736 



staying away, I tried to remonstrate; but it 

 did not seem to do much good. Well, last 

 evening, Nov. 2, our prayer-meeting room 

 was crowded. It was the second prayer- 

 meeting since our new pastor has been with 

 us, and he is getting a great hold on the 

 people. At the close of the meeting I ex- 

 pressed my joy at seeing such a roomful, 

 and exhorted them to keep it up during my 

 absence of six months. I quoted the words 

 of our text, and told them 1 knew what it 

 was to be so tired when it came Thursday 

 night that I felt as if I could not go out any- 

 where; but I added that I always felt glad 

 when I overcame that feeling. I am glad 

 to say that Mr. Calvert is also always on 

 hand at prayer-meeting. He told us on one 

 occasion that the prayer-meeting is the 

 "power-house" of the church. Now, what 

 I am gettmg at is this — which is the more 

 important — the prayer-meeting or some- 

 thing else — worldly matters, for instance? 

 When you come to die, and memory goes 

 back over the long life God has given you 

 to live, what will seem to be of the most im- 

 portance at such a time? When you come 

 to invoice and sum up all ihe cares and re- 

 sponsibilities of life, shall we not agree, or 

 at least nearly agree, with the words of the 

 Savior — "But one thing is needful " ? 



Bee-keepers are busy men. I think their 

 wives, as a rule, are busy women. Perhaps 

 their husbands' manv enterprises help to 

 make them busy. Well, I confess I have 

 often felt sorry to see the bee-keepers I have 

 visited having so many "irons in the fire." 

 I am guilty myself, I know. In my old age 

 I am trying to profit from past experience. 

 A great many say to me, "Mr. Root, do you 

 not keep bees in Florida?" They seem sur- 

 prised when I tell them I do not. I just 

 keep chickens (and ducks), and nothing 

 else. I have been longing for some Hun- 

 garian partridges, like those so dear to my 

 heart around the deserted cabin in the 

 woods in Northern Michigan; but I am de- 

 termined not to have too many things on 

 my hands in my old age. Once last winter 

 I did not prepare any Home paper, and 

 there was quite a little complaint. I was so 

 busy with the chickens and incubators that 

 I did not have time. 



Now, friends, when you are thinking of 

 getting something on your hands to make 

 mone>, or, if you choose, to have fun with, 

 please do not forget the "one thing need- 

 ful." I presume a large part of the world 

 nowadays would think, at an offhand 

 glance, that money — more money — is the 

 "one thing needful." Money is a good 

 thing to pay honest debts with. Be square 

 before the world, of course, before you die, 

 and let us beware about having such debts 

 when death comes. Prevention is surely 

 better than cure in such cases. 



Finally, what is the one thing needful? 

 Does the Savior really mean it when he 

 just narrows down ail Ihe business of a hu- 

 man life? Here are his concluding words, 

 found in the 42d verse: " Mary hath chosen 

 that good part which shall not be taken 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



away from her." Dear, good, wise Mary! 

 All her thoughts and energies were absorb- 

 ed in "laying up treasure in heaven where 

 neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and 

 where thieves do not break through nor 

 steal." 



Let me mention once more a dear friend 

 of mine who thought he had not had his 

 share in the division of the parental proper- 

 ty. He talked it over and thought it over, 

 and it made his whole life unhappy, and 

 yet he hud money out at interest. He did 

 not need that money that made his life un- 

 happy, and he had no use for it. Finally a 

 relative, who saw his state of mind, in order 

 to relieve him gave him outright the sum 

 in question. Did it make him happy? Per- 

 haps it diverted his mind from that one sub- 

 ject. But the money was put out at interest; 

 and as he had no use for even the interest, 

 it just accumulated; and all at once, to the 

 surprise of every one, he took a sudden cold, 

 which developed into pneumonia, and he 

 died with scarcely time for a thought about 

 death. Such things are going on all around 

 us. Dear friends, what is the use of fighting 

 and quarreling over a little money, especial- 

 ly money we do not need, and for which we 

 have no use? We are told that heaven and 

 earth shall pass away; "but," says .Jesus, 

 "my words shall not pass away." Again, 

 in I. Peter, 5:4, we read, "When the chief 

 Shepherd shall ap| ear, ye shall receive the 

 crown of glory that fadeth not away." 



A few years ago I bought quite a nice suit 

 of clothes. As soon as I went out into the 

 sun they began to fade, and in a little while 

 they were "hardly fit to be seen," as Mrs. 

 Root expressed it. If I am correct, there is 

 quite a little trouble nowadays with cloth 

 that "fades." Over ten years ago I paid a 

 little more than usual for a suit of navy 

 blue, and it has not yet faded a particle. 

 When I brush it and clean it up, it still 

 looks good, because it does not fade. Will 

 it not pay us to invest in that crown of glory 

 that fadeth not away? As I take it, the 

 Savior meant that we should give less time 

 to wordly affairs that fade and pass away, 

 and more time to the things that not only 

 make us hapi^y through life, but go with us 

 beyond the grave. We can not literally go 

 and sit at the feet of the Savior as-did Mary 

 of old; but we can listen to the teachings of 

 God's holy word. We can be prompt in at- 

 tendance at the house of worship. We can 

 be on hand at the prayer-meeting; and, fur- 

 thermore, we can, with a little effort, take 

 somebody along with us. That reminds me 

 that, at the close of the first prayer-meeting 

 led by our new pastor, he asked how many 

 would try to come to the next meeting, and 

 bring somebody along. All hands went up; 

 and the consequence was, the prayer-meet- 

 ing room was full to overflowing. 



Tvow, if you are not interested in my talk 

 about the one thing needful, you will surely 

 be interested in another visit our Savior 

 paid to the home of Mary and INIartha. See 

 the 11th chapter of .John. It is a beautiful 

 sequel to that part of the chapter we have 



