have 

 mentioned.* 



Now, please take me as I mean. I do not 

 think I mean to boast when I suggest that, 

 had I pushed on in the direction 1 started 

 something like thirty years ago, there would 

 have been no Bible, no prayer, no Christian 

 home, and very likely no home at all, for me. 

 In fact, I very much doubt whether I should 

 be living at all to speak these helpful words 

 had it not been for the saving power of the re- 

 ligion of Christ Jesus. I remember yet very 

 well how these words will strike many of you. 

 I know it is a little unusual to speak of sacred 

 and holy things as I do in connection with 

 matters of every-day life ; and it is only be- 

 cause I am anxious for your best welfare that 

 I do so. During the past year we have dis- 

 cussed the matter of medicines and physi- 

 cians. We have discussed science and mod- 

 ern inventions; we have again and again to- 

 gether reached the point where man's skill 

 and wisdom end. We have seen together, all 

 of us ( I am glad to sa^' all of us ) that there 

 is a great universe where God reigns. He 

 made us, he placed us here. Is it not our 

 right and privilege as well as our duty to come 

 to him in a loyal, honest, manly way, with all 

 our wants and' troubles as well as with all our 

 joys? 



As I grow older I believe I am changing 

 somewhat. I used to be anxious to build up 

 trade. Yes, I am anxious now to increase the 

 circulation of this journal ; but God knows I 

 speak tndy when I say I am more anxious 

 that you should make God's hoh' word j^our 

 guide and counsellor than that you should 

 subscribe for Gleanings. I am weak and 

 human; but God is infinite. I .shall soon pass 

 away and be forgotten ; but Christ Jesus will 

 stand forevermore. If your thoughts are on 

 ///'w, and if to him you intrust the care and 

 keeping of 3'our children, they will not be 

 likely to go astray. When the writer of that 

 letter mentioned her sisters who are working 

 to establish family altars in their own homes, 

 it stii red my heart more than any thing else I 

 have seen or read for a long while. I said to 

 myself, "May God bless the dear women! 

 They do not know — they never can know — the 

 outcome of bringing up just one little family 

 and household in the fear of the Lord." 



And let me close the talk for the year by 

 saying this to each and all ; No words can de- 

 scribe, no tongue can tell, the good that may 

 come to future generations, clear down through 

 the ages, by establishing to-day in your own 

 home some form of family worship and daily 

 recognition of God, the 'loving leather ; and 

 this, dear reader, is the message your old 

 friend is sending to you and your home, the 

 last one of the year 1897. 



* In regard to religious helps, I rcid carefully and 

 pretty thoroughly the Chicago Advancr, Sunday 

 School Timrs. atul the Golden Rule. These papers are 

 my Sunday reading. I also like to read pretty much 

 all of the books in oiar Sunday-.school library, so that 

 I may know what our children are reading. 'On week 

 days I read almost all of our agricultural papers, or 

 at lea.st glance over them. .Some of these, as I have 

 told you, are taking a strong stand for godliness and 

 for righteousness. I.,et us .stand by them in their ef- 

 forts for the good of humanity. 



