OCTOBKK, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN n K E CULTURE 



799 



Be kind to husliands, wives, and children. The 

 nuiro liapijiness you give the move you receive. 



5. Trust in God — actuallj/ trust in God as your 

 Father. Don't be a Christian nacrely in name. 



Remember that God knows best; and so if your 

 prayer is not granted, remember that it is all for the 

 best. 



No. 1. The doctor said it took him years 

 and years to become really master of this 

 matter of Avorry and borrowing trouble. 

 He said his good father was in the habit 

 of having the "blues," and he had got it 

 into his head that the trouble was inherited. 

 Just as soon as he mentioned it, it occurred 

 to me that tny father also had spells of bor- 

 rowing trouble, and sometimes making the 

 whole famil3' of seven children and the good 

 mother feel blue likewise; but, thanks to a 

 kind Providence, my mother, with her faith 

 in her heavenly Father, could always see 

 sunshine. In a most emphatic way the doc- 

 tor declared there is a "silver lining" to 

 every trouble ; and the duty we owe to God 

 and to our fellow-men is to keep holding up 

 that bright side with a smiling face. 



In regard to the text, "Take no thought 

 for the morrow," the doctor said many good 

 people seem to think this means that we 

 should make no provision for our physical 

 wants, and that "prejiaredness" is entirely 

 out of place. Nothing of the kind. The 

 Savior only meant that, after having done 

 our level best, and after having asked him 

 for our daily bread, we should forbear wor- 

 rying or borrowing trouble. Do not cross 

 bridges before you get to them. The whole 

 spirit of the Bible from beginning to end 

 teaches us that Ave should bestir ourselves 

 and xoork; but after having done all this, 

 trust God, and be happy. My old pastor, 

 Rev. A. T. Reed, said we are enjoined 

 against being over-anxious — to take a hope- 

 ful view of the future, and remember that 

 it is a loving Father who holds even the 

 winds in the hollow of his hand. 



No. 2. Do not get the idea that other 

 people are more favored than you are. You 

 are probably ju^ where God wants you to 

 be. Then he told us of a celebrated picture 

 that carried a lesson Avith it. It repre.sented 

 a simjile landscape with a rude fence, not 

 very high, across the middle of it. On 

 each side of the fence was a donkey ; but 

 each donkey Avas represented as leaning 

 oA'er the low fence to pick grass on the other 

 side. Do you see the moral, my good 

 friends? Instead of being content these 

 poor stupid beasts each imagined tlie grass 

 over the fence Avas better, or that there Avas 

 ' more of it, than in his oAvn dooryard. The 

 title of the picture Avas, "Tlie Tavo Silly 

 Asses." My good friend, look back over 

 your life and ask yourself the question if 



you have not been at some former time, or 

 if you are not just now, deserving the title 

 given to the poor dumb brutes. 



No. 3. If something worries you that you 

 cannot get out of your mind, pitch into the 

 work that lies before you. Do it Avith all 

 your might. Put your whole mind and soul 

 to the task that lies before you. Do not look 

 over the fence. Do not covet your neigh- 

 bor's job nor long for something easier, but 

 stick to your knitting. It may seem a dull 

 and disagreeable task for a Avliile; but keep 

 in mind that beautiful text, " Be not weary 

 in Avell doing, for in due time Ave shall reap 

 if we faint not." 



Our Chautauqua gave us another grand 

 orator. It Avas a Avoman, Mrs. Allen, who 

 Avrites about health, housekeeping, etc., in 

 the Avomen's magazines. When I Avas talk- " 

 ing with her about sticking to our job I 

 quoted the above text about not becoming- 

 weary, etc. She said, "Mr. Root, that is the 

 trouble with a world of people. They do not 

 stick to their job long enough, and they do 

 not really get doAvn to the 'Root' of the 

 matter." Just then I felt glad to think 

 that my name was Root. 



No. 4. I belieA^e No. 4 hit me a harder 

 clip than any other one. He pointed his 

 finger in different directions o\'er the audi- 

 ence as he sent home his Avholesome and 

 vehement words to the husbands and Avives 

 of the audience. In his business as a physi- 

 cian he said he often became almost a mem- 

 ber of some households; and he found that 

 some husbands would, eA'en in his presence, 

 scold and nag the good Avife, and let it go 

 Avithout an apology. He gave one illustra- 

 tion that sent -a chill down m.y back. A cer- 

 tain man Avas in the habit of scolding and 

 nagging the poor patient Avife as Avell as the 

 rest of the household, to such an extent that 

 he did not scruple to complain and criticise 

 even in the presence of the doctor. Finally 

 the patient Avife died. Then, but not before, 

 the man aAvoke and remembered his sins. 

 Nothing could console him. He said to tlie 

 doctor, after she Avas dead, "Oh ! Avhat would 

 T^give to be able to call her back and tell 

 her how I regret ray thoughtless words! 

 Doctoi-, I Avould give everything T have in 

 this Avorld to be able to see her and talk to 

 her just a few brief moments." Then lie 

 added something the doctor said he Avould 

 never tell out to the Avorld Avere it not for 

 the fact that it Avould help a h t of hus- 

 bands Avhose Avives are still living. This 

 poor man, in hw, jiaroxysms of grief, said: 



"Doctor, you heard me make such and 

 sucii expressions to my poor suffering wife. 

 You lieard me at times go on in this Avay 

 until the poor woman Avas in tears." 



