236 



you are called on. We should always be 

 ready to " say grace," or give thanks, when- 

 ever we are called on to do so, wherever we 

 ha^jpen to be. Tliis praying in public is 

 good and eommendable ; but I venture to 

 say that every one of us, when so called on, 

 considers what effect his words will have 

 on his hearers as well as on the great Fa- 

 ther above. In other words, I think most of 

 us are tempted to pray to the people as well 

 as to the great Father who hears and an- 

 swers prayer. Now, here is the jDoint : 



If you get off by yourself (away otf in a 

 cornfield), there is no listener hut God. The 

 conference is between you and your Maker. 

 A man would be silly indeed if he thought 

 he could deceive the all-seeing Eye. If he 

 is never honest and sincere anywhere else 

 he surely must be (unless he is a fool) hon- 

 est when he is alone with God. 



I told you I had lost that poem, so I de- 

 cided to write for another. Inasmuch as 

 our good friend had sent me one, and paid 

 the postage, I decided I would send him a 

 stamp. Then something said, "Two stamps;" 

 but the Holy Spirit (I think it was the Holy 

 Spirit) said I should send him a dollar to 

 help pay the postage on some tracts to other 

 people. The tract came right along, and a 

 letter with it; but before I give you the 

 letter I am going to give you the first para- 

 graph of that tract that has taken such a 

 hold of me, and the four stanzas of the 

 poem. 



IN THE DESERT WITH GOD. 



In these days of hurry and bustle we find our- 

 selves faice to face with a terrible danger ; and it is 

 this — no time to be alone with God. The world in 

 these last days is running fast; we live in what is 

 called "the age of progress," and "you know we 

 must keep pace with the times." So the world says. 

 But this spirit of the world has not confined itself 

 to the world. It is, alasl to be found among the 

 saints of God. And what is the result? The result 

 is — no time to be alone with God; and this is im- 

 mediately followed by no inclination to be alone with 

 God. And what next? Surely the question does 

 not need an answer. Can there be any condition 

 more deplorable than the condition of a child of God 

 who has no inclination to be alone with his Father? 



ALONE WITH GOD. 



Alone with him, make him thy confidant ; 



Tell him each wish thou fain would'st have him grant : 



Oh! tell him every thing that's in thy heart. 



Give him the key to every secret part. 



Hast thou one thing thou would'st not have him see. 

 Hidden from him who gave himself for thee? 

 Hide it no longer, let it all come out 

 Free in his presence then without a doubt. 



Trust him with every thing thy heart holds dear ; 

 Trust him with every thing of value here ; 

 Believe him; he will keep it safe and sound; 

 He loves each lamb his tender grace has found. 



Alone with him he loves to have thee be, 

 Whispering softly that he cares for thee ; 

 Here in his presenjce dost thou love to dwell, 

 Learning of him what he delights to tell? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



I hope, dear friends, you are sufficiently 

 impressed with the above to want to seiid 

 for it; and I will tell you where to send by 

 giving you the following letter containing 

 another precious poem : 



My dear Brother Boot: — Your letter of the 18th, 

 with one of the Lord's dollars, came safely to hand, 

 for which we thank you. We sent at once the tract 

 " Alone with God," which you desired. We are 

 glad to have you use any of our tracts in your Home 

 talks as you have in the past, and which has brought 

 many calls for the same. X word from you goes a 

 good way in this. 



I am quoting for you now some most precious 

 verses for your spiritual meditation. 



Not now, but hereafter. — .John 13:7. 

 Not now, but hereafter shall all things be known, 

 And all of God's wonderful workings be shown; 

 All mysteries will fade in the light of that land. 

 All doubts will be settled, and we understand 

 Why ill was permitted, why God's ways seem slow. 

 And the path was so rough that our feet had to go. 



Not now, but hereafter all things will be plain. 

 The sweet and the bitter, the loss and the gain; 

 In the light of his presence we clearly will trace 

 What now seems so wrong was but infinite grace; 

 And how all things here were but working for good; 

 God's beautiful plan but not now understood. 



Not now, but hereafter, when we are like him. 



And the scales have been taken from eyes now so 



dim ; 

 When we view all our journey and scan all our way, 

 With praise, adoration, and wonder we'll say, 

 " I see and I know, and I thank him for all. 

 My precious Redeemer at whose feet I fall." 

 Swengel, Pa., Oct. 21. A. F. Cowles, 



In regard to the last poem, had I received 

 it in time it would have been a most fitting 

 closing-up for my Home paper for Nov. 1; 

 and I hojDe my old schoolmate Coi^win may 

 see it. 



AN OUT-OF-DOORS RELIGION. 



We clip the following from Guide to 

 Nature : 



Christianity is an out-of-doors religion. From the 

 birth in the grotto at Bethlehem (where Joseph and 

 Mary took refuge because there was no room for 

 them in the inn) to the crowning death on the hill 

 of Calvary outside the city wall, all of its important 

 events took place out-of-doors. Except the discourse 

 in the upper chamber at Jerusalem, all of its great 

 words, from the sermon on the mount to the last 

 commission to tho disciples, were spoken in the open 

 air. How shall we understand it unless we carry it 

 under the free sky and interpret it in the compan- 

 ionship of nature? — Henry Van Dyke, in " Out-of- 

 Doors in the Holy Land." 



Not only is Christianity an outdoor re- 

 ligion, but it is an out-into-the-open relig- 

 ion, everywhere and every day in the year. 

 The gospel of Jesus Christ has no secrets. 

 It is all above board, and out in the sun- 

 light. 1 was once invited to a seance where 

 -they had a slate-writing in a tent. They 

 said I would have to stay until midnight 

 to see the modern miracle. I replied, "Why, 



