1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



945 



church on Sunday I have used our auto 

 to go four miles out in the country to a 

 schoolhouse Sunday-school; but when I did 

 it I confess I felt a little troubled for fear 

 people might think my daughter and I were 

 just going out Sunday afternoon for a ride 

 in the country through the fields and woods. 

 I think it is well to ask ourselves the ques- 

 tion, when we are considering about what 

 we shall do on Sunday, "Will this thing I 

 have in mind oblige any of my fellow-men 

 to work on Sunday when they might not 

 have to do so otherwise? " If yoii need the 

 benefit of the Sunday rest, so does your 

 neighbor, whether he lives next door or a 

 thousand miles away. 



In speaking of the accident at St. Louis I 

 said two men were killed. One was on ac- 

 count of disobeying the police. The other 

 was passed by with the simple explanation 

 that he was a "colored man;" and I felt sad 

 to think that the general impression seemed to 

 be that it was not so much matter if a colored 

 man is killed. Now, I would urge that even 

 a colored man, as well as the poorest com- 

 mon laborer of the white race, should have 

 his Sunday as a day of rest. "Thou shalt 

 love thy neighbor as thyself;" and God's 

 holy word does not specify that our neighbor 

 must be white to be considered as a neigh- 

 bor in the full sense of the word. 



Well, dear friends, I have covered only a 

 very small part of our text. I have applied 

 it mostly to Sunday observance; but I think 

 we shall find that the fear of the Lord in a 

 thousand ways not only prolongs our days 

 but gives us health and happiness while we 

 live. We should not only fear constantly 

 breaking his holy commands, but we should 

 love to reverence and recognize him as God 

 the Father every day and every hour. 



CAN A CHRISTIAN CONSISTENTLY TRAVEL WITH AN 

 AUTOMOBILE? 



Dear Sir:— I read, in the last issue of Gleanings, 

 your discussion of the question whether a man can be a 

 Christian and drive an automobile. I agree with you 

 that it is rather a problem in horse-training than a 

 question of ethics. This is an age of progress, and there 

 is no reason why Christians should not be in the fore- 

 front. If they live up to their privileges they ought to 

 lead the forward movements of society. From the point 

 of view which you adopt, your conclusions are perfectly 

 valid. 



From another standpoint it may be questionable 

 whether a Christian can drive an automobile at the 

 present time. Automobiles are still in the expeiimental 

 stages of development. They sell for prices that keep 

 them in the class of expensive novelties. Where they 

 do answer an economic purpose they are expensive sub- 

 stitutes for equally efficient though less attractive 

 means of conveyance. When autos can be as cheaply 

 purchased and maintained as carriages, a Christian may 

 own and operate one as a necessity, but not until then. 

 Let us see the reason. 



Christ came to bring the more abundant life to all 

 mankind. At his departure he commanded his follow- 

 ers, the first Christians, to preach the gospel to every 

 creature. Each generation since has inherited the duty 

 and the privilege implied in that commandment. The 

 Christians of to-day are responsible for pi-eaching the 

 gospel, during their lifetime, to every person now living. 

 The Chistians of a generation ago or of the generations 

 following could not do it; besides, they are responsible 

 for their own particular time. Christ said: "It is not 

 the will of my Father that any should be lost, but that 

 all may have eternal life. I came not to do mine own 

 will, but the will of him that sent me. As the Father 

 has sent me, so send I you. Go preach my gospel to 

 every creature. He that loveth father or mother or 



houses or land more than me is not worthy of me. Un- 

 less a man will leave all and follow me he can not be my 

 disciple." 



Unless the men now living hear the gospel from the 

 Christians now living, Christ's last commandment can 

 never be fulfilled for them. This lays a great oppor- 

 tunity and a great responsibility at the doors of the 

 Christian church to-day. Never has the world been 

 open to the gospel as it is to-day. Never has the cry of 

 need rung to heaven as it does to-day. Never has the 

 con.secrated wealth of Christians had the power for 

 good that it has to-day. Never have there been so many 

 consecrated men waiting to be sent as there are to-day. 

 The price of an Oldsmobile ($650) will support an Amer- 

 ican missionary on any field for nearly eighteen months, 

 or fourteen native workers in India or China for the 

 same period. In view of the command of the Master, 

 the need of the world, and the far-reaching results of 

 the money expended, I doubt whether any man who has 

 the same burning desire for the regeneration of men 

 which marked the life of Jesus and his earlier followers 

 would be willing to spend for an automobile money 

 which could be bearing so much more glorious fruit for 

 the kingdom of God. 



May God forgive us for adopting his name when we 

 so little appreciate his desires or share his spirit! 



Rittman, O., Sept. 20. Rayman F. Fritz. 



Dear Bro. F., not only do I thank you for 

 your kind exhortation, but I am sure every 

 professing Christian will thank you from the 

 bottom of his heart for the vivid and thor- 

 ough way in which you have pictured before 

 us the necessity of a higher spiritual plane 

 of life than most of us probably know much 

 about. Before taking up the latter part of 

 your letter I wish to suggest that, if the 

 time has not already come, it is fast coming 

 when it will be, under many circumstances, 

 cheaper to travel with an automobile than 

 horses. And, again, is it not true that your 

 suggestions in regard to the expense will 

 apply equally well to fine equipages drawn 

 by a high-priced span of horses? 



I had the same feeling you mention when 

 I consented to pay $650 for an auto. After 

 over a year's experience, however, I am 

 satisfied that in no other way could this 

 sum of money have given us the comforts 

 and conveniences this investment has. It 

 enables me to take trips that I should hard- 

 ly think of taking with a horse and buggy. 

 It has enabled me to speak from experience 

 in regard to this whole matter. 



Once more, if we were to push this whole 

 line of reasoning, can a professing Christian 

 consistently build himself a house worth 

 several thousand dollars? May it not be his 

 Christian duty to live in the old house a lit- 

 tle longer, using the money for missions in- 

 stead of putting it in a new house? We 

 have just finished an up-to-date bathroom in 

 our house. I not only superintended the 

 whole of it, but got down in the ditches to 

 see that the pipes were all laid properly. 

 Our new bath-tub is of enameled iron, and 

 is as easy to keep sweet and clean as the 

 dishes on our dining-table. The wash-basin 

 and closet are also of the latest pattern from 

 a sanitary point of view. You may remem- 

 ber that both Mrs. Root and myself at dif- 

 ferent times have passed through a siege of 

 malarial fever, and I came near losing my 

 life. I hardly need tell you that the hope of 

 combatting such diseases is along the line of 

 improved sanitation. It is possible, also, 

 that an automobile, with the opportunity 

 and inducement it gives for open-air exer- 

 cise, may prolong life. 



