764 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



OUR 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your 

 minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let 

 him be your servant. — Matt. 20 : 26, 27. 



Some of the friends may think I quote a 

 good deal from the Sunday School Times, 

 and no doubt the Times is sometimes in er- 

 ror. Its editors would not be human if 

 they never made a mistake, or perhaps we 

 might say get a mistaken idea of the Scrip- 

 tures. But, taking it all in all, I do believe 

 the Times occupies about as high a place 

 in spiritual matters as any other periodical 

 in the world. I have before referred to the 

 care which they take in regard to their ad- 

 vertising pages; and I am led to believe 

 they exercise a still greater care over the 

 reading. An editorial in their issue for 

 July 2 has almost startled me with the vivid- 

 ness with which they portray one of the grand- 

 est truths of the Bible. In floral decora- 

 tions and displays we make certain plants 

 more vivid and more beautiful in their col- 

 oring by sharp contrasts. Close by that 

 greenhouse I pictured to you in the last 

 issue there is a little bed that in the spring 

 was covered by a single sash. It is only 3 

 X6 feet. Fronting the road there are three 

 plants of golden-bedder coleus, one of the 

 brightest strains I ever got hold of. Just 

 back of these three plants, and almost sur- 

 rounding them, are some deep-purple (al- 

 most black) plants of the Achyranthus lin- 

 denni, and up over all is a gorgeous dis- 

 play of petunias, both single and double. 

 Now, the coleus is brighter and more beau- 

 tiful because of the strong contrast to its 

 golden hues presented by the side of the 

 glittering achyranthus that makes one 

 think of ripe cherries — cherries that are so 

 red they are almost black. And then the 

 beautiful variegated blossoms of the pe- 

 tunias with the coleus and achyranthus to 

 fill up and support them, as it were, make 

 such a little spot of beauty that I am al- 

 most startled, a dozen times a day, when I 

 look upon it suddenly. When I get up in 

 the morning, after a July shower, I feel like 

 saying to myself, "Did you ever see any 

 thing so beautiful?" May God be praised 

 for these glimpses of beauty. 



Now, the words of Jesus, the Savior of 

 the world, that I have placed at the begin- 

 ning of this talk, were made to stand out 

 sharp and clear as I never saw the text 

 shine before by a little editorial in the 

 Sunday School Times. Here is the editori- 

 al: 



Names are often used thoughtlessly, and an institu- 

 tion should not be condemned because of its unfortu- 

 nate name. But it is worth while to note the wrong 

 direction that is given to young people's life courses 

 by the use of a phrase often heard. A current maga- 

 zine describes a certain "School of Self-culture." 

 There is no such thing as "self-culture," in the sense 

 in which the framers of that title would like to be un- 

 derstood. Self-culture is suicide, but they would not 



fancy that paraphrase. "How can I do most for self?" 

 is the tacit question that mars many a life. "How 

 can I best improve myself?" — and the questioner ap- 

 plies to a school of self-culture, instead of asking 

 " How can I best prepare to be of service in the 

 world?" Equipment of self for unsparing service is 

 a proper pursuit. A course of training in order to 

 spend self is likely to amount to something. Self- 

 culture — never! Imagine the Nazarene saying: "Who- 

 soever would be great among you shall — cultivate 

 himself!" 



Yes, it is indeed true that this whole 

 wide world, even our schools and colleges, 

 our great lecturers, and perhaps some of 

 our great teachers, are urging self-culture. 

 We are taught over and over again to "do 

 with our might what our hands find to do," 

 and to "improve each shining hour;" to be 

 busy at something, and to take care that 

 the work of every hour shall leave a sub- 

 stantial record of some sort. Even our re- 

 ligious papers are advising people to take 

 cai-e of themselves. Our great doctors are 

 showing us how to take care of our bodies 

 that God has given us, so as to prolong life. 

 But the largest part of it seems to be from 

 a selfish standpoint. When I got to the end 

 of that editorial and read the words, " Who- 

 soever shall be great among you shall — 

 cultivate hiniselj,''' I was startled. Did 

 Jesus ever have such a thought in mind? 

 Not at all. He said, whosoever will be 

 great among his fellows shall take upon 

 himself the office of a servant; he must be 

 servant to the people, serving the people. 

 His end and aim should not be self, but the 

 general good of his fellow-man. 



We have heard stories of kings in olden 

 times who disguised themselves and went 

 about as a common person might. They 

 did this in order to find out better about the 

 abuses and injustice among their subjects, 

 especially on the part of the rulers. We 

 are not told they preserved their incognito 

 very long; but I am glad we have records 

 that some one in authority has done it, even 

 for a little while. Ours is a country of 

 patriotism. We are patriotic as a nation; 

 but how in our days shall this patriotism 

 be applied to the thought that Jesrs teaches 

 in our text? Men have given their lives for 

 their country, and their names have been 

 handed down to posterity. They have died 

 that their fellows might have life and liber- 

 ty. Just now we are needing patriots who 

 are willing' to live as well as die that hu- 

 manity may be relieved of some of its use- 

 less and unfair burdens. When we think 

 of the revelations that have been recently 

 made of the strifes that are going on to get 

 hold of the money that belongs to the com- 

 mon people — the tax-payers — how it makes 

 us feel the need of men who not only love 

 but live Jesus' words! of some who are 

 anxious to be servants instead of being lords 

 and living in luxury! 



In another part of that same issue of the 

 Times there is another editorial containing 

 the following: 



There is an Old Testament story from which it is 

 perhaps not unfair to draw an illustration of this prin- 

 ciple. When the children of Israel set out from Si- 

 nai, Moses endeavored to induce Hobab, the son of 

 Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, to go with 



