;04 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



OUR 



hoMes^ 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



WHOM HE LOVETH HE CHASTENETH. 



The writer of the letter below did not in- 

 tend it for publication; in fact, he saj's so; 

 but if I am correct he will not object, es- 

 pecially when I think it should be in print: 



Dear Sir and Brother: — I am glad to see by your last 

 Home talk that some were stirred up to write to you 

 about your sermon (?) in the preceding issue. I felt 

 that I ought to also, but put it off till now. To begin 

 with, there are a good many things that I admire in 

 your talks, and I think you take con ection and reproof 

 in a good spirit, else I woi:ld not write this letter; but 

 it seems a shame for a Christian to call sickness a 

 blessing. You speak of being " forced " to give up 

 your ways by failing health. What kind of submission 

 is that? It seems to me a good deal like the man who 

 was " blessed " by being sent to the penitentiary. Of 

 course, it was a blessing; but what a shame to be sent 

 that way ! Don't you know that great big healthy men 

 can have such a spirit of love that they can be gentle 

 and kind all the time, and meek? also " clothed with 

 humility''? They are rare, I sadly confess; but Jesus 

 said, " Few there be that find it." Oh the sad state of 

 the world, when to love Jesus seems incompatible with 

 strong sturdy health of body and mind! Had I "the 

 pen of a ready writer " I would write a book on this. 



Then it seems that in your talks there is so much of 

 the spirit of A. I. R. andso little of the spirit of Jesus. 

 I don't want to bear on too hard; but with what com- 

 placency you speak of eminent dociors and trained 

 nurses, etc., as if these were available to the great ma- 

 jority of mankind! I fear that, to most of them, they 

 are as impossible as automobiles. I know some of 

 your readers who are struggling hard for bread and 

 butter and shoes for their children, who are away 

 back where your father and mother were when j-ou 

 were a little child I do wish you would tell your read- 

 ers that God is a present help in trouble; that Jesus is 

 always within call. It seems so sensible to commit our 

 care to him first of all, and then do as he directs. 

 '■ My sheep know my voice." But do you keep your 

 own spiritual affairs '" up to date " ? In some way you 

 give me the impression that your work for God is 

 merely incidental or secondary; thai your business is 

 uppermost in your heart and mind, and that that comes 

 first; that you think more of making money than of 

 saving souls. I hope it is not so. Did you ever think 

 what an awful thing it would be if you should miss 

 heaven? May God grant you and your dear wife an 

 abundant entrance into the kingdom. If I lave seem- 

 ed to be harsh, let me assure you that the worst wish 

 I have for you is that the Lord will say of you, " This 

 is one of my dear children in whom I am well 

 pleased." 



I have not written this for publication; but I am sure 

 these words will condemn me in the judgment if I fail 

 to live soberly and righteously in this present evil 

 world. I wish, were it God's will, that we might 

 "speak with naked hearts together." I am not a 

 Dowieite, but just a plain Christian; and about the 

 only means of grace T have are the Bible and prayer. 



Yours in hope of attaining to the resurrection of the 

 dead, W. S. Gardner. 



Bellaire, Mich., April 2.3. 



Many thanks for your opening sentence. 

 May God help me to merit what you say 

 about my taking reproof in a good spirit, 

 etc. There may be those who feel they can 

 speak with authority as Jesus spoke; btxt I 

 am not one of that kind. Of course, there 

 are different opinions about sickness being 

 a blessing. Our pastor, in his sermon last 

 Sunday, seemed to take ground that it is 

 not God's will that we should be sick; but 

 he agreed with me, but a few days before, 

 that the Sunday School Times is about as 

 orthodox, and about as good authority on 

 difficult questions pertaining to the Bible, 



as any in our land. Why, my good friend 

 G., I recall vividly one man who was not 

 only blessed by being sent to prison, but 

 through him the whole human family have 

 received a blessing. I refer to John Bun- 

 yan. He probably would not have written 

 what he did had he not been confined, and 

 probably for something of which he was en- 

 tirely innocent. It certainly was a shame 

 that so good a man should be punished in 

 that way; but thereby and through him 

 God blessed the world. When I said that 

 my plans in life were broken up by poor 

 health I did not mean that I was at the 

 time after the almighty dollar, and might 

 have been there yet. When I spoke of ex- 

 pensive city doctors and trained nurses I 

 did not mean to advise everybody to follow 

 that fashion; in fact, I gave our experience 

 in the matter at considerable length because 

 I did not feel satisfied that expensive doc- 

 tors and nurses are very much better than 

 the ordinary family physician in the coun- 

 try, with a nurse not beyond the means of 

 the day laborer. Mrs. Root insists even 

 now (of course she does not know positive- 

 ly) that, in her opinion, she would have got 

 along just as well with a Medina doctor 

 and an ordinarily skillful nurse. Yes, she 

 and I have talked the matter over a great 

 many times, and she has even suggested 

 she might have come through it all right 

 with good care and no physician at all. 



I suppose, friend G., there are thousands 

 of people besides the Dowieites who claim 

 that a physician does not help very much 

 aside from deciding that the patient shall 

 have a competent nurse, and that all well- 

 accepted sanitary rules be observed. But 

 this is a serious matter. Do you dare tell 

 me, dear brother, that, if your wife and 

 children were near to death, you would let 

 them die without calling a physician? Mrs. 

 Root objected vehemently to physicians and 

 nurses both; but her children overruled her, 

 and they would have overruled me also had 

 I sided with her. Now, a grave question 

 confronts us right here: Shall we let the 

 dear wife or children die because we are 

 too poor in this world's goods to employ a 

 doctor? I think I can remember a few 

 cases wheregood peoplehave been allowed to 

 die just because the relatives thought they 

 could not afford a doctor. If we were real- 

 ly sure the doctor would save the patient, 

 and that the patient would die without the 

 doctor, we could mortgage our property, or 

 go among our friends and beg on bended 

 knees for the wherewith to save the life of 

 the dear one. 



There are a good many hard things said 

 about our doctors; but, dear friends, let us 

 all remember the doctor is the only man in 

 the community who is expected to work day 

 and night to save the lives of poor people, 

 and that, too, without pay, providing they 

 are unable to pay. Yes, he is even expect- 

 ed to furnish costly medicines when, in his 

 opinion, it will save life; and I am sure 

 there are hundreds of physicians who work 

 as hard where there is no probability they 



