GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ill her new home. He had gone off into the 

 woods to pray. His deacons were in a quar- 

 rel. Three of the best workers in the "la- 

 dies' aid " had withdrawn ; the choir had 

 ''split;" the officers of the Endeavor Soci- 

 ety were in a jangle; and the Sunday-school 

 superintendent had resigned ; and while he 

 was praying over the troubles, God sent 

 Pollyanna as an angel of light to his trou- 

 bled soul. Here is the way the book tells 

 it: 



" Do you like being a minister? " 



The Rev. Paul Ford looked up now, very quickly. 



" Do I like — Why, what an odd question ! Why 

 do you ask that, my dear ? " 



" Nothing — only the way you looked. It made me 

 think of my father. He used to look like that — 

 sometimes." 



" Did he? " The minister's voice was very polite, 

 but his eyes had gone back to the dried leaf on the 

 around. 



" Yes, and I used to ask him just as I did you if 

 lie was glad he was a minister." 



The man under the tree smiled a little sadly. 



" Well, what did he say? " 



"Oh I he always said he was, of course, but 'most 

 always he .said, too, that he wouldn't stay a minister 

 a minute if 'twasn't for the rejoicing texts." 



"The — what?" The Rev. Paul Ford's eyes left 

 the leaf and gazed wonderingly into Pollyanna's 

 merry little face. 



" Well, that's what father used to call 'em," she 

 laughed. " Of course the Bible didn't name 'em that. 

 But it's all those that begin ' Be glad in the Lord,' 

 or ' Rejoice greatly,' or ' Shout for joy,' and all that, 

 you know — such a lot of 'em. Once, when father 

 felt specially bad, he counted 'em. There were eight 

 hundred of 'em." 



" Eight hundred! " 



" Yes — that told you to rejoice and be glad, you 

 know; that's why father named 'em the 'rejoicing 

 te.xts.' " 



" Oh! " There was an odd look on the minister's 

 face. His eyes had fallen to the words on the top 

 paper in his hands — " But woe unto you, scribes 

 and Pharisees, hypocrites!" "And so your father 

 — liked those rejoicing texts," he murmured. 



" Oh, yes! " nodded Pollyanna, emphatically. "He 

 said he felt better right away, that first day he 

 thought to count 'em. He said that if Grod took the 

 trouble to tell us eight hundred times to be glad and 

 rejoice, he must want us to do it — some. And fa- 

 ther felt ashamed that he hadn't done it more. After 

 that, they got to be such a comfort to him, you know, 

 when things went wrong; when the Ladies' Aiders 

 got to fight — I mean, when they didn't agree about 

 something," corrected Pollyanna hastily. " Why, it 

 was those texts, too, father said, that made him think 

 of the game — he began with me on the crutches — but 

 he said 'twas the rejoicing texts that started him on 

 it." 



" And what game might that be? " asked the min- 

 ister. 



" About finding something in every thing to be glad 

 about, you know. As I said, he began with me on 

 the crutches." And once more Pollyanna told her 

 story — this time to a man who listened with tender 

 eyes and understanding ears. 



A little later Pollyanna and the minister descended 

 the hill, hand in hand. Pollyanna's face was radi- 

 ant. Pollyanna loved to talk, and she had been talk- 

 ing now for some time: there seemed to be so many, 

 many things about the game, her father, and the 

 old home life that the minister wanted to know. 



I talked about the book in our Wednesday 



evening jDrayer-meeting, and at the close a 

 lady came to me and said : 



" Mr. Root, I am glad to know that you 

 are of such a happy disposition." 



" Oh ! bitt I am not. Mrs. Root could 

 probably tell you quite a different story. 

 The reading of that book really startled me 

 to think how many times, almost every day, 

 something transpires that I a"m not glad 

 about at all." 



" Eight hundred times." It keeps ringing 

 in my ears. Shall everybody " be glad " all 

 the time, no matter what happens? No, no ! 

 there are conditions. See Pollyanna's text 

 at the head of this talk. It is only the 

 ' righteous " and " ye that are upright in 

 heart." It is not enough that we " love 

 God " and " our neighbor as ourself." After 

 having done this we are to " be glad " and 

 '■ shout for joy." I do sometimes (thank 

 God) shout for joy, especially when I am 

 working out among the "dasheen;" and I 

 often feel like it when I don't shout; but, 

 oh dear me! what a tremendous job the dear 

 Savior has on his hands to finish the work 

 of making me over so that I am really and 

 "truly," as "Nancy" (bless her heart) 

 might say, " born again " and fitted for his 

 kingdom ! 



Years ago a physician and a church mem- 

 ber came to me greatly excited because his 

 leputation was being injured by what he 

 called undeserved gossip. He declared he 

 would go to the full extent of the law. As 

 we were well acquainted I tried to persuade 

 him to stick to business and let it drop. 

 Finally I said, " Blessed are ye when men 

 shall revile you and persecute you, and 

 shall say all manner of evil against you 

 falsely for my sake," but to my surprise it 

 only made him angrier still. 



" Mr. Root, is that your doctrine? " 



1 laugliingiy replied, "No, my good friend, 

 it is not my ' doctrine;' but the doctrine of 

 the Lord Jesus Christ." 



A prominent business man, a doctor with 

 quite a practice, and a professing Christian, 

 was in heatJien darkness, one might almost 

 say, of the blessed promises in God's holy 

 word. It was to him an "unexplored region." 



Again, at one of our " teachers' meetings" 

 that were always well attended by quite a 

 number of old Bible scholars as well as an 

 able pastor, I happened to say that somc- 

 vJiere in the Bible we were told not only to 

 " rejoice and be glad " when " lied about," 

 etc., but we were admonished to " leap 

 tor joy." One of the company felt sure I 

 was mistaken ; and when I didn't find it 

 I'lght away the Avhole company turned on 

 me, and even the minister " turned the laugh 

 on me," because I insisted our Lord ever 



