96 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



falsely, for my sake." Then there is another 

 that went along with it : " Love your enemies; 

 do good to them that hate you." I remem- 

 ber one day when I was a good deal stirred up 

 because somebody in a business deal had ac- 

 cused me of something of which I was entire- 

 ly innocent. I wanted to teach him good 

 manners, and fight it out ; but the little text 

 came up before me, "But I say unto you, 

 Love your enemies ; do good to them that hate 

 you ; bless them that curse you, and pray for 

 them which despitefully use you." An acci- 

 dent held the text up btfore me. I was repairing 

 a piece of jewelry, and, strangely enough, 

 this text was set in the jewel. As I held it up 

 before my eye the words seemed to be written 

 across the sky. Something led me to ponder 

 on them. Said I to myself, " What strange 

 words are these ! " and I remember telling 

 somebody afterward that these words must be 

 divine, not human. From this incident I was 

 led to hunt them up iu the unused Bible at 

 home. Some of you ma}' remember how it 

 turned out. In studying that perfect life that 

 is revealed in the Scriptures, I lost sight of A. 

 I. Root, iu my reverence and admiration for 

 the Man who is both human and divine — the 

 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 

 world. I gut over the idea that the world was 

 not giving me a fair chance, and in a very lit- 

 tle time things had changed around so that it 

 ssemed to me I was getting a great deal of 

 credit for only a little self - sacrifice. The 

 world, which I had before regarded with sus- 

 picion, seemed far kinder to me than I deserv- 

 ed. A few days ago I was talking to some 

 young friends — some smart young business 

 men — in regard to being truthful in all our 

 statements, especially in print, of being truth- 

 ful, not only in letter but in spirit, in choos- 

 ing words that would convey just the exact 

 truth, being very careful not to use any form 

 of expression that might lead anybody to get 

 an exaggerated view, though the words used 

 are literally true. My companions laughed at 

 me a little because I was so tenacious on the 

 point of not overstating. One of them smil- 

 ingly remarked that everybody knew I was 

 built that way. I replied, "No, no, boys, I 

 am not built that way. I am not moderate 

 and truthful in my statements because it is 

 natural for me to be so. I can not think it 

 possible that any one of you finds it is as hard 

 work to keep clear inside the bounds of truth 

 and honesty as I do." And, dear friends, I 

 think so still. With my peculiar tempera- 

 ment, with my hopefulness and enthusiasm, it 

 is the most natural thing in the world for me 

 to exaggerate. If I have a reputation for hon- 

 esty, it is the result of hard fights in that di- 

 rection. And there is one queer thing in this 

 connection that I like to speak of. The world 

 at large has always given me more credit in 

 this direction than I deserve. I have put down 

 self, and held back inclination. It is true, 

 that, when I have done a very little in this 

 line, very unexpectedly to me I have received 

 even more credit than I deserve ; and this is 

 true, mind you, in a thousand different ways. 

 I did not start out to make a good record in 

 order that I might gain money or make a rep- 



utation. I did it because I had my eye ort 

 Christ Jesus, and I tried to be right in his- 

 sight ; and he in his loving kindness has re- 

 warded me when I least expected it. Truly 

 he has brought me out of the miry clay, and 

 set my feet upon a rock, and established my 

 goings ; and what little I have accomplished 

 has been for his dear name's sake, and not for 

 the applause of the world. Again and again 

 I have been reminded of the concluding words 

 of that wonderful 25th chapter of Matthew, 

 " Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed 

 thee .'' or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? " You 

 See, these persons had forgotten all about it. 

 They did not seem to be aware they had done 

 any thing. But the king said, "Come, ye 

 blessed of my Father, inlierit the kingdom 

 prepared for you from the foundation of the 

 world." 



In my visits to the jail, I have almost inva- 

 riably found the crmiinals complaining that 

 they were the victims of spite or prejudice;, 

 that the man who is really guilty had slipped 

 out and left them to suffer ; and I believe this 

 is mostly the st-ite of heart, the world over, 

 of criminals. T.hey are never at fault — it is 

 always circumstances. Now note the contrast. 

 With the true Christian it is almost always the 

 other way. He has had a better time and bet- 

 ter treatment than he had any right to expect. 

 Mankind are, as a rule, fair and honorable. 

 They have given him good measure. God, 

 too, has been liberal and kind, and given him 

 good measure, full to overflowing. His heart 

 goes out in thanksgiving, not only to God, but 

 to all those around him. From the standpoint 

 that the woild takes, everj'body is always 

 ready to give a man a kick who is going down 

 hill. But this is not Bible teachmg at all. 

 The Bible says those who are faithful in few 

 things shall be made rulers over many things. 

 Of course, the Scriptures demand that a man 

 be honest and true. He can not expect to 

 stand on the solid rock, nor receive any of 

 these benefits I have been speaking of, until 

 he loses sight of self and selfish feelings. 

 When he tries to make his record clear before 

 God, then the world is glad to help him and 

 trust him. You know what the Bible says 

 about this : " When a man's ways please the 

 Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at 

 peace with him." Oh how many times I have 

 seen this very thing verified ! We can not be 

 at peace with everybody. The faithful follow- 

 er of Christ Jesus must resent and rebuke 

 wrong ; he mu«t awaken the wrath of the 

 evil-disposed ; but these very men, when they 

 find he is on the solid rock of Christ Jesus, 

 will honor and respect him, and think more 

 of him in the end, for having insisted on that 

 which is right and honest and pure, than if 

 he had let them go unrebuked when it was his 

 business to call them to a halt. 



Our pastor, in a recent sermon, said there 

 was a great underlying truth that was too 

 much out of sight, involved when the Savior 

 spoke of loving our enemies. We should love 

 our enemies because they tell us our faults, 

 while our friends would never think of doing 

 it. They, of course, may exaggerate ; but 

 every Christian man should carefully consider 



