January, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



67 



to be let out where they can ramble and 

 have a big time. The fowls thrive better 

 and lay better when they have a regular 

 program each day. So it is with us; and 

 Nature will indicate what that program 

 should be. 



In regard to the latter part of the verse, 

 "What shall we drink?" it rejoices my 

 heart to recognize day by day that the whole 

 wide world is just now deciding on water — 

 just water, pure water, and nothing else; 

 and I think the whole wide world is also 

 coming to the conclusion that the safest and 

 best drink at mealtime is good pure milk. 

 At such a time milk may take the place of 

 water because it is both food and drink. 

 May the Lord be praised for the craze, if 

 I may use the expression, tliat is just now 

 coming into fashion of using milk instead 

 of beer, and I hope I may say, to a certain 

 extent, letting milk take the place of both 

 tea and coffee. 



Now something about the high cost of 

 living that seemed to worry even our good 

 pastor who preached that splendid sermon 

 given in our Oct. 1st issue that I have refer- 

 red to. He says he thanks God for seven 

 sons, no one of whom has ever drank or 

 smoked, and who, he feels, are not only saved 

 but safe, because they have Christ Jesus in 

 their hearts. 



Now I wish to refer to the verse beyond 

 the one I have chosen for my first text. In 

 fact, it is the verse I used in my talk in that 

 church in the great city of Cleveland. If 

 one will read the chapter all thiii we shall 

 see the admonition is that, instead of worry- 

 ing about the high cost of living, what we 

 shall eat and drink, etc., we should " seek 

 first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 

 ness." I supjDose there are some good peo- 

 ple who would say that this text might 

 have been all right in olden times, but that 

 it will not " work " just now. I tell you 

 it iV'ill work just now. When any human 

 being starts to put down self and greed, 

 and make it liis business to put first the 

 kingdom of God and his righteousness, the 

 other things, food and drink, will surely 

 come. " thou of little faith ! wherefore 

 didst thou doubt?" 



To illustrate how God keeps his promise 

 in the last part of the last text, " all of 

 these thing's shall be added unto you," etc!, 

 let me refer briefly to three occurrences in 

 my life that have already been mentioned, 

 perhaps, in these Home papers. When I 

 first started out to follow the Lord Jesus 

 Christ, and to let him rule instead of self, 

 I started these Home papers in Gleanings; 

 and as I wanted my message of " peace on 

 earth and good will to man " to reach as 



many people as possible, I made the decla- 

 ration that 1 would send our journal free 

 of charge to every foreign missionary on 

 the face of the earth if the friends who read 

 Gleanings would give me the addresses of 

 tliose missionaries. Not long after, one of 

 my helpers suggested that he was afraid I 

 would get into trouble, as there are more 

 missionaries in the world than I had any 

 idea of; and the postage was 24 cents a 

 year, even with our little light journal, and 

 in some places it was 48 cents a year. Could 

 I stand all this postage without getting any 

 subscrii^tion money at all? I hesitated a 

 minute and finally replied, "My good friend, 

 don't worry. The great Father above will 

 furnish the stamps as long as I am trying in 

 ray own humble way to spread the gospel." 

 Was the promise fulfilled? Why, bless 

 your heart, it was the best investment I ever 

 made. Now, I hope you will believe me 

 when I declare that it never entered my 

 busy brain that it would help our business 

 financially to send Gleanings free to mis- 

 sionaries. By the way, it just occurs to me 

 that a postal card came to me yesterday, 

 Oct. 17, from India, which reads as follows : 



Mr. Roof: — Thru your kindness Gleanings has 

 been coming to us for 30 years, I think. Tliank you. 

 It has been a source of mucli enjoyment, Mr. Mason 

 having many a hearty laugh over your sermons, as 

 well as getting helpful suggestions from them. 



We thank God for your strong Christian life, 

 giving out such influence as this stricken world is 

 sorely needing. We wish Christ may come quickly, 

 and you be taken up to meet him in the air. 

 Gratefully yours, 



Mrs. M. C. Mason. 



Tura, Assam, India, Aug. 31. 



Well, what do you th;ink happened? 

 When the missionaries scattered far and 

 wide got hold of Gleanings, and were 

 touched by my (very likely) awkward at- 

 tempt to spread the gospel, they took hold 

 of it in a wonderful way, and in a little 

 time we were not only having correspon- 

 dence, but receiving orders for books and 

 hive fixtures from all over the world. It 

 proved to be "casting bread upon the 

 waters;" but not a thought of self or of 

 profit occurred to me when I did, as you 

 might almost say, blunder into it. 



Once more, my new love for humanity, 

 csiDecially for sinful humanitj^, soon led me 

 to go into our county jail. As we had 

 saloons then, there was a fair crowd there, 

 and I started a Sunday-school in that jail. 

 In a little time I had some of the boys at 

 work in our factory. One of them, as you 

 may recall, learned to set type for Glean- 

 ings, and afterward slept nights in the 

 jewelry store, and acted as night watchman. 

 Such reckless proceedings, together with 

 my branching out so rapidly in the bee 



